For at least two months, Heisman-winning Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza and Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson have been the only quarterbacks expected to go in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft.
Mendoza is the only sure-fire first-rounder, as the NFL world will be rocked off its axis if the Las Vegas Raiders don’t draft him at No. 1 overall.
At the eleventh hour, Miami quarterback Carson Beck has entered the chat.
“Quarterback-wise, the one guy I keep coming back to — and this may not be in Round 1, though I can’t 100% rule it out — the quarterback who is gonna go higher than every projection has had him in this process, I believe, is Carson Beck,” Tom Pelissero said on “The Rich Eisen Show” on Wednesday.
Pelissero explained:
“There was a lot that teams had to sort through, going back to Georgia. All the things they saw on social media, all the things that they heard about the program. The celebrity obsessions and him and [Georgia head coach] Kirby Smart not getting along. To his credit, Carson Beck heard some of that stuff after he transferred to Miami. He cleaned up some of those things.”
Pelissero relayed that one anonymous NFL scout described Beck as “a beautiful mind” with high football IQ, and Pelissero believes Beck is a lock to go in the second round, but there’s “a non-trivial chance” that Beck goes off the board late in the first round.
The Athletic’s Dane Brugler projects Beck as “an NFL backup and potential spot starter” in his annual “The Beast” draft guide. Brugler ranked Beck as the sixth-best quarterback and 145th-best prospect overall.
For reference, Mendoza is the top-ranked QB and third-best overall prospect, while Simpson is QB2 and 42nd overall. LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier, Penn State’s Drew Allar, and North Dakota State’s Cole Payton are also ahead of Beck in Brugler’s quarterback evaluation.
Beck began his collegiate career at Georgia in 2020 and won back-to-back national championships with the Bulldogs as Stetson Bennett’s backup. He led the SEC in passing yards (3,941) alongside 24 touchdowns and six interceptions as the Georgia starter in 2023, but he led the SEC in interceptions (12) the following season.
Last season was Beck’s first and only at Miami, and in many respects, it couldn’t have gone better.
The Hurricanes reached the 2026 College Football Playoff National Championship, but they lost 27-21 to Mendoza’s Hoosiers on a Beck interception. His past turnover habit showed up at the worst times sometimes, but overall, he led the ACC with a 72.4% completion percentage and threw for 3,812 yards, 30 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions.
Beck, and every other draft hopeful, will learn his fate at some point between Thursday, April 23, and Saturday, April 25.
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