CLEVELAND — It’s always draft season. That’s especially true when it’s talking about the next crop of potential quarterbacks coming up from college.
There’s a number of big-name quarterbacks who already have many NFL teams intrigued for the 2026 draft. Whether or not those quarterbacks enter that draft — absolutely looking at Arch Manning, who’s taking a sabatical for now from the list — remains to be seen.
The Browns own two picks in the first round of that draft. Quarterback is still not a position where they know exactly what they have for the future despite having drafted one in the third round (Dillon Gabriel) and fifth round (Shedeur Sanders) of the 2025 draft. Although the fact they’re the only two quarterbacks now on the roster means it’s time to start finding out what they have there.
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What follows is a weekly look at some of those top quarterbacks in college and how they performed in their most recent game, in this case, Week 8 of the college football season. It’ll look at stats from those games beyond just their base stat line, thanks to Pro Football Focus.
This list can and will be changed depending on how the quarterbacks’ seasons are going. Off weeks and injuries will cut down on the list for some weeks, while a player’s performance over several weeks — Manning and Cade Klubnik, specifically — will also get them removed.
Here’s a look at the quarterbacks’ performances in Week 8:
Fernando Mendoza stats after Indiana football beats Michigan State 38-13
Dante Moore stats after Oregon football beats Rutgers 56-10
Ty Simpson stats after Alabama football beats Tennessee 37-20
LaNorris Sellers stats after South Carolina football loses to Oklahoma 26-7
Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on X at @ceasterlingABJ
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: How top college QB prospect Fernando Mendoza, other 2026 NFL draft prospects did in Week 8
Reporting by Chris Easterling, Akron Beacon Journal / Akron Beacon Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
