The Summer Board Audit: 2027 Already Has Three Quarterback Tiers
With no games to settle the argument, July's board shows how we actually read the 2027 class: one receiver on top and three quarterbacks pushing from underneath.
Jeremiah Smith (#1, WR, Ohio State) is still the top name on our 2027 big board, and that tells you everything you need to know about this class. No quarterback has done enough to move a receiver off the top spot. While Dante Moore (#2, QB, Oregon), Julian Sayin (#3, QB, Ohio State), and Arch Manning (#5, QB, Texas) hold three of the first five slots, each one arrives in August carrying a different, unresolved question.
This is our last chance to be clear about what separates them. Once the season starts, a good Saturday against a bad secondary gets mistaken for a tier jump, and a bad half against a real front gets mistaken for a fall. So before the noise, here's how we tier this quarterback class, why a receiver is still our #1, and what the defensive front has to do with all of it.
Tier one is a projection, not a résumé
We have Dante Moore at #2 because he’s the only quarterback in this class entering a second full season as a starter in the same offensive system. That continuity matters. Most QB evaluations go wrong when a player was graded on a scheme that made the reads for him, and the pro game doesn't offer that luxury.
A second year in Eugene means there are no excuses. If his efficiency climbs, the credit is his; if it stalls, the blame is his, too. What we don't have on tape is a lot of volume against pressure. His 2025 film is full of clean pockets and on-schedule concepts, but we need to see what happens when the play breaks down and he has to create. That’s not a knock, just a gap in the evaluation.
Our read is that Moore has the highest floor of the top three quarterbacks but also the least proven ceiling. That's exactly the kind of profile that gets drafted in the top ten and then argued about for the next four years.
Tier two is Sayin
, and the argument is sample size
Julian Sayin (#3, QB, Ohio State) has been featured in national coverage all summer, but we don't scout the headlines. What we see on tape is real: elite accuracy, a quick release that can handle pressure, and the best intermediate ball placement in the class. What’s missing is the volume of full-field, no-help reads that would let us call him a franchise quarterback instead of a very good one playing in a great system.
Ohio State didn't lose any key offensive players to the portal, which is great for the Buckeyes but complicates our evaluation of Sayin. With a supporting cast that clean, every completion has a small asterisk and every incompletion has a big one. He enters the fall with no alibis, which is the fairest situation for a scout but the toughest one for a quarterback.
Arch Manning is a traits casewith a technique bill outstanding
Arch Manning (#5, QB, Texas) is the name everyone knows, but he’s also the one our board treats with the most restraint. The physical tools are absolutely legitimate. His arm can make every throw, and his athleticism shows up late in games after he’s taken some hits. The unresolved issue is what happens when protection breaks down. Under duress, his base gets narrow, his front shoulder flies open, and the ball sails.
Those are fixable mechanics, but they get fixed in November, not in a July mock draft. We have him at #5 not because his ceiling is lower than Moore’s or Sayin’s, but because his range of outcomes is so much wider than either. A class with three quarterbacks in the top five looks deep from a distance, but up close it's just three different bets: continuity, precision, and traits.
Board moves
With no games or open practices, this week's movement is based on conviction, not new evidence. We’d rather just say that plainly than pretend a summer reshuffle is fresh reporting.
- Jeremiah Smith (#1, WR, Ohio State) stays flagged riser — The gap between him and the top five is built on tape, not projection. He's the only player in this class whose worst-case scenario is still a quality starter.
- Julian Sayin (#3, QB, Ohio State) rises — He moves up not because of new information, but the absence of bad news. He had a quiet summer with no injuries, no depth-chart drama, and no scheme changes.
- Carter Smith (#7, OT, Indiana) slips internally — This tackle class is deeper than we thought in the spring. Guys like Trevor Goosby (#10, OT, Texas) and Cayden Green (#14, OT, Missouri) are pushing up from below.
- Cam Coleman (#12, WR, Texas) gives ground — He didn't decline; the receiver group simply filled in around him, and relative value is still value.
The position group that deserves more attention is the defensive front. Dylan Stewart (#6, EDGE, South Carolina), Colin Simmons (#8, EDGE, Texas), and David Stone (#9, DL, Oklahoma) form the densest pocket of talent in our top ten. If the quarterbacks stall—and they stall more often than they surge—this will be remembered as a front-seven class, just like 2019.
Watchlist
- Dante Moore (#2, QB, Oregon) — The first real test comes in conference play. We want to see his decision clock when protection breaks, not just when the design works perfectly.
- Dylan Stewart (#6, EDGE, South Carolina) — His opener could decide whether he’s a first-round edge or the first defensive player off the board entirely.
- Ellis Robinson IV (#11, CB, Georgia) — He’s the corner with the most room to rise in our top 15. If quarterbacks spend the fall avoiding him, he’ll move toward the top five.
- Trevor Goosby (#10, OT, Texas) — He's the measuring stick for a tackle class that proved to be much deeper than the spring consensus.
- David Stone (#9, DL, Oklahoma) — He's the interior lineman most likely to use September to make a legitimate top-five case.
The last word
The truth about this class in July is that we know its shape, but not its final order. We have one receiver above everyone else, three quarterbacks with three separate questions to answer, and a defensive front deep enough to carry the class if the QBs falter. Anyone publishing a settled 2027 top ten right now is selling certainty that doesn’t exist. We’d rather give you the questions and let September provide the answers.
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