ESPN analyst teases potential blockbuster QB class for 2026 NFL Draft

There may not be many quarterbacks taken in the 2025 NFL Draft on Thursday night, but that likely won't be the case this time next year.

As the 2025 NFL Draft kicks off, there's an expectation that not many quarterbacks will be taken in the first-round. Though there have been drafts in the past that saw five or six quarterbacks taken within the first 32 picks, that's not the projection this time around, as after Cam Ward, we could be waiting before the next quarterback — likely either Shedeur Sanders or Jaxson Dart — come off the board.

However, as we look towards next spring, the chatter may be totally different.

ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky posted ahead of the NFL Draft on Thursday morning, teasing that the 2026 NFL Draft quarterback class could be "loaded."

Why 2026 will be a nice QB class, but not as loaded as some fans believe

There are a few names in the potential upcoming draft class who could make a splash in the 2026 NFL Draft, no doubt. Arch Manning — if he has a big year — could be set up as the consensus No. 1 overall pick in next year's draft.

Behind him, Garrett Nussmeier, Drew Allar, and LaNorris Sellers all have traits that could lead them to be really good professional quarterbacks, but let's not pretend that there aren't questions about any of the four we named thus far. We've never seen Manning play as a full-time starter. Nussmeier, Allar, and Sellers have the tools, but they've all been far too inconsistent.

Cade Klubnik, Nico Iamaleava, Sam Leavitt, John Mateer, and Carson Beck are all wildcards in this discussion. There is reason to believe that Klubnik and Leavitt might be elite college players, but they might not project as first-rounders in the NFL, similar to what we've seen from a few different quarterbacks in the current 2025 draft class. There's no way you could expect an NFL organization to take Iamaleava in the first round right now with all the baggage he's carrying, and Carson Beck is still coming off an injury and we have no clue what to expect there.

It'd be surprising to see Dante Moore or Malachi Nelson taken in the first round, and honestly, both of those guys have a lot of work to do just to become draftable commodities at this point.

So yeah, 2026 will be a nice quarterback class, but there's no way that we can describe it as "loaded" right now with so many questions across the board.

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