‘Punt’ on this year’s quarterback draft class, take Jeremiah Smith, says college football expert Brooks Austin
While the NFL Draft isn’t until next April, that never stops general managers, scouts and even fans from opining on what their teams will do in the spring.
It’s the main reason why mock drafts exist and are created nearly a year in advance, because everyone is dying to know who their favorite team is going to select with their first round pick.
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Of course, because it’s the most important position on the field, the quarterback draws the most amount of eyes when it comes to the first round of the draft, and the 2027 edition is no exception.
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There are several draft-eligible signal callers who are generating plenty of buzz, but one expert thinks this might be the year to skip out on the position altogether if a team holds a top pick.
Miami Hurricanes quarterback Darian Mensah (10) celebrates a touchdown during the first half against the Florida State Seminoles at Hard Rock Stadium on Oct. 17, 2026, in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)
Brooks Austin has made a living studying college football film, so much so that he’s earned the moniker “The Film Guy.”
His YouTube channel, “The Film Guy Network,” has over 135,000 subscribers, and he’s recently parlayed that into a partnership with the college football media giant On3.
Suffice to say, Austin knows ball, so when I sat down with him to talk about the college game, and more specifically, the quarterback class for the 2027 NFL Draft, he gave a surprising assessment.
“Can I punt on the entire class,” he asked, half jokingly.
As Austin points out, there are some solid quarterbacks in this class, but none are the “can’t miss” prospects that would necessitate a top-five pick like in years past.
Most experts figured Oregon’s Dante Moore would be the first QB off the board in ’27, given he was already projected to go high last year before deciding to return to Eugene.
An injury might have derailed that for Moore, but as Austin points out, the injured Duck wasn’t without some limitations of his own even before exiting for the season.
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Quarterback Dante Moore #5 of the Oregon Ducks warms up during a media timeout in the second half of the game against the Boise State Broncos at Autzen Stadium on September 5, 2026 in Eugene, Oregon. (Photo by Ali Gradischer/Getty Images) (Ali Gradischer/Getty Images)
“Dante Moore is a really good football player,” he explains. “But (he) gets stuck on reads and makes his mind up pre-snap, and that scares me. He’s also a little up and down, like from a fundamental standpoint, from a mechanics standpoint, he just kinda gets away with a lot of it in college football.”
Moore wasn’t the only one giving Austin some pause.
Ole Miss’s Trinidad Chambliss, one of the preseason Heisman favorites, has had a fine season statistically, but his build makes Austin nervous about him at the next level.
“I love him, but there are some physical questions about that one as well, like, is he gonna work at his stature when we get to the league?”
Mississippi quarterback Trinidad Chambliss passes against LSU during the second half of an NCAA college football game in Oxford, Miss., on Sept. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
Other quarterbacks like Texas’ Arch Manning and LSU’s Sam Leavitt get mentioned as well, with Austin stating question marks about their decision making and turnover problems.
The prospect who Austin believes should go number one overall shouldn’t come as a shock to anyone who watches football on Saturday.
“If I had the number one overall pick, I’d draft Jeremiah Smith,” Austin admits. “And then next year I try to find a quarterback.”
Jeremiah Smith #4 of the Ohio State Buckeyes attempts a catch in front of OJ Frederique Jr. #29 of the Miami Hurricanes in the second quarter during the 2025 College Football Playoff Quarterfinal at the 90th Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic at AT&T Stadium on Dec. 31, 2025 in Arlington, Texas. (Alex Slitz/Getty Images)
Austin explains that Smith, the Ohio State wide receiver, is a “guarantee” and one of the only truly generational prospects we’ve seen in the game since Andrew Luck in 2012.
“I would draft Smith, and I’d be like, ‘I’ve got the best prospect and most known prospect that’s come out of college football… since maybe like Andrew Luck,'” Austin claims. “I would just draft him if I was bad enough to be the number one overall pick.”
