Arch Manning may end up being the prize of the 2027 NFL Draft class. He may be the betting favorite to be the #1 overall pick. But other quarterback prospects won't be going down without a fight this upcoming season.
NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah is one of the best in the business when it comes to evaluating talent, no matter how far out he's calling his shot. Although everyone and their pet seems to be thinking Arch Manning as the top pick in next year's draft, Jeremiah isn't giving him that distinction without earning it first.
In an interview on The Rich Eisen Show, Jeremiah said that as of right now, he's going with Oregon quarterback Dante Moore over the next Manning prodigy.
Daniel Jeremiah going with Dante Moore over Arch Manning as QB1 of the 2027 NFL Draft
"I'll go with the Oregon quarterback over Arch [Manning]. I'll go Dante Moore."@MoveTheSticks believes that Oregon's Dante Moore can be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2027 NFL draft 👀
— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) April 27, 2026
(via @RichEisenShow) pic.twitter.com/iFujfzIdJB
Our friends over at Saturday Blitz have Manning going 1st overall in their early 2027 NFL Mock Draft, but Moore isn't far behind. He lands with the Arizona Cardinals at the 3rd overall pick (Julian Sayin of Ohio State going 2nd).
And to Jeremiah's point, there is a "show me" element missing from Arch Manning after his 2025 season. It felt like his family basically declared early on last year that he wouldn't be bolting Texas after the season, and that ended up being the case. He got off to somewhat of a rough start, but finished the year very strong and reignited the #1 overall pick hype.
But there were moments last year when folks felt like his chances of being a top pick were fading away quickly.
Moore, on the other hand, would have almost unquestionably been a top-5 pick if he had declared for the 2026 NFL Draft. He was flying off the board early in many of the in-season mock draft exercises we ran, and it's hard to think he would not have gone as high as 2nd overall to the New York Jets.
This might be hyperbolic, but you never know how the offseason process goes, and he could have even contended with Fernando Mendoza to be the #1 pick. He would have at least given the Raiders something to think about.
Jeremiah isn't just throwing out a hot take. Moore completed 71.8 percent of his passes last year with 30 touchdowns and just 10 interceptions on over 400 attempts. But there were obviously things he felt like he wanted to clean up and refine with his game, and he'll get to the next level with even more of what NFL teams seem to really covet nowadays: Experience.
In some ways, you could justify that we've seen more over a longer period from Arch Manning than we have from Moore, but Moore took a bigger leap forward in 2025 than just about any QB in the country.
Over time, I do think we'll see Manning take over the consensus QB1 spot, but none of the other prospects in a loaded class of quarterbacks are just going to lay down and let him take that distinction.
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