The Cleveland Browns are still believed to want a quarterback in the 2027 NFL Draft, even with the surprise performance of Deshaun Watson and the potential that he may actually be re-signed to continue his tenure. But Cleveland would still need a quarterback of the future, especially because it looks like they won’t get a proper evaluation of Shedeur Sanders this season.
That is why many fans and analysts are keeping a close eye on college football and the potential QB draft class. The outlook for some of those prospects has changed considerably, which makes the landing spots for the Browns’ two first-round picks even more important.
Insider Tony Grossi has been providing a weekly list of QB prospects, and he has a new No. 1 target for the Browns, moving CJ Carr of Notre Dame ahead of Darian Mensah of Miami.
“We have changes in Tony Grossi’s top 5 college QBs he has his eyes on for the Browns in 2027: 1. CJ Carr, 2. Darian Mensah, 3. Jayden Maiava, 4. Drew Mestemaker, 5. Arch Manning,” ESPN Cleveland posted.
We have changes in @TonyGrossi’s top 5 college QBs he has his eyes on for the Browns in 2027 👀👀👀👀
Thoughts? pic.twitter.com/CnVgSiXRT1
— ESPN Cleveland (@ESPNCleveland) October 13, 2026
Mensah had been at the top of Grossi’s list for a while, but his team did not play this past weekend. After starting the season with more TD passes than incompletions, Mensah came back to reality, but he still has completed 84.2 percent of his attempts with 15 touchdowns, and Miami is undefeated.
Carr led Notre Dame to its sixth straight win with an efficient performance against Stanford. He has thrown 10 TD passes in his past three games on 71 attempts, and he has just one interception this season. However, Carr is not widely seen as a potential top-5 pick, so this list may be more in line with what might be available if the Browns have a .500 record this year.
Grossi also made the noticeable move of dropping Arch Manning of Texas to No. 5, after he was consistently at No. 4. Manning had two late interceptions in a loss to Oklahoma, continuing a troubling tendency of turnovers. Some mock drafts even have him falling out of the first round at this point.
There are likely still many changes ahead for both the Browns and this crop of quarterbacks before the draft arrives next April.
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