Browns Linked To Promising Qb Prospect In 2026 Mock Draft

Bonisiwe Shabane

-Nov 16, 2025, 3:40 PM

browns linked to promising qb prospect in 2026 mock draft

The Cleveland Browns’ quarterback of the future might not be on the team right now. In fact, he might not even be in the NFL. Cleveland rookies Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel don’t appear to be potential stars, and projections have them as either low-end starters or high-end backups at best. Of course, that can all change once they get a chance, but the Browns could do a lot better at QB, at least on paper. That’s why Brent Sobleski of Bleacher Report believes the Browns will be right back to the drawing board next offseason and will use one of their two first-round picks to land Texas star Arch... The Cleveland Browns lost in humiliating fashion to the New York Jets.

The Browns shut down the Jets for the majority of the game. Unfortunately, the Jets scored on three explosive plays. The score would be too much for the Browns to handle. The team now has the inside track on the second pick in the 2026 NFL draft. The Browns must find a way to pick in the top two selections. The Browns need to find a quarterback in next year’s draft class.

The class is fraying, as quarterbacks Dante Moore of Oregon, Fernando Mendoza of Indiana, and Ty Simpson of Alabama will all decide whether to enter the NFL draft or return to college. If the Browns don’t have a top-three pick, then they have a real shot of losing one of these quarterbacks. In the latest 2026 NFL mock draft, the Browns address the quarterback situation while rebuilding their trenches and increasing their talent in the receiving room. The Browns are set up for eight picks inside the first five rounds. The team will have many opportunities to shore up their weak position groups over draft weekend. Fernando Mendoza was the first quarterback I mocked to the Browns before the season started.

With more than a month left in his junior season, Mendoza is the Heisman award favorite. Mendoza has thrown for 2,342 yards, 26 touchdowns, and five interceptions on 181 completions and 254 attempts. Mendoza turned heads when he turned down top paydays to join the Hoosiers. Mendoza strongly believed that head coach Curt Cignetti knows how to develop NFL quarterbacks. That’s proven to be the case as Mendoza is in the consensus top-three picks in the draft. There's a misconception floating around about the 2026 NFL Draft.

Before this college season kicked off, Texas' Arch Manning, South Carolina's LaNorris Sellers and LSU's Garrett Nussmeier were widely viewed as the top eligible quarterback prospects. Those three haven't quite met the early expectations, which has some people jumping to the conclusion that this is a "weak" QB class. In reality, the rise of Indiana's Fernando Mendoza (my QB1 back in May), Alabama's Ty Simpson and Oregon's Dante Moore has reshaped the board. All three still have remaining eligibility and could theoretically return to school in 2026, but in today's thought exercise, they come off the board quickly -- just not at No. 1 overall. Four teams enter the first round with multiple picks, while just as many have none.

The Browns and Rams dealt away theirs in separate draft-day moves a year ago, and the Jets and Cowboys moved on from Quinnen Williams and Micah Parsons, respectively. To set the stage, here are the current odds to be the No. 1 overall pick (via FanDuel Sportsbook). Reminder: This is the current NFL draft order after Week 10 (via Tankathon). The Browns haven't even started their 2025 NFL season yet, and already they're mocked to take a quarterback with the projected No. 1 pick next April.

After a hectic offseason that saw Joe Flacco win the starting quarterback job over Kenny Pickett, Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel, the Browns still don't feel like a playoff contender and could be right... If Cleveland earns the No. 1 pick in the 2026 draft, ESPN's Field Yates has the team taking a surprising name to finally get their quarterback of the future: Arch Manning. Yes, Archie Manning recently stated that his grandson will stay at Texas for at least two seasons, a belief many in the scouting community share. But ultimately, Arch is eligible to declare in 2026, and if he performs up to his potential, he might just have to consider the NFL leap in this coming draft class. So I'm including him ...

for now. He is inexperienced and needs to add more weight to his 6-foot-4 frame, but it's easy to see his immense ceiling. I know the Browns just drafted two passers this year, but if they are picking first overall next year, then yes, they'll be taking a quarterback. On the other hand, SI's Daniel Flick's 2026 mock draft didn't include Manning at all under the presumption that the young signal-caller wouldn't declare for next year's draft, as his grandfather Archie announced earlier... "Arch isn't going to do that. He'll be at Texas," Archie said, when asked about whether his grandson is planning to enter the 2026 draft.

The Cleveland Browns enter the 2025 season with one of the more polarizing quarterback situations in the NFL, with the likes of Kenny Pickett, Joe Flacco, Dillon Gabriel, and Shedeur Sanders fighting for the... 1 spot. However, a new signal-caller seems bound to call Cleveland home in 2026. Jacob Infante of PFSN agrees. In his recent seven-round mock draft, Infante has the Browns selecting Texas quarterback Arch Manning with the No. 1 overall pick.

"There’s no guarantee that Arch Manning will declare for the 2026 NFL Draft," Infante writes. "He’s a massive unknown at this stage, having only started in two games. But he has an impressive arm, makes smart decisions in the pocket, reads the field well, and offers better athleticism than either of his famous uncles, Peyton and Eli. Although the Cleveland Browns drafted Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders in 2025, neither came with the kind of draft capital that typically signals a long-term commitment. If Cleveland finishes with the league’s worst record, they’d be smart to take a swing at a true franchise QB." Manning hasn't played a ton of college football, which has led many to believe he won't declare for the draft in 2026 and will stay another year at Texas.

However, should he come out, there will be plenty of Browns fans that beg for Cleveland to take him. Be sure to bookmark Cleveland Browns on The Sporting News for all the latest news, interviews, breakdowns, and more! In the most recent 2026 NFL mock drafts, the Cleveland Browns are projected to select a South Carolina quarterback, potentially serving as a long-term solution for their rookie quarterbacks, Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders. This prediction comes during talks about the Browns’ continued quest for a franchise quarterback after a tough 2025 season. In a 3-round 2026 NFL mock draft by Anthony Infante, the Browns are mocked to take Sellers at No. 4 overall.

Infante described LaNorris Sellers as “a big-bodied QB with a rocket arm, tremendous athleticism, and great sack avoidance. He hasn’t taken a giant leap in terms of consistency in 2025, but the flashes of accuracy are absolutely there. An NFL team will bet on the upside and take him in the first round.” Similarly, the NFL draft analyst Nick Baumgardner of The Athletic, the Browns selected Sellers with the No. 6 overall pick. Baumgardner stated, “Physically, Sellers remains — and will remain — the most physically impressive quarterback in the class.

He still needs to show more consistency throughout South Carolina’s SEC schedule and might benefit from another year of school. If his elite, dual-threat flashes become more of the norm, though, he could be the No. 1 pick.” In this prediction, Sellers is the second quarterback to be taken, right behind Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza, who the New Orleans Saints pick up at No. 2. The Cleveland Browns currently own the fourth overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft following their loss to the New York Jets, along with the 19th selection courtesy of the Jacksonville Jaguars.

In this seven-round mock draft, the team takes a swing at a franchise quarterback and spend their first six picks on offensive players. We'll be using NFL Mock Draft Database's simulator for this mock, and the rule is that for each selection, a player must be ranked at or below ten spots higher than the pick slot... This is to create some level of intrigue and variety with each selection, but to also add some degree of reality. Simpson's physical traits will be under scrutiny throughout the pre-draft process, as teams try to determine how high of a selection he is truly worth. However, his performance this year his difficult to argue with, as he's displayed excellent efficiency, throwing 21 touchdowns to only one interception. He's not elite in any area, but he's solid in just about all of them.

He has enough arm strength to make all the throws, accuracy to fit the ball into NFL windows, solid athletic ability to manuever around within the pocket and to create outside of it, and... Simpson is a one-year starter, which is certainly concerning, but the fact that he'll end up having a larger sample size to work with due to the College Football Playoff is a positive. He has a great chance this weekend to further solidify his stock, as the Crimson Tide face a top-10 defense in the Oklahoma Sooners. Simpson may not have the natural talent of a typical top QB prospect, but he's played great football this year, and if the Browns aren't picking first overall, they may not have much of... Billing Simpson as "better than nothing" is selling him short - he's a good prospect with an NFL future. Whether or not he's a true top-five prospect remains to be seen.

The Browns need the Jaguars to continue losing games, otherwise, picking in the 18-22 range isn't going to land then a top offensive tackle or wide receiver prospect. With Jordyn Tyson, Carnell Tate, and Makai Lemon off the board, Denzel Boston from Washington is the next man up. Standing 6-foot-4 209 pounds, he towers over the rest of Cleveland's WR room, offering them size they haven't had in a long time. He uses his frame to his advantage, hauling in 18 of 31 contested catches over the past two years. He's got 730 yards and eight scores on 52 grabs this season, including a 153-yard outburst against Illinois. It’s not too soon for the Cleveland Browns to be thinking about their options in the 2026 NFL Draft.

Tied to that, it’s also never too soon for them to be considering how to fix their quarterback situation. Analyst Matt Wilson recently linked the Browns to a surprising QB prospect. “USC QB Jayden Maiava would look great in a Cleveland Browns uniform,” Wilson wrote on X. USC QB Jayden Maiava would look GREAT in a Cleveland #Browns uniform. 👀 #DawgPound #NFLDraft2026 pic.twitter.com/LziFEUkgWK — Matt Wilson (@CoachWilson66) November 7, 2025

Browns Linked To Promising Qb Prospect In 2026 Mock Draft

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