π Kiper's 2027 Big Board: Ranking Top 25 NFL draft prospects -- including 7 QBs β SkimNews
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- Mel Kiper debuted his 2027 NFL Draft Big Board, ranking the top 25 prospects roughly halfway through the 2026 college football season; Round 1 is set for April 29 in Washington D.C.
- Jeremiah Smith (WR, Ohio State) sits at No. 1 with 48 catches, 916 yards and 11 touchdowns across six 2026 games, having posted just six drops on 281 career targets
- The 2027 class features seven quarterbacks in Kiper's top 25, led by Drew Mestemaker (No. 2, Oklahoma State), Darian Mensah (No. 4, Miami), Trinidad Chambliss (No. 6, Ole Miss), CJ Carr (No. 8, Notre Dame) and Austin Simmons (No. 10, Missouri)
- Darian Mensah leads the nation in completion percentage (84.2%) and QBR (92.5), with Kiper flagging the Nov. 7 Miami-Notre Dame matchup as a defining test against CJ Carr, who has taken just two sacks all season
- Colin Simmons (Edge, Texas) recorded 5.5 sacks against Tennessee in September and leads the FBS in sacks (9.5), tackles for loss (12) and pressure rate (23.0%)
- Kiper notes Dylan Stewart (Edge, South Carolina) β ranked No. 9 β has elite traits but missed time for a back injury and a one-game suspension for punching an Alabama player, leaving his production-to-traits gap unresolved
Why it matters: The 2027 class's defining trait is quarterback depth: Kiper has seven QBs in his top 25, with Mensah (84.2% completion rate) and Carr (two sacks taken all season) about to face each other head-to-head on Nov. 7 β a result that could reorder the entire QB tier. Meanwhile, Smith has separated as a clear-cut No. 1 with zero drops on 281 career targets, giving QB-needy teams a generational wide receiver anchor while they sort out the deepest signal-caller pool in years.
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