As fanbases throughout the NFL await to see how the 2025 NFL Draft class plays out, the 2026 NFL Draft class is now on the clock.
It may be way, way too early to be talking about next year’s draft, but it’s never too early to start evaluating the top prospects who are set to position themselves on the big board. One of those prospects is a quarterback who decided to return to school in 2025. That is Penn State QB Drew Allar who may have been at least a Day 2 pick in this year’s draft.
As one of the top projected quarterbacks entering the 2026 NFL Draft as of mid-Spring, one way, way too early NFL Mock draft has the Nittany Lions gunslinger as the savior at QB in Cleveland. That is if Kenny Pickett, Dillon Gabriel or Shedeur Sanders can’t establish themselves as the solving piece of the Brown’s QB puzzle.
Deshaun Watson and Joe Flacco are also pieces of that logjam, but neither of those two quarterbacks will be expected to be a part of the team come 2026. With Watson likely unavailable for at least most of the season, it leaves an interesting battle between Sanders, Gabriel and Pickett.
The hope is that one of those young QBs can bring some hope to Cleveland. If not, then there is a QB like Allar who could be that hope.
CBS.com has Allar going to the Browns in the top 10
There are a lot of variables and scenarios that can change from now till next April. But if the Browns aren’t much improved from the 4-win team they were at the end of this season, they could have a top 5 pick. They also have Jacksonville’s first round pick in 2026. That leaves a couple of shots at QB if they don’t hit on one in the upcoming season.
In a way, way too early 2026 NFL Mock Draft, CBS.com Josh Edwards has Allar as one of 5 QB’s taken in the first round with the Browns connected to the Penn State star.
He writes:
“Allar is an unrefined product, but he has a lot of the traits that will appeal to NFL teams. The Ohio native grew up wanting to play for Cleveland. The Browns are clearly stockpiling picks to either take their quarterback of choice or move around to get that player. The third-round selection of Dillon Gabriel and fifth-round selection of Shedeur Sanders is not going to change that fact.”
The last thing Browns fans want to hear is the team investing in another “undefined product,” but Allar is coming off a season at Penn State in which he threw for 3,327 yards and 24 touchdowns. With his prototypical size (6-foot-5, 238 pounds), the Ohio native could be the elite arm the Browns are looking for.
As quarterback who has a natural feel for the game and possesses a competitive approach to the game, Allar is a QB the Browns and other QB-needy teams will be looking at. Some may have already scouted him as he was eligible to enter the draft in 2024. While the talent is there, if he can work on his timing and accuracy which at times are inconsistent and sporadic he will excite Browns fans even if Sanders or Dillon show a spark at some point in the season.
If you are a Browns fan, the hope is the team wouldn’t be picking as high as No. 2 in the 2026 NFL Draft, but if they are…at least there is a potential franchise gunslinger there for the taking, whether that is Allar or Arch Manning.