How They Got Here: 2026 NFL Combine QBs
From their high school accolades (or lack there of) to being on the doorstep of acheiving their dreams
The football world descends on Indianapolis this week for the annual Underwear Olympics, aka the NFL Draft Combine. As per normal, the quarterback position takes center stage with 16 prospects auditioning for their dream job. While not all 16 will be throwing this week, the projected top picks often sit out that portion out and await their on campus Pro Day, they will all be looking to make a good impression with the various coaches, GMs and scouts in attendance.
What’s cool about this group is not just where they’re going but where they came from. Some were 5-star recruits out of high school who starred at blue blood programs. There are ones that sat the bench early in their college careers who either bided their time before breaking out or needed a new home to showcase their talents. But this class also boasts a few gunslingers who left high school with ZERO expectations and took the road less traveled.
With that, we take a look at those 16 prospects through the prism of their high school recruiting classes (all rankings via 247 Sports)
Class of 2022
Drew Allar - Penn State
A 5-star recruit and the #1 QB prospect in his class, expectations are nothing new to Allar. The Medina, Ohio native was originally a 3-star recruit when he committed to Penn State and did not receive an offer from his boyhood dream school Ohio State until later in the process.
As a true freshman, he backed up now-Bengals QB Sean Clifford and appeared in 10 games. With Clifford off to the NFL, Allar started every game the next 2 seasons with a 25/2 TD/INT ratio as a sophomore and he led the Nittany Lions to the semifinals of the CFP as a junior. The Penn State QB decided to return for his senior season in 2025 for what many considered to be a national title contender. Unfortunately after a 3-0 start, PSU lost their next 3 games with Allar as the starter before he suffered a season-ending ankle injury in the loss to Northwestern.
Cade Klubnik - Clemson
Another 5-star QB who was the #2 QB prospect in the Class of 2022 and came to prominence through one of the biggest QB factory high schools in the country. At Westlake High School in Austin, Texas, Klubnik set the school’s career record for career passing yards and touchdowns - surpassing the stats for NFL quarterbacks Drew Brees, Nick Foles and Sam Ehlinger. The summer before his senior year of high school, he was also named MVP of the Elite 11. While already having been offered by many top schools across the country, Klubnik committed to Clemson just days after receiving their offer and was an early enrollee with the Tigers.
Like Allar, Klubnik was primarily the backup as a true freshman behind DJ Uiagalelei. He came off the bench in the 3rd quarter against Syracuse to rally Clemson from a 21-10 deficit into a 27-21 victory and also replaced DJU early in the ACC Championship Game before taking over as starter in the Orange Bowl. Klubnik started all but 1 game over the next 3 seasons, ending his career with a loss, ironically enough, to an Allar-less Penn State squad in the Pinstripe Bowl. He leaves Clemson 3rd all-time in passing yards (10,123), 4th in pass TD (73) and a 2-time MVP of the ACC title game.
Ty Simpson - Alabama
There were four 5-star QBs in the Class of 2022 and Simpson, the #4 QB prospect in that class, joins Allar & Klubnik in attending this year’s Combine (Texas A&M signee Conner Weigman is returning for his 2nd season at Houston in 2026). The son of UT Martin head coach Jason Simpson, he was first offered a scholarship while in 8th grade by Jim Harbaugh at Michigan. A highly sought after recruit by his home state Volunteers among others, he signed with rival Alabama as an early enrollee.
Simpson entered a crowded QB room in Tuscaloosa and saw action in just 4 games as a true freshman behind reigning Heisman Trophy winner Bryce Young and Jalen Milroe. He spent the next 2 seasons as Milroe’s backup and through 3 seasons had appeared in 16 games but with just 50 pass attempts and 0 pass TD. But in 2025, Simpson took center stage as the starter as he led the Crimson Tide to an 11-4 record including a win over Oklahoma in the 1st round of the CFP.
Fernando Mendoza - Indiana (previously California)
While Allar, Klubnik and Simpson were all anointed as The Next Big Thing in high school, our 4th and final member of the Class of 2022 attending the Combine this year took a much different path to glory. The #134 QB prospect in his high school class, the Miami native had no FBS offers and was committed to Yale before a late flip to Cal right before Signing Day. And while his dad was a high school teammate of Mario Cristobal, the 3-star recruit did not receive an offer from Cristobal’s predecessor at Miami, Manny Diaz.
After redshirting as a true freshman, Mendoza began the 2023 season as the 3rd string QB for the Bears behind Ben Finley and Sam Jackson but took over the starting job in Week 6. Despite topping 3,000 pass yards in 2024 and a dramatic win over rival Stanford, he was on the move at the end of the season and entering the transfer portal. Mendoza chose Curt Cignetti and his upstart Indiana program and delivered the Hoosiers a season they will never forget. A Heisman Trophy, MVP of the Big Ten Championship Game and a 16-0 national championship season all while beating Cristobal and the Hurricanes in his hometown for the title.
Class of 2021
While three of the four 5-star recruits in this class are already in the NFL (Quinn Ewers, Caleb Williams & Drake Maye) there are still several top prospects from the Class of 2021 in Indianapolis this week.
Behren Morton - Texas Tech
The #11 QB prospect in the class and #104 overall prospect, grew up about 2 hours outside of Dallas where he became starting QB at Eastland High School as a freshman where his dad was the head coach. He picked up his first offer from USC in April 2019 and committed to Texas Tech that October before signing with the Red Raiders in December 2020.
At the time, the highest rated QB signee in school history, Morton played in 2 games as true freshman before redshirting. He began 2022 as the 3rd string quarterback behind Tyler Shough and Donovan Smith, taking over as the starter after both were injured. In 2023, he again began as the backup but after a broken fibula ended Shough’s season, Morton went 6-2 as the team’s QB1 down the stretch. The Red Raider signal caller threw for over 3,300 yards and 27 scores as the full-time starter in 2024 before leading the team to an historic season in 2025 as they won the Big 12 and made the CFP for the first time in program history.
Garrett Nussmeier - LSU
Nussmeier spent his childhood always on the move, living in 8 different states and Canada, due to his father Doug’s life as an in-demand offensive coordinator (he’s currently plying his trade with the New Orleans Saints). The #19 QB prospect in the Class of 2021 was born in Louisiana but finished his high school career in Texas. His first offer came from LSU in June of 2018, the year after his dad had been OC at rival Florida, and committed to the Tigers nearly 2 years later in May 2020.
As a true freshman, Nussmeier played in 4 games behind Max Johnson (who became the starter due to a preseason injury to Myles Brennan). While Johnson transferred out, Jayden Daniels transferred into Baton Rouge from Arizona State and became the starter for 2 seasons, including his 2023 Heisman winning campaign. Nussmeier played in 14 games as Daniels’ backup those 2 years. 2024 became his chance to start and he took advantage, leading LSU to a 9-4 record with over 4,000 yards passing. Nussmeier opted to return for his redshirt senior season, and despite completing a career-high 67.4% of his passes was limited to 9 games (5-4) due to injuries.
Sawyer Robertson - Baylor (previously Mississippi State)
Like Morton & Nussmeier, Robertson was a 4-star recruit out of Texas and the #21 QB in that high school class. The Lubbock native received his first offer from in-state SMU in October 2018 but he committed to Mike Leach and out-of-state Mississippi State in March 2020 before signing there that December. Leach’s staff had previously offered Robertson a scholarship at Washington State in September 2019.
Robertson spent 2 seasons in Starkville, redshirting in 2021 and then playing 5 games as the backup in 2022, before entering the transfer portal following the death of Coach Leach. He decided to return home to Texas to suit up for Baylor. After making 4 starts in place of the injured Blake Shapen in 2023, Robertson became the starter in Week 3 of the 2024 season and never looked back. In his last 2 seasons, he became the 3rd QB in program history to have back-to-back 3,000 yard seasons and is 4th on the school’s career passing leaders despite only being there for 3 seasons.
Luke Altmyer - Illinois (previously Ole Miss)
The #30 QB prospect in the Class of 2021 was a 4-star recruit from Starkville who signed to play with in-state rival Ole Miss under Lane Kiffin. Altmyer had previously committed to Mike Norvell and Florida State in February 2020 before flipping his commitment that December. After playing just 7 games during his COVID impacted senior season of high school, Altmyer wanted to stay in his home state.
In 2 seasons with the Rebels, Altmyer appeared in 9 games with 1 start. After backing up Matt Corral as a true freshman, he began the 2022 season as the backup to Jaxson Dart. Altmyer made his first career start in Week 2 but was injured in the 2nd quarter and Dart remained the starter for the rest of the season. Following that season he entered the transfer portal and headed north to Illinois. While the starter for all 3 of his seasons in Champaign, Altmyer was limited by injury to 9 games in 2023. He finished his Illini career in the school’s career top 5 in pass yards, pass TD, wins and completion percentage. Illinois was 14-2 in games when he threw multiple touchdown passes.
Taylen Green - Arkansas (previously Boise State)
A 3-star recruit of Lewisville, Texas, Green was the #43 QB recruit in the Class of 2021. The dual threat quarterback committed to Boise State in the summer of 2020 over schools like San Diego State and Wyoming and then made it official that December on Signing Day.
After playing in 2 games in 2021 as the backup to Hank Bachmeier, Green started the 2022 season again as Bachmeier’s backup. But the senior was injured in Week 4, opening up the door for Green to take over and he led the Broncos to an 8-2 mark in his 10 starts and reaching the Mountain West title game as the conference’s Freshman of the Year. The next year, the team went 7-5 but avenged their loss in the MWC Championship Game with Green as the game’s MVP. But just 2 days later, he entered the transfer portal and within a week had committed to Arkansas. While he only picked up 9 wins in his 25 games with the Razorbacks, 11 of the 16 losses came by 10 points or less.
Cole Payton - North Dakota State
Coming out of Westside High School in Omaha, Payton was the 2021 Nebraska Gatorade Player of the Year. But outside of walk-on spots at Iowa State and Nebraska, there were no FBS offers for the 2-star recruit. So the #245 QB recruit in his high school class packed his bags for FCS powerhouse North Dakota State.
In his first 4 seasons in Fargo, Payton was mostly a backup quarterback who was used in various packages to get him rushing attempts including one start as a tailback in 2024. In fact, he had more rush attempts than pass attempts in each of those seasons. However his final season with the Bison was a record setting one. Payton led NDSU to a 12-1 record and finished 3rd in voting for the Walter Payton Award (top offensive player in FCS) while setting the school’s single-season records in pass efficiency, yards per pass attempt, total offense yards per game and per play. He graduates as the NDSU’s career record holder in completion percentage, pass efficiency and yards per pass attempt
Class of 2020
The Class of 2020 has already seen a pair of 5-star recruits become high NFL Draft picks in Alabama’s Bryce Young (Panthers) and Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud (Texans). But most of the rest of the top 20 QBs in that class have not had much success on the next level - as of yet…
Carson Beck - Miami (previously Georgia)
The #13 QB prospect in the Class of 2020 has had quite the journey in college football, including 3 trips to the CFP National Title Game. As a sophomore in high school, the Jacksonville native committed to Florida to play baseball before rededicating to football and choosing Alabama in the summer of 2018. But a coaching shakeup in Tuscaloosa hampered Beck’s connection with the staff and he decommitted in February 2019, before pledging to Georgia a month later.
In his first 3 seasons in Athens, Beck sat behind JT Daniels and Stetson Bennet but did win 2 CFP National Titles. He took over starting duties in 2023 and led the Bulldogs to a 13-1 record but the loss to Alabama in the SEC Championship Game ended their hopes of a three-peat. In 2024, Beck brought the Dawgs back to the SEC championship and while Georgia won the game Beck was injured late in the game and was unavailable for the College Football Playoffs. That wound up being his final game playing for Kirby Smart, as he entered the transfer portal and flew south to Miami. In his lone season under Mario Cristobal, Beck took the Hurricanes to the national title game while topping 3,400 pass yards for the 3rd straight season.
Haynes King - Georgia Tech (previously Texas A&M)
Another SEC to ACC transfer, King began his pursuit of greatness as the #10 QB prospect in the Class of 2020. A 4-star recruit hailing from Longview High School in East Texas, King decided to stay local by committing to Texas A&M in July 2019.
After playing just 2 games as a true freshman sitting behind Kellen Mond, King earned the starting spot in 2021. But he was injured early in the 2nd game and missed the rest of the season with a leg fracture. King returned to start the season opener in 2022, but injuries again limited him to 5 starts and at the end of the season entered the transfer portal and headed off to Georgia Tech. In 3 seasons in Atlanta, King started all 36 games he appeared in while showing off his skills as a thrower and a runner. He was named ACC Offensive Player of the Year in 2025 after throwing for 2,951 yards, rushing for 953 more and reaching double digits in both pass TD (14) and rush TD (15) while finishing 10th in the Heisman voting.
Jalon Daniels - Kansas
While many actors come to LA from the Midwest to get famous, the #147 QB recruit in the Class of 2020 took the opposite approach. A 3-star recruit from Lawndale High School in Southern California, Daniels was overshadowed by local standouts Bryce Young and DJ Uiagalelei - but it was Daniels’ team who won the state championship in 2018. He committed to Middle Tennessee State in October 2019 but flipped his commitment to Kansas on Signing Day in December.
As a true freshman, Daniels started 6 games for a team that finished the season 0-9 and in 2021 played in 6 games while starting the final 3 games. Things started cooking for Daniels in 2022 as he earned the starting nod to begin the season and the Jayhawks started 3-0 for the first time since 2009. After winning their first 5 games, Daniels started getting mentioned as a Heisman dark horse before a shoulder injury derailed the season and caused him to miss 4 of the final 8 games. The 2023 Big 12 Preseason Player of the Year was again limited by injuries, appearing in just 3 games for the Jayhawks. Daniels returned to full strength in 2024 and started all 24 games over the last 2 years. He finished his Kansas career 2nd on the school’s list in passing yards, passing touchdowns and became the 2nd player in school history to reach 10,000 career yards of total offense.
Diego Pavia - Vanderbilt (previously New Mexico State & New Mexico Military Institute)
A 0-star recruit out of Volcano Vista High School in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Pavia has had the least likely path to the NFL Combine. At 5’9”, he received no D1 scholarship offers and only two D2 schools offered him a chance to play quarterback. Instead, he decided to play JUCO football at the New Mexico Military Institute in Roswell.
Pavia spent 2 seasons at NMMI and led the school to the NJCAA National Championship his 2nd year there. In fact, their win over Iowa Western in the title game convinced the New Mexico State coaches to offer him a scholarship over the QB he had just beaten. Pavia then spent 2 years with the Aggies where again the 2nd year was transformational with over 2,900 pass yards and 900+ rush yards in a 10-win season including a NMSU upset at Auburn. From there, Pavia used the portal again to move on to Vanderbilt. In year 1, he lead a win over #1 Alabama for Commodores 1st ever win over a Top 5 team. Year 2 was again extraordinary as he finished 2nd in the Heisman voting and led Vandy to its first ever 10-win season.
Class of 2019
Hard to believe that a high school QB class once headlined by Spencer Rattler, Jayden Daniels and Bo Nix would still have prospects attending this year’s NFL Combine. But in a post-COVID world, this sport still has a few outliers.
Joey Aguilar - Tennessee (previously UCLA, Appalachian State, Diablo Valley College and City College of San Francisco)
A 0-star recruit out of Freedom High School in Northern California, Aguilar had no offers out of high school and enrolled at City College of San Francisco. After redshirting as a true freshman, his 2020 season was canceled due to COVID and he considered giving up football to become a fireman. Instead he transferred to nearby Diablo Valley College where he took over as the starter midway through the 2021 season. Despite missing a month with a shoulder injury in 2022, Aguilar was still able to pass for nearly 3,000 yards and following the season was able to transfer to Appalachian State.
He spent 2 seasons with the Mountaineers, surpassing 3,000 yards in each of them. Following the 2024 season, Aguilar decided to transfer to UCLA. But once Nico Iamaleava decided to leave Tennessee for UCLA, Aguilar chose to enter the portal again and replace Iamaleava in Knoxville. In his one year with the Vols, he surpassed 3,000 yards for the 3rd straight year while leading Tennessee to an 8-5 record. Aguilar sued the NCAA for an extra year of eligibility but his bid was denied and he’s now attending the Combine instead.
Joe Fagnano - UConn (previously Maine)
Another 0-star recruit, this one grew up in the home of the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Fagnano had 2 offers out of high school and chose Maine over Bucknell.
Fagnano arrived at Maine as a walk-on but impressed enough in his first training camp to earn a full scholarship and the backup QB job. Due to an injury to the starter, he actually started 6 games that season with a 4-2 record and a 17/3 TD/INT ratio. Maine’s 2020 season was moved to the spring of 2021 in which Fagnano played all 4 games but an ankle injury limited him to just 4 games that fall. In 2022, he spent his final season at Maine with by far his best as he eclipsed 2,000 yards passing and 18 total TD (15 pass, 3 rush) in 11 games. He transferred to UConn to play for Jim Mora in 2023 and was named starting QB but after 2 games was ruled out for the year with a shoulder injury. Fagnano returned for 2024 where he started 6 games before being granted a 7th year of eligibility due to his injuries and the COVID-shortened season. 2025 saw him reach new heights as a darkhorse Heisman candidate who threw for nearly 3,500 yards with 28 touchdowns.
 | A guest post by
|
Nice write-up! Lots of interesting “roads traveled” to get to the combine. I’m kind of liking Joey Aguilar’s grit and his resilience. Not too sure what he real chances are, but I wish him luck.