Is Dante Moore or Arch Manning the early favorite to be the first pick of the 2027 NFL Draft?

The 2026 NFL Draft hadn't yet wrapped up as of the final Friday of April, but that didn't stop analysts and fans from already speculating about what could occur during the 2027 player-selection process. 

Specifically, some have said that next year's quarterback class could be "maybe the best ever." ESPN's Pete Thamel recently spoke with 10 NFL scouts about which signal-caller could emerge as the top overall pick of the 2027 draft next spring. 

The Dante Moore versus Arch Manning debate has already started

Per Thamel's system, a first-place vote was worth three points. A second-place vote earned the recipient two points, while a first-place vote was worth a single point. Oregon's Dante Moore will enter May atop Thamel's list, as Moore finished with 24 total points. Arch Manning of Texas was second on the list with 16 points. 

It wasn't all that long ago when it seemed Moore would be part of the 2026 draft class. However, he decided to spend another season in college after he endured a nightmare outing during Oregon's blowout loss to Indiana in the College Football Playoff Semifinal back in January. 

How many quarterbacks could become first-round draft picks in 2027?

On Thursday night, Fernando Mendoza and Ty Simpson became the only quarterbacks selected with first-round draft picks. It's been known for months that Mendoza would go to the Las Vegas Raiders as the No. 1 overall choice, but the Los Angeles Rams grabbing Simpson at pick No. 13 was a stunning and controversial move. 

"Conversations with NFL scouts and front office officials indicate that at this early juncture, there's at least 15 quarterbacks who could conceivably be considered in the first-round conversation," Thamel added about the 2027 draft class. 

That said, Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated previously noted that "the 2026 quarterback class once had so much promise" until the members of that class played in actual games this past fall. While Moore, Manning and others could bolster their draft stocks over the final four months of 2026, they and others could also scare teams off by producing lackluster performances in front of national television audiences.