The Cleveland Browns might already have their franchise quarterback on the roster in either Shedeur Sanders or Dillon Gabriel, both of whom were drafted in 2025.
However, it’s also possible neither one pans out. Gabriel didn’t enter the draft with much fanfare, and Sanders had one of the most legendary draft slides in league history and was taken two rounds after the Oregon product.
If neither Sanders nor Gabriel shows enough in 2025, the Browns might searching for another young signal-caller next year, when they could be picking around the top of the draft once again.
One of the top prospects at the position ahead of the 2026 NFL draft is Penn State quarterback Drew Allar, who was recently mocked to the Browns with the No. 1 overall pick in the projections of Ryan McCrystal of Sharp Football Analysis.
“Allar needs to clean up some decision-making mistakes in his game — the final play of his 2024 season being a prime example — but all the traits are there for him to hear his name called early next April,” McCrystal wrote.
Allar’s 2024 season was his best in college. He completed 66.5% of his passes for 3,327 yards and 24 touchdowns to eight picks. The completion rate and yardage amounted to Allar’s best.
The Penn State quarterback showed he can make all the throws after flashing elite deep-ball skills by completing 54% of his passes of 15 or more yards downfield, the third-highest rate among Power Four quarterbacks, McCrystal notes.
Grant Hughes of 247 Sports also ranked Allar as the No. 10 deep-ball thrower in college football entering the 2025 season.
The intriguing thing is, Allar, who has good but not great athleticism to go along with his immense arm talent, didn’t have a great allotment of weapons around him, yet he was still able to post those numbers and help take Penn State deep into the College Football Playoff.
As a result, it’s safe to say Allar hasn’t hit his ceiling yet and could be even better with a superior supporting cast.
There’s still a long way to go between now and the 2026 NFL draft, but if Allar can build on what he did last season in 2025, he could be the first signal-caller selected — and the Browns are a very realistic landing spot for him if they stink it up like many expect them to.
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