We’re still several months away from the 2027 NFL Draft, but Mel Kiper Jr. and Field Yates shared an updated mock draft this week.
Prior to this week’s edition of “ESPN First Draft,” Kiper made it clear that he believes Ohio State wideout Jeremiah Smith is the No. 1 prospect on his big board. He’s currently up to 69 catches for 1,200 yards and 14 touchdowns this season.
“I think that’s pretty much locked in,” Kiper said. “You write that in pen. He’s a great player. We’ve seen it since the freshman year where we would have probably had him in our top three to five overall big board, maybe a little higher. So we’ve been waiting for this moment this year.”
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Kiper has Smith going No. 1 overall to the Los Angeles Chargers. He’d be a welcome addition to that offense, especially since Justin Herbert has been wanting a star wideout for a while now.

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As for the rest of the top five, Kiper and Yates had two quarterbacks coming off the board.
- Chargers – Ohio State WR Jeremiah Smith
- Titans – Texas edge rusher Colin Simmons
- Dolphins – Oklahoma State quarterback Drew Mestemaker
- Jets (via Colts) – Notre Dame quarterback CJ Carr
- Eagles – Notre Dame cornerback Leonard Moore
Drew Mestemaker is building up hype.
ESPN recently asked 25 NFL scouts and executives to name the top quarterback heading into the 2027 draft. Oklahoma State’s Drew Mestemaker received 17 votes in this survey, the most out of any quarterback. Notre Dame’s CJ Carr, meanwhile, received the second-most votes (4).
“Mestemaker seems like the only real choice at this point,” a scout told ESPN.
There’ll be plenty of rumors surrounding the 2027 NFL Draft in the coming months, make no mistake about it. For now though, Smith and Mestemaker seem to be locks to go in the top five.
