Week One of the college football season is in the books and since the Pittsburgh Steelers are in the market for a quarterback in the 2026 NFL draft, we decided to take a look at how the top ones performed and offer up a takeaway for each one.
Garrett Nussmeier – LSU 28-38 230 yards 1 TD
I appreciate how Nussmeier stepped up in a huge showdown with Cade Klubnik. He only averaged 6.1 yards per attempt but he took care of the football and did enough to win.
Advertisement
Cade Klubnik – Clemson 19-38 230 yards 1 int
On the other side of that showdown was Klubnik, who didn’t step up. He forced way too many throws, was off target much of the night and did have one interception. He’s got to bounce back to stay in the fold for top quarterback.
Arch Manning – Texas 17-30 170 yards 1 int 1 TD
We’ve said from the beginning that Manning wasn’t going to declare under any circumstances and Saturday’s performance didn’t help his case. Manning is a work in progress but it’s hard to get too down on him after going against an elite defense right out of the gate.
Advertisement
Drew Allar – Penn State 22-26 217 yards 1 TD
Allar is working to try and be the third or fourth quarterback off the board and a mid-first-round pick. You might look at 217 passing yards and fail to be impressed but he didn’t have a ton of opportunities downfield and he was very accurate working his checks and keeping drives going.
Fernando Mendoza – Indiana 18-31 193 yards 0 TDs
Many draft pundits are calling for Mendoza to be a breakout candidate this season and work his way into the first round. That’s not the quarterback we saw this weekend but with all these guys, they have plenty of time to make up ground.
Advertisement
Sam Leavitt – Arizona State 25-39 257 yards 2 TD 1 int
It’s great seeing Leavitt getting a chance to be the focus of a high-profile offense. He was tremendous as he led the Sun Devils in rushing with 73 yards, added 257 passing yards, and accounted for four total touchdowns.
John Mateer – Oklahoma 30-37 392 yards 3 TD 1 int
Mateer’s transfer to Oklahoma is already proving to be the perfect fit. Granted, it was just Illinois State, and next weekend at Michigan will be a better test, but only 400 yards of offense and four total touchdowns is hard to ignore.
LaNorris Sellers 12-19 209 yards 2 TD
Sellers didn’t play until Sunday, so he had everyone’s attention. The numbers might not be spectacular but some of that fell on his receivers dropping easy passes early in the game. But he and his offense rallied to get the win, even though he had a very light workload.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Wire: 2026 NFL draft: Steelers QB takeaways after Week One of the college football season
