The 2027 quarterback class starts with Arch Manning and Dante Moore, and PFSN’s Ian Cummings thinks he knows who breaks in behind them. On the latest Hot List, Cummings ranked his top five breakout candidates for the 2027 NFL Draft, and he put Notre Dame’s CJ Carr at No. 1. “If there’s any QB who I could bank on potentially filling that round one gap next year, my money would be on CJ Carr,” Cummings said.
CJ Carr Leads Ian Cummings’ 2027 NFL Draft Breakout Candidates
Carr earned it as a first-year starter. The redshirt freshman completed 66.7% of his throws for 2,741 yards, 24 touchdown passes and just 6 interceptions in 2025, and Cummings pegs his PFSN QB Impact grade as top-25 nationally, comparable to 2026 first-round pick Ty Simpson.
At roughly 6-foot-2, 215 pounds, Carr pairs easy velocity with the arm elasticity to change angles and layer throws, and Cummings values the calculated risk-taking and pocket toughness more than the off-script creation. Another year of reps, in his read, gets Carr to quality NFL starter territory.
Minnesota’s Drake Lindsey lands third, and the appeal is similar. Lindsey went 8-5 as a redshirt freshman starter, a school record for freshman wins, and Cummings zeroes in on the situational numbers, particularly strong late-game EPA production for a first-year passer.
“The clutchness, the processing, the mental acuity is there, and the physical traits are there as well,” Cummings said. At 6-foot-5 and 230 pounds, Lindsey fits the old-school, big-armed pocket profile, though Cummings concedes his lack of creation narrows his fit to certain offenses.
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Charlie Becker checks in at No. 2, and Cummings does not hedge: “Already he’s my wide receiver [2] behind only Jeremiah Smith.” The Indiana receiver barely played until an Elijah Sarratt injury opened the door midway through 2025, then he posted elite efficiency down the stretch, including a zero-drop season and per-target production Cummings ranks near the top of the country.
A Tennessee state champion in the 110 and 300 hurdles, Becker brings rare long speed and short-area burst. The sample is small. The traits and the efficiency are loud.
Melvin Siani, Jayden Bellamy Fill 2027 Class Needs
Cummings’ No. 4, Wake Forest transfer Melvin Siani, addresses a hole the class itself has. Siani started all 13 games at left tackle for the Demon Deacons in 2025 without allowing a sack, then transferred to Texas, where he projects to start opposite potential OT1 Trevor Goosby.
At 6-foot-6 with the length and power Cummings covets, Siani still needs to clean up his hand placement and penalties, but the ceiling is real. “Siani has the elite physical tools and the temperament to be a round one OT breakout that the 2027 class desperately needs,” Cummings said.
The list closes at No. 5 with UCF cornerback Jayden Bellamy, and here Cummings leaned on the data. “I picked Bellamy for this episode for one reason, the analytical indicators,” he said, citing a top-15 PFSN CB Impact score and a stingy 64.3 passer rating allowed. A former Notre Dame recruit who has grown into his game with the Knights, Bellamy led UCF with 8 pass breakups and an interception in 2025. Cummings sees boundary-and-slot versatility and top-50 upside once he adds play strength.
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None of this is settled, and Cummings knows the 2026 season will move his board. But the throughline is clear. The pieces the 2027 class supposedly lacks, a third first-round quarterback and a first-round tackle, might already be on campus. Carr and Siani are Cummings’ bet that the holes fill themselves.
