Dawgs By Nature
Arch Manning will be the big name but the 2026 NFL draft has a long list of top QB prospects heading into summer
The Cleveland Browns are a few weeks away from training camp and questions abound for the team, including around the quarterback position. Best case, the Browns hit on one of their two young QBs (Dillon Gabriel and/or Shedeur Sanders), freeing up GM Andrew Berry to use their two first-round picks in a variety of ways.
Most believe that Cleveland is likely to be selecting their next franchise quarterback, and the one to lead the team on the field at the new Brook Park domed stadium, in the 2026 NFL draft. Arch Manning will be the big name, but he’s shown very little on the field and could return to college for another season.
Most NFL mock drafts are too early, heck, we supplied one the day after this year’s draft ended, but ESPN is back with a summer edition mock draft that gives the Browns a quarterback and an offensive tackle. Matt Miller notes that he expects Manning to return to Texas for the 2026 season, which gives Cleveland a different quarterback with the top pick (ie, Browns predicted to finish with the worst record by ESPN’s FPI):
Klubnik enters the season as my No. 1 QB. In 2024, he threw for 3,639 yards, 36 touchdowns and six interceptions, highlighted by a gutsy performance against Texas in the College Football Playoff (336 passing yards, three TDs, one INT). Klubnik reminds me of Baker Mayfield — whom Cleveland selected with the No. 1 pick in 2018 — in terms of arm strength, mobility and playmaking awareness.
Depending on your stance on Mayfield, that comparison will lead to some strong responses. Klubnik has been near the top of most analysts' boards since the end of the college season. In Miller’s mock draft, the next quarterback off the board comes at the eleventh pick, LSU QB Garrett Nussmeier.
With the very next pick, the one acquired from the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Browns add a tackle, Utah’s Caleb Lomu:
With right tackle Jack Conklin slowing down and unproven Dawand Jones set to start at left tackle, it was a bit surprising that the Browns punted on the position in the 2025 draft. But 2026 looks deeper in true left tackle prospects, and Lomu is a player with considerable growth potential. He performed well as a redshirt freshman, allowing three sacks and committing one penalty. Lomu should break out further in 2025, with his easy movement ability in the run game and quick reaction time in pass protection. While Lomu isn’t currently OT1, he has top-five potential if he expands on what he showed last season.
In Miller’s mock draft, Lomu is the fourth tackle off the board with three selected in the top 10.
***How would you feel about Klubnik and Lomu added to the Browns next offseason? Any other quarterbacks you are hoping wear the brown and...
