ESPN draft analyst Field Yates left Miami quarterback Carson Beck out of his preseason 2026 first-round mock draft. He projected six quarterbacks in Round 1 but not the Georgia transfer now starting for the Hurricanes.
This is an unfortunate part of reality for Beck as he was thought to be a first round pick during this time last year. Yates even admitted that he had Beck going No. 1 overall in his preseason 2025 NFL Draft. Ironically, that honor went to the man that Beck is replacing in Cam Ward.
"There are a lot of snaps to be played, and plenty of events will alter top prospects' outlooks before Round 1 on April 23. Consider that I had Carson Beck going No. 1 in my preseason mock draft at this time last year, and he ultimately stayed in school and transferred from Georgia to Miami. There are just a lot of unknowns in August."Field Yates
Yates had Arch Manning out of Texas going No. 1 overall in the draft to the Cleveland Browns and then things started to get crazy. At No. 2, he projects that the New York Giants will trade their pick to the New York Jets so they can take South Carolina QB LaNorris Sellers. That is then followed by the Tennessee Titans trading the No. 3 pick to the New Orleans Saints so they can take Clemson QB Cade Klubnik.
The next QB off the board is Sam Leavitt at No. 9 to the Los Angeles Rams who will be picking instead of the Atlanta Falcons (the Rams already own the Falcons pick). Penn State's Drew Allar then comes off the board at No. 11 to the Indianapolis Colts and LSU's Garrett Nussmeier rounds out the first round at No. 16 to the Pittsburgh Steelers.