Sophomore Spotlight: Scouting top 2027 quarterbacks

It’s never too early to begin looking at the next stars of College Football, so welcome to the Sophomore Spotlight! Each week Rivals national data analyst Austin Cochran will highlight a number of prospects from each position who made our initial 2027 Rivals250.

We start this week looking at quarterbacks.

Player comparison: Justin Herbert

The top-ranked quarterback in the 2027 Rivals rankings, Haven is dripping with potential. The young five-star has size, athleticism and a big-time arm. Haven throws a beautiful, high arcing deep ball and throws with great finesse, accuracy and ball placement. He’s a great runner.

Perhaps the most impressive thing about Haven, as weird as it is to say, is probably his faults. He’s far from a finished product, and still needs to improve his mechanics in his footwork and his throwing motion. But, even despite that, he still looks this good. He has the potential to be a truly special prospect.

The interest is really starting to ramp for Haven, with Auburn and LSU offering over the past month and Baylor and Florida staying in close contact.

Player comparison: Kyler Murray

Houston is the complete package at quarterback. He has great footwork, a really quick release and throws with great accuracy. The four-star prospect throws with great accuracy at all three levels, has good zip on the ball and can make the off-platform throws and throws from different arm angles. Houston is an elite athlete with great speed, agility and acceleration. The most impressive thing about Houston is how much he has improved over the last year. His mechanics have improved, he’s a better athlete and he makes better decisions. This is what coaches want to see, improvement year to year.

Houston is a high-value target for a lot of programs. Georgia, LSU and Baylor have all offered over him over the last two weeks. He was also in College Station last weekend to watch Texas A&M beat Missouri.

Player comparison: Jared Goff

Edmunds has, perhaps, the best arm talent in the 2027 class. He throws with great power and finesse, while also being able to throw from different arm angles and with anticipation. Edmunds has a lightning quick release and a very compact throwing motion to get the ball out quickly. He shows really good mechanics most of the time, but his feet can get a little off at times and lead to some off passes.

The four-star prospect is what I would call a modern day pocket passer. He won’t ever wow you with his athleticism, but he’s deceptively fast and, if given the opportunity, he can hurt you with his legs.

Edmunds turned a lot of heads last year and really started to blow up this summer on the camp circuit. He has recently narrowed down his recruitment to a top four of Ohio State, Michigan, Texas and Penn State. He visited Ohio State for the third time recently and plans to visit USC this weekend for its game against Penn State. Edmunds also hopes to visit Texas next weekend when the Longhorns host Georgia.

Player comparison: Jordan Love

Nussmeier’s nickname should be “Iceman” because this kid is always cool, calm and collected in the pocket. He will stand in there and take a big hit while delivering a strike. The four-star prospect has excellent pocket awareness and feels where the pressure is coming from like a seasoned pro and does a great job escaping the pocket. He is a really good runner, but is never a run-first guy, he is always looking to pass. He is a lefty with a good arm and throws about as good looking of a ball as a lefty can. Nussmeier has some accuracy problems that come from some issues with his footwork, but all things that can be fixed with time.

Nussmeier has picked up offers from LSU and Washington in recent weeks.

Player comparison: Mark Brunell

In case I didn’t feel old enough already, here comes Phillip Rivers‘ son to make me feel like a dinosaur. Rivers rocks the same No. 17 and has the same funky but effective release as his old man.

Not surprisingly, Rivers has some of the best mechanics in this class of quarterbacks. He plays with a very wide and strong base while keeping his hips and shoulders square. Rivers throws with really good accuracy and ball placement and has a really quick release just like his dad. He also does a good job throwing with anticipation, which is not something you see too often at the high school level.

Rivers’ only offer at this point is from NC State, his father’s alma mater, but more offers are surely on the way.