Drew Mestemaker is Already Making a Big Impact on Oklahoma State

Former North Texas quarterback Drew Mestemaker committed to Oklahoma State on Saturday, not only reuniting Eric Morris with his QB, but immediately raising the ceiling for the Cowboys’ 2026 season and moving forward.

How all of that plays out on the field remains to be seen, but as of January 2026, he may be the biggest QB commitment ever at OSU.

On3, 247Sports and ESPN rank Mestemaker as a Top 3 quarterback in the portal this cycle. I guess it all comes down to how you quantify “biggest,” but I think I can make a good case for it.

OSU has pulled higher-rated quarterbacks out of high school, and recruiting hype doesn’t always equate to on-field success. Let’s glance back at some significant QB signings.

Bobby Reid was the highest-rated recruit ever to sign with OSU, but the Cowboys had mixed results with him taking snaps before he lost the job to Zac Robinson and transferred.

Brandon Weeden was about as highly esteemed a recruit as Mestemaker was when he walked on at UNT (a couple of zero-star high school prospects) and he became the most successful and arguably best quarterback in school history.

A case could be made that convincing Mason Rudolph to return for his senior season between 2016 and 2017 was the best QB recruiting Mike Gundy ever did. It resulted in a 10-win season and Rudolph leading the FBS in passing and setting the record books ablaze.

But this time the Cowboys are bringing in the nation’s reigning leading passer who just captained the best offense in the FBS (No. 1 in scoring and total offense). Plus, he will be playing for coaches he knows in the same offensive system that led to all that success. And he’s got three years of eligibility remaining.

There are countless others that came in with a lot of hype to varying degrees of success. Your Spencer Sanders’s and J.W. Walsh’s and Alex Cate’s. But that’s kind of the point. Mestemaker is way more of a known quantity than someone coming out of high school, and he’s already starting to bring some of his friends.

Much like Rudolph and James Washington seemingly returned for 2017 as a package deal, Mestemaker’s already set to be joined by a slew of his old Mean Green teammates including his two of his top targets Wyatt Young and Miles Coleman as well as his RB1, Caleb Hawkins. His impact as the first domino to fall can’t be understated.

If being one of the top transfer prospects in the nation, or his ability to help recruit other key transfers from UNT and otherwise, isn’t enough, Mestemaker gives the program something it hasn’t had in some time — excitement.

As a quarterback goes, so goes a team, and he led his UNT team to new heights never before experienced. Now, a year more seasoned, he will just look to help get OSU back to its winning ways.

The Cowboys have had their fair share of franchise QBs. It remains to be seen where Mestemaker’s career ranks among the Weeden’s and Rudolph’s and Robinson’s. But his mere commitment to OSU, could have made a bigger impact than any quarterback ever.