Drew Mestemaker Named to Watchlist for Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award

The major award watchlists just keep having Cowboys on them.

After news was announced that Oklahoma State running back Caleb Hawkins made the watchlist for Doak Walker and Wyatt Young made the watchlist for the Biletnikoff, quarterback Drew Mestemaker was one of 27 named to the watchlist for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, given to the nation’s top upper classman quarterback.

As a redshirt sophomore, Mestemaker only barely qualifies, but his three years of college participation overrule his sophomore designation.

OSU was one of only 14 schools to have players on the watchlists for the Doak Walker and Biletnikoff. As far as programs on those two watchlists and the Golden Arm watchlist, only Oklahoma State, Ohio State, Oregon, Texas and Houston have guys on all three.

If you’re on this website, you’ve probably read Mestemaker’s numbers so many times you have them memorized, but just in case, he led the country in passing yards last season with 4,379 yards to go with 34 passing touchdowns. That came in what was Mestemaker’s first full season as a starting quarterback at basically any level of competitive football after he played safety and punted in high school.

This watchlist shows how sneaky good the Big 12 is at the quarterback position this season, as six of the 27 guys on the list are at Big 12 schools, with Mestemaker joining Devon Dampier (Utah), Noah Fifita (Arizona), Avery Johnson (Kansas State), DJ Lagway (Baylor) and Conner Weigman (Houston).

Oregon’s Dante Moore, who will travel to Stillwater in Week 2, was also included on the list.

This is an award a Cowboy has won before, with Mason Rudolph taking home the hardware in 2017. More recent winners include Joe Burrow (2019), Jayden Daniels (2023), Shedeur Sanders (2024) and Diego Pavia (2025).

Here’s the full Johnny Unitas Golden Arm watchlist:

Micah Alejado, Hawaii
CJ Bailey, NC State
Rocco Becht, Penn State
Byrum Brown, Auburn
CJ Carr, Notre Dame
Devon Dampier, Utah
Bishop Davenport, South Alabama
Noah Fifita, Arizona
Kevin Jennings, SMU
Avery Johnson, Kansas State
Sam Leavitt, LSU
DJ Lagway, Baylor
Broc Lowry, Western Michigan
Maddux Madsen, Boise State
Jayden Maiava, USC
Arch Manning, Texas
John Mateer, Oklahoma
Owen McCown, UTSA
Drew Mestemaker, Oklahoma State
Nick Minicucci, Delaware
Dante Moore, Oregon
Marcel Reed, Texas A&M
Julian Sayin, Ohio State
LaNorris Sellers, South Carolina
Gunner Stockton, Georgia
Conner Weigman, Houston
Demond Williams Jr., Washington