Tankathon’s latest 2027 NFL mock draft has USC quarterback Jayden Maiava coming off the board in the second round, at pick No. 18 of the round to the Indianapolis Colts, a projection that lands him in the conversation for teams still unsettled at the position.
The Colts fit that description.
Daniel Jones is the starter after returning from a torn Achilles. He completed 19 of 31 passes for 166 yards, one touchdown and one interception in a 41-23 loss to Baltimore in Week 1. Anthony Richardson, the No. 4 overall pick in 2023, is the backup after requesting a trade in the offseason. Riley Leonard is third.
Maiava is listed at 6-foot-4 and 230 pounds. Tankathon ranks him 48th overall and seventh among quarterbacks.
The early 2026 tape is loud. Through three games he is 67 of 83 for 896 yards, 10 touchdowns and one interception, an 80.7 completion rate and a 208.8 passer rating. USC is 3-0.
He went 25 of 29 for 286 yards and two scores against San Jose State, 23 of 25 for 349 yards and three touchdowns against Fresno State, and 19 of 29 for 261 yards and five scores against Louisiana.
That follows a 2025 season in which Maiava threw for 3,711 yards, 24 touchdowns and 10 interceptions, earned third-team All-Big Ten honors and was a Davey O’Brien Award semifinalist.
Career totals: 8,893 passing yards, 62 touchdowns and 27 interceptions in 37 games at UNLV and USC. He was Mountain West Freshman of the Year in 2023 before transferring.
Size and arm talent are the selling points. Evaluators still want cleaner decision-making and fewer of the gunslinger risks that produced 10 interceptions last fall.
A senior season of the efficiency he has shown in September would move him up boards.
The Colts have lived this movie. Richardson’s accuracy never stabilized. Jones won the job in 2025, played well enough to get a new deal, then tore his Achilles in December. Week 1 was his first game back. It looked like rust, not a finished product.
A second-round quarterback in 2027 would not require Indianapolis to sit at the top of the draft. Maiava would arrive as a developmental starter with four years of college starts, not a raw traits bet.
The Jets hold Indianapolis’ 2027 first-round pick, which was part of the Sauce Gardner trade, which makes a second-round flier intriguing. Tankathon updates after every game and factors team needs.
If Jones re-establishes himself, Maiava becomes depth or a trade chip. If Jones is unable to perform like a franchise-caliber quarterback, a 6-4 USC passer with 10 touchdowns in three games could look like the next reset.
The names at the top of the class — Arch Manning, Dante Moore, C.J. Carr — will go earlier. Maiava is the experienced option in the next tier. Indianapolis has spent three years hunting that profile.
