Diego Pavia will have to wait to get a chance to prove his critics wrong after the Vanderbilt quarterback went undrafted during the 2026 NFL Draft this weekend in Pittsburgh.
Going into this week’s draft, it wasn’t clear where the QB would land, and he’s the first Heisman Trophy finalist since Jordan Lynch in 2014 to go undrafted, according to The Athletic.
Pavia visited with the Panthers earlier this month, and earlier in the week, ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter reported that other teams “had been doing their own work on him.”
Pavia is coming off a season where he was the runner-up for the Heisman Trophy and threw for 3,539 yards and 29 touchdowns while leading Vanderbilt to a ReliaQuest Bowl appearance and the program’s first 10-win season.
He was named First-Team All-SEC and First-Team All-American, plus SEC Offensive Player of the Year, and won the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award as the best upperclassmen quarterback in college football.
The 5-foot-10 quarterback previously earned SEC Newcomer of the Year honors in 2024 after transferring from New Mexico State.
Pavia helped turn around a Vanderbilt program that had won two games in 2023 and led them to a seven-win season in 2024 and a 10-win campaign last season.
“Can the kid play football?” Vanderbilt teammate Eli Stowers said about Pavia during the school’s pro day. “And Diego was the best player in college football last year. He led the entire country in total yards. I mean, he won 10 games and got us to the point where we had two winning seasons back-to-back after going 2-10 the year before.”
Still, there were questions regarding how Pavia’s game will translate to the pros and his size has also raised some concerns.
And his confidence has gotten him into some hot water.
Pavia told reporters during the combine: “One thing about me is I don’t care what people think about me.”
He also ignited a small firestorm when he wrote “F-All the voters” on a social media post after the Heisman Trophy ceremony.
Pavia later apologized for the post.
One NFC scouting director had told NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero that the “schtick gets old” around Pavia.
“Little bit of Johnny Football (Manziel) — it’s more lore and college bulls–t than it is really true mystique or allure or whatever,” the scouting director said. “I just don’t think he’s overly talented. He’ll bounce around on a couple teams, just because he’s competitive. I think he’s smart and he’ll learn it and all that stuff. But you’ve got a runaround, RPO, college quarterback with an average arm.”
