The Indiana Hoosiers had a Heisman-winning quarterback for the first time in program history. Unfortunately, his college football career had come to an end, and he was selected No. 1 overall in the NFL Draft a few months later. Indiana turned to the transfer portal to find its replacement, landing Josh Hoover. Despite the massive shoes he has to fill, top college football analyst Joel Klatt believes Hoover could be even better positioned for success than Fernando Mendoza was before his breakout season, thanks to one key similarity in their playing styles.

“So, I think he is in a better position to start the year than the previous two Indiana quarterbacks,” Fox Sports’ analyst Joel Klatt said, as he listed his top 10 QBs ahead of the 2026 season, on his eponymous The Joel Klatt Show. “And we see exactly what they were able to do, including one of the greatest seasons that we’ve seen in a long time from Fernando Mendoza a year ago. Hoover can run, he can do a lot of different things.

“By the way, I mentioned the great fit. Nobody threw more RPO passes than Mendoza a year ago in college football, run-pass option passes. Second on that list was Josh Hoover. He does what they’re going to do, and they’ve got Mike Shanahan back as offensive coordinator. They’ve got Cig there, they’ve got a good core of wide receivers,” Klatt added.

Klatt ranked Hoover No. 9 on his list of the best college quarterbacks, with LSU Tigers quarterback Sam Leavitt ranking behind him. But as if that were not enough, he also ranked Hoover above Indiana’s previous two quarterbacks, Kurtis Rourke and Fernando Mendoza, based on their rankings before their breakout seasons.

Rourke transferred to Indiana from the Ohio Bobcats after a season in which he recorded 3,256 passing yards and 25 touchdowns. According to Klatt, that was not enough to rank him above Hoover. Rourke then went on to have a brilliant season at Indiana, throwing for 3,042 yards, 29 touchdowns, and five interceptions as the program finished with a 10-2 record.

Curt Cignetti seems to have a secret for getting his starting quarterbacks via the transfer portal. Mendoza entered the 2025 season after joining Indiana from the California Golden Bears. In the previous season, he threw for 3,004 yards and 16 touchdowns, with a 68.7% pass completion rate. Again, this was not enough to rate him above Hoover. In fact, Mendoza was missing from Klatt’s top 10 QBs of 2025, with the likes of Garrett Nussmeier, Luke Altmyer, LaNarrois Sellers, and DJ Lagway all rated above the eventual Heisman Trophy winner. Mendoza finished the season with 3,535 yards, 41 touchdowns, and six interceptions.

Not to say that Klatt’s predictions are inaccurate, but preseason predictions are often made based on previous performances. That said, countless players have defied the odds to put up brilliant performances that are in stark contrast to their norm. We have also seen players perform woefully despite high expectations. At the time, Mendoza’s team finished with a losing 6-7 record, which would have done further damage to Mendoza’s rating at the time.

Hoover makes Klatt’s top 10 list, benefiting from both his individual brilliance and Indiana’s consistent track record of making the most of quarterbacks who transfer. He is already being tipped as the next big thing, seeing how well things went for his predecessor. The 2025 record that earned him a better rating than Mendoza was 3,472 passing yards, 29 touchdowns, and 13 interceptions.

Hoover has great arm strength, deep ball accuracy, and quick processing, with an average time of 2.54 seconds to throw. And having similarities with Mendoza, blending into the Hoosiers’ system should be no hassle for Hoover. But there comes the elephant in the room that even Klatt could not ignore.

The analyst pointed out his turnovers, with 33 interceptions over three years with the TCU Horned Frogs. That does not seem like a good record for someone who has been rated above Golden Bears’ Mendoza. Or maybe it is just fine to expect turnovers from a player named Hoover. However, Klatt reiterated Cignetti’s statement regarding that and assured that there was little to worry about.

Sonny Dykes on Hoover’s turnovers

Hoover’s former coach at Texas Christian University, Sonny Dykes, is not exactly pleased to have lost his quarterback, and he showed it with his comments after Hoover left the program following four years there. Hoover holds the record for the most single-season passing yards (3,949 yards) in TCU history and is the returning quarterback with the most passing yards in the country (9,629 yards and 79 touchdowns). Despite those accomplishments, Dykes focused on his turnover numbers and slammed him for them.

“Look, numbers are numbers and stats are stats. For us, I think Josh started 31 games here as a quarterback, and we turned the over 40 — he turned the ball over 42 times in those 31 starts,” Dykes said on Frogs Today.

“You look at the teams that played for a national championship, you look at Indiana this year, they were number one in the nation in turnover margin. There were +22 in turnovers and No. 2 in fewest penalties. And so that’s what we need to become. We need to be a team that doesn’t turn the ball over. I felt like the last three years we’ve turned it over way too much.”

Cignetti responded and reminded Dykes what Hoover lacked in TCU: “a great defense and a really good run game”. These are two qualities the Hoosiers possess that should help reduce their turnovers in 2026.

For Klatt, Hoover’s fit within Indiana’s offense outweighs the concerns about his turnover history. And with Cignetti having already turned transfer quarterbacks like Kurtis Rourke and Fernando Mendoza into success stories, Hoover now has the opportunity to prove that he can be the next name on that list.