Vanderbilt QB Diego Pavia Declares Himself 'Best Player' Ahead of 2026 NFL Draft

Story by

Antonio G Losada

Wed, Jan 28, 2026 ·

3 min read

Former Vanderbilt Commodores quarterback Diego Pavia arrived at Senior Bowl practices in Mobile, Alabama, after declaring for the 2026 NFL Draft in mid-January and carrying the same edge that defined his amateur career.

With NFL evaluators watching seniors throughout the week and with the all-star game scheduled for Saturday, Pavia made it clear he believes his path to the NFL is inevitable.

Pavia is one of six quarterbacks participating in this year's Senior Bowl, and he's already using the practices as his personal platform to answer long-standing questions about his projection at the next level.

Those questions, for one reason or another, keep following Pavia even after he finished as the Heisman Trophy runner-up.

Vanderbilt Commodores quarterback Diego Pavia speaks to the media before the presentation of the Heisman Trophy.© Brad Penner-Imagn Images
(© Brad Penner-Imagn Images)

“A hundred-percent,” Pavia told ESPN when asked if he expects to be drafted. “When has the last SEC player of the year not been drafted? You know what I mean?”

Adding to that uber-confident comment, Pavia went further, making an even bolder claim, declaring himself the "best player" in the nation.

“I feel like you go watch, the tape number speaks for itself. Everything speaks for themselves,” Pavia said. “I feel like I’m the best player in the country, and I still believe that. That’s just the ultimate confidence that I’ve had.”

Pavia’s confidence comes after a historic final season at Vanderbilt . He led the Commodores to a 10–3 record, the first 10-win season in program history , while throwing for 3,539 yards and 29 touchdowns and rushing for 862 yards and 10 more scores.

Pavia also won SEC Offensive Player of the Year and finished as the program’s first Heisman finalist, losing the award to Indiana Hoosiers quarterback Fernando Mendoza .

The Commodores quarterback was measured at 5-foot-9 7/8 and 198 pounds at the Senior Bowl, and he addressed the scrutiny around his size, which has become a focal point of his draft evaluation.

“I just want to show it don’t matter what size you are,” Pavia said. “It’s not the size of the dog in the fight. It’s the size of the fight in the dog.”

The two shortest NFL quarterbacks to be drafted in the modern era — the Carolina Panthers ' Bryce Young and Arizona Cardinals ' Kyler Murray — measured at 5-10 1/8 inches, and the only sub-5-foot-9 quarterbacks selected in NFL draft history are Davey O'Brien and Eddie LeBaron. Doug Flutie was measured at 5-10 when he was drafted in the 11th round of the 1985 draft.

"What an opportunity," Pavia said of the Senior Bowl. "So why not come out and show what I got?"

The Senior Bowl game is scheduled for Saturday in Mobile, with kickoff set for 2:30 p.m. ET on NFL Network.

This story was originally published by Athlon Sports on Jan 28, 2026, where it first appeared in the College Football section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.