This Duke Blue Devils star has shared his brutally honest thoughts on the 2026 NFL Draft.
Heading into the 2025 college football season, there weren't a whole lot of people outside of Durham paying attention to Duke Blue Devils quarterback Darian Mensah.
Mensah transferred over to Duke after spending a couple of years at Tulane, and with the Blue Devils not exactly being Ohio State or Alabama, the move didn't generate a whole lot of buzz.
However, seven games into his Duke career, Mensah has certainly raised a whole lot of eyebrows.
The redshirt sophomore leads the ACC in both passing yards (2,211) and passing touchdowns (17) while tossing only two interceptions. He is also completing 70.3 percent of his passes and leads the entire country in passing yards per game (315.9).
As a result, NFL Draft hype is starting to build around Mensah, who could ultimately declare for the class of 2026.
Well, the 20-year-old instantly shut down draft discussions recently, explaining that he doesn't want to allow that to seep into his mindset just yet.
“That’s a bunch of rat poison that can hurt you if you let all that stuff in,” Mensah said, via RG.com.
Duke Blue Devils quarterback Darian Mensah. Credit: D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images.Mensah also added that he thinks he has a whole lot of work to do before he can even begin to start thinking about the NFL.
“There’s a lot of work that needs to be done by me. I’ve got to get this team to where they’re supposed to be going,” Mensah added. “I don’t have the brain capacity to focus on the NFL. Just taking it one game at a time, but hopefully I do end up there (the league).”
Mensah currently has Duke sitting at 4-3. The Blue Devils most recently fell to Georgia Tech back on Oct. 18 and is slated to face Clemson this Saturday.
With Duke fighting for a bowl game, Mensah definitely has other fish to fry right now, so it's understandable that he does not want to spend time pondering over the NFL.
But where does Mensah land among the 2026 quarterback prospects?
While the 6-foot-3 signal-caller has tremendous arm talent, his lack of mobility could ultimately cost him come draft time. Professional teams largely prioritize dual threats in today's modern game, and that definitely isn't Mensah.
But Mensah's ability to throw the ball downfield is so impressive that he should absolutely garner some attention if he does decide to enter the NFL Draft.