Miami Hurricanes' new quarterback Darian Mensah lands on a national top-10 list, showcasing elite accuracy and ball placement. Can he lead the program to glory?
The Miami Hurricanes continue the tradition of acquiring transfer portal quarterbacks, which has been a key to their success in recent years. It started with Cam Ward in 2024, who later became the first pick of the NFL draft, and recently with Carson Beck, who led the program to its first National Championship appearance in over two decades.
The trend lives on after Darian Mensah officially signed with the Hurricanes on Tuesday after settling a dispute with the Duke Blue Devils. He's coming off an excellent season, completing 334 of 500 passes, 66.8 percent, for 3,973 yards, and threw for 34 touchdowns in 14 games.
At this point, most programs have an established or projected starting quarterback in play. In a video uploaded on Tuesday for On3, J.D. PicKell did an early top-10 quarterback ranking list, and had Mensah at seven.
"It is astounding how often he's throwing off platform," he said. "He's throwing off platform accurately, especially downfield. In addition to that, the dude's ball placement is second to none. He's just playing darts and doing so at Duke."
"I wonder a little bit what Darian Mensah would look like behind a top-five caliber offensive line [in Coral Gables, Florida].
The Hurricanes did a tremendous job in protecting Beck from pressures and sacks, especially in the College Football Playoffs. However, there will be key personnel from the offensive line missing next season, such as James Brockermeyer, Francis Mauigoa, Markel Bell, and Anez Cooper, all who've declared for the NFL draft.
Regardless, the program retained Matthew McCoy and Sampson Okunlola. They added Jamal Meriweather through the transfer portal, recently with the Georgia Bulldogs.
Also, five-star recruit Jackson Cantwell will finally showcase his talents in a Hurricanes uniform. It's too early to tell what the production will look like next season, but it should hold strong with Mario Cristobal and Alex Mirabel.
Mensah threw for more touchdowns and more passing yards than all quarterbacks listed ahead of him. He arguably has the best weapons surrounding him, such as star Malachi Toney, Joshua Moore, Cam Vaughn, and Vandrevius Jacobs operating in the perimeter. Plus, having the luxury of Mark Fletcher Jr., CharMar Brown, Jordan Lyle, and Girard Pringle Jr. in the backfield.
The Hurricanes are poised for another National Championship run, especially with early expectations of dominating the ACC. As the College Football Playoff bracket remains at 12-teams for the upcoming season, they could claim an automatic bid by winning the ACC championship, which would be a first in program history.
The last couple of transfer portal quarterbacks have helped improve the Hurricanes and Mensah could be the one to help break the National Championship drought.
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