Greg McElroy debates whether Darian Mensah can take next step at Miami

With Carson Beck heading to the NFL, Miami reeled in Duke transfer quarterback Darian Mensah this offseason. ESPN’s Greg McElroy recently revealed whether he believes Mensah will be the Hurricanes’ next star behind center.

“This is a big reset, right? What does Mensah really change? Well, I think he changes Miami’s offensive floor,” McElroy said. “Quarterbacks with experience and tremendous accuracy, they reduce some of the chaos for the offense. They get you into the right play more often. They avoid those big turnovers. They let your skilled talent kind of rise to the forefront.

“The more interesting question about the ceiling is: Can Mensah turn Miami into a team that can win those tight games because of their offense against high-level competition? Like we saw him do it with their run game in the postseason last year, but now if you got to throw it to win it, can you do it? Can Mensah deliver?”

Mensah hasn’t given fans any reason to doubt him yet. In the 2025 campaign at Duke, Mensah completed 66.8% of his passes for 3,973 yards and 34 touchdowns compared to just six interceptions.

Darian Mensah’s individual brilliance translated to team success. Duke posted a 9-5 overall record, a 6-2 mark in ACC play and ultimately won the conference.

Mensah was also spectacular at Tulane. As a redshirt freshman in 2024, Mensah completed 65.9% of his passes for 2,723 yards and 22 touchdowns while only throwing six interceptions.

With more weapons around him than ever before, Mensah will look to take another step forward next season. Nonetheless, McElroy emphasized that Miami fans will accept nothing less than excellence.

“Miami fans are going to be looking at this team saying, ‘Hey, we want to be in the mix every year,’ and they’re not hoping for sustainability. They want to take that last step and win that national championship,” McElroy said. “They are craving arrival, not minimal progress. Arrival is almost always tied to having high-level quarterback play.

“Miami now has become the program that treats the portal like it’s Amazon Prime. Like two-day shipping, quarterbacks included; bring them in. We got them. We got our guy. Let’s roll. … I think Mensah’s going to do really well. It’s a nice fit in this style of attack.”

Miami has no shortage of momentum. Last season, the Hurricanes made its first-ever College Football Playoff appearance and advanced to the national championship game, where they fell to Indiana.