In sports like college football, pressure comes with the position, especially when it’s about quarterbacks. They are the heart of the squad, and the entire game revolves around them. Names like Carson Beck at Miami and Nico Iamaleava at UCLA are some of the QBs who will surely be in the spotlight this fall. But there’s another young signal-caller who is expected to face even more pressure than either of them.
This young QB isn’t backed by a premium program, nor is he a returning starter with years of experience. But still, there’s a lot of talk around him, mainly because of the weight of investment. Beck and Iamaleava were the QB stories of the portal. Everyone predicted Beck to leave Georgia when he didn’t enter the draft. Nico, on the other hand, was a surprise. Even to his own program. It wasn’t just Miami and UCLA who gained a new QB1 via the portal. Duke also did the same.
We’re talking about $8M QB Darian Mensah, who will be seen playing for Duke in the upcoming fall. ESPN CFB analyst Tom Luginbill recently addressed the situation on Crain & Company, saying, “Is there a player in college football that was acquired in the transfer portal that has more pressure to perform based on what has been reported he’s being paid than Darian Mensah?” The question itself has many answers, that the young QB is expected to be the $8M difference-maker for the Blue Devils.
But it’s not just about the price tag; some part of the pressure comes from who Mensah is replacing at Duke. They moved away from Maalik Murphy. Luginbill, who recently appeared in an episode of Crain & Company, explained why. “One of the reasons they moved away from Maalik Murphy is because he could bring nothing in the quarterback run game or the ability to extend plays, right? They want the quarterback to be a more dynamic player. They force defenses to have to account for every nook and cranny of the field. I think Darian Mensah will do that,” the CFB analyst said.
Murphy’s ‘thrower’ tag fit him perfectly at Duke. In 2024, he had 2,933 passing yards. 26 touchdowns and a 60.3% completion rate. However, the run game? Well, nonexistent. Although he had two rushing touchdowns, the total rushing yardage was in the negative. That was also a factor of the number of sacks he took. Of course, he could have been utilized in some short-yardage situations, but that was all.
Mensah was a one-year starter at Tulane, and now he has signed a two-year NIL deal to play at Duke. So, he has to bring his A-game to the table and take the Dukes to the ACC title. He will get his shot this fall, and the pressure is undeniable, but he has to deliver. If he falls short, Dukes will be left with one of the most expensive question marks in CFB history.
Could Darian Mensah’s arrival be a game-changer for Dukes?
Mensah is built lean, standing 6 feet 3 inches tall and weighing 200 pounds. The young QB had an incredible last season at Tulane. He threw for 2723 passing yards, 22 touchdowns, and a completion rate of 65.9%. However, he missed the playoff berth with two back-to-back losses at the end of the season. He even took the Green Wave to the AAC championship game, where they suffered a defeat against the Army Black Knights (13-35). However, now, he would like to have a fresh start and carry the Blue Devils from where Murphy left off last season.
Cover 3 Podcast’s Bue Elliot talked about Duke’s chances of having a great upcoming season. “I think Manny Diaz is a hell of a coach, and [Jonathan] Brewer is a really nice coach. And obviously, that defense is probably still going to be a pain in the a– to play. Now, they won a lot of close games last year. So they could be a better team than last year and still have a worse record. I think that’s actually probably pretty likely. But there is a scenario here in which they go seven and one in the league. Like if Mensah is really that guy,” he said.
As Elliot said, “If Mensah is really that guy,” then there’s no stopping Diaz’s squad in the upcoming college football season. But one thing’s for sure: there’s no hiding when you are the most expensive QB in Duke history. And now everything depends on Mensah living up to the hype and justifying his mind-boggling price tag.
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