Greg McElroy explains where he ranked Carson Beck on Top 10 college football quarterback list

Much has been made of Carson Beck‘s slight regression from the 2023 season to the 2024 one, but could he be in line for a major bounce back this fall? At least one ESPN analyst seems to think so.

ESPN analyst Greg McElroy ranked Carson Beck as his No. 6 quarterback in the country heading into the 2024 season on his Always College Football podcast. Beck, though, can play his way above that ranking, McElroy said.

“A guy that had we done this ranking a year ago he probably would have been No. 1 and been No. 1 by a decent-sized margin,” McElroy said. “That’s Carson Beck, of the Miami Hurricanes.

“You’re going to look at his 2024 campaign and the numbers aren’t going to necessarily wow you in a positive or a negative way. He threw for nearly 3,500 (yards)… 28-to-12 touchdown-to-interception ratio and nearly 65% completion. So pretty solid. But if you look at where he was going into last year, he was the de facto No. 1 overall pick and the front-runner to become the Heisman Trophy winner. That’s where he was last offseason.”

That’s obviously no longer the case this year. Even with a move to Miami, Carson Beck remains a bit further down the radar for most analysts than he was this time last year.

“And if you look at where he is today versus where he was last year, it’s a pretty big difference in perception,” McElroy said. “What’s amazing to me, though, is that there are so many people that have pointed all of Carson Beck’s flaws out without acknowledging the inconsistencies of not just his wide receiver corps, which led the country in drops, but also his offensive line.”

Could an improved supporting cast lead to better results for Beck? It’s certainly possible.

“I thought his offensive line was so leaky at times last year that it was almost hard for Carson Beck to be comfortable at all,” McElroy said. “You look at how many times he got hit in the Kentucky game, that was Week 2 or Week 3. He got hit time and time again and I think at that point he got a little bit rattled because the offensive line was really struggling. That carried over at times and kind of peaked against an Ole Miss team that teed off.

“He had to throw it and take chances on several occasions, balls were tipped, balls were picked. But if you look at how he kind of hung in there, I thought Carson Beck battled last year, man.”

McElroy pointed out that, despite the negative perception, Beck’s numbers were still very solid. He outlined some.

“He still had five games with three-plus touchdown passes,” McElroy said. “He also had the final two regular season games where he led a pretty remarkable comeback against Georgia Tech. And he also still carries a career record of 24-3 with nearly 7,500 passing yards.”

Bottom line: While there remain questions about Carson Beck and his ceiling, the pieces are there for him to be a very good quarterback. It’s just a matter of putting the puzzle together.

“I understand he’s coming off elbow surgery and there are questions surrounding that,” McElroy said. “But I still believe that him now with Shannon Dawson and the young weapons that Miami has that are likely to break out this season, you could find him back very much in the mix as one of the top quarterbacks in the country.”