Joel Klatt cautiously optimistic in Miami, Carson Beck in early rankings

Fox Sports’ Joel Klatt is cautiously optimistic about Miami going into the 2025 season and placed them No. 18 in his post-spring Top 25. Carson Beck could be the biggest question mark, despite having years of experience at Georgia.

There are pieces in place to help this team go far, but it’s highly dependent on Beck and the wide receivers. It’s a whole new corps!

Up front, and the guys behind Beck too, is pretty solid according to Klatt. So it’s fair to predict Miami could do some big things, once again.

“I’m going to be cautiously optimistic about Miami,” Klatt said on his podcast. “So I’ve got Miami at 18 now. Carson Beck transfers in … I like this move now, however, Beck had that elbow surgery in December, and he didn’t even throw in spring practice, room for concern, so I like it, but I’m also concerned and it has to make you be a little bit nervous. 

“I know he’s played a lot of football, so you’re not worried about like, reps and experience, but reps with this group becomes a question. Because of those reps that they lost in the spring, the offense should be pretty good as far as offensive line goes, running back goes. I think wide receiver is a concern for me. For them, they lose Xavier Restrepo. (He) has been Mr. Reliable for them for years. They also lose their tight end, who I thought started to play really well late in the season, Elijah Arroyo, the pass catchers aren’t as good as they were last year, and Beck hasn’t been throwing any passes to them in the spring.” 

Despite some struggles and the eventual injury, Beck actually put up a decent stat line. He threw for 3,485 yards, 28 touchdowns, 12 interceptions and a 64.7% completion percentage and could put up similar, if not better, numbers at Miami.

“So I can like a lot of what Mario Cristobal has done, but again, it’s like cautious optimism,” Klatt said. “I’m not going to go overboard with Miami. I’m not going to throw them out. Let’s wait and see. With Miami, they’ve got enough experience and they’ve recruited well enough to at least give Mario Cristobal kind of a wait and see, they’ve got some tough games early and we’ll see what they do. 

“The defense held Miami back a little bit, they brought in a new defensive coordinator from Minnesota Corey Hetherman, and they’ve hit the portal well, so there’s Miami sitting there at 18.”