Mel Kiper, Field Yates get into spat over Carson Beck's passion for football, comparison to Joe Flacco

Ahead of the 2024 college football season, then-Georgia quarterback Carson Beck was widely considered an early favorite to be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. Of course, that scenario never came to pass as Beck struggled throughout last season before suffering a season-ending elbow injury in last year’s SEC Championship game and then opting to transfer to Miami this past offseason.

But as NFL scouts develop their positional boards ahead of the 2026 NFL Draft next April, there’s a growing debate about whether a reinvigorated Beck could once again be an option to go No. 1 overall. The only problem, at least according to ESPN draft analyst Field Yates, is a question about Beck’s love for the sport of football.

During this week’s First Draft podcast with ESPN host Mike Greenberg, Yates cited a Beck quote before last year’s SEC Championship when the then-Bulldogs QB explained why he wouldn’t watch the Texas-Texas A&M game to get an early scout on Georgia’s upcoming opponent.

“I don’t watch football. I know that sounds kind of crazy, but I don’t really enjoy watching football. It’s not fun for me. I watch film,” Beck said last December. “… If I watch that game, I’m not going to be able to sit there and enjoy it. I’m just going to stress myself the whole entire time.”

“I just know how the scouting world works, and I know how I want my quarterbacks wired, which is, you’ve got these maniacs that eat, sleep, and breathe football and it means as much as anything to them,” Yates said. “I’m not saying this isn’t an area that can’t be improved upon, I just know that last year at Georgia, when scouts went through there, for all his physical gifts, one of the questions (about Beck) was how is the player wired.”

That prompted quite the debate between Yates and veteran ESPN draft expert Mel Kiper Jr., who compared Beck to veteran NFL quarterback Joe Flacco.

Mel Kiper Jr. defends Carson Beck’s perceived lack of passion for football

“I’ll give you another example to counter that (perception) is Joe Flacco. Joe Flacco, you give him a day off, he’s going to be with his family. … You (can still) do your job (as a) 9-5 quarterback,” Kiper countered. “I mean, Joe Flacco, love him, Super Bowl-winning quarterback, had the best stretch of games on the road in playoff history, probably, and still playing into 40-plus with the Cleveland Browns. … The bottom line is (he’s) a great quarterback. There’s different ways to get it done. … I mean, you’d love to have that (passion), but is it something you have to have to be a great quarterback?”

“Yes,” Yates interjected. “I don’t know about that. … And Joe had an incredible Super Bowl run, has had a great career in so many ways, but I don’t think many of us are going to confuse Joe Flacco with a guy that’s consistently one of the 10 best quarterbacks in the NFL.”

Kiper tried to pigeonhole Yates’ argument into whether Beck could still be a quality NFL quarterback. Yates then reset the debate.

“That’s not the question. The question is, is (Beck) No. 1 overall pick good?” Yates continued. “And I think part of the contributing factors is going to be the wiring. … So I’ll just say this, … from people that passed through Georgia last year, that was the feedback.”

Beck has had a bounce-back season with Miami, ranking eighth nationally with a 73.2 completion percentage to go along with 972 passing yards and seven touchdowns to three interceptions through four games in Coral Gables. Beck led the FBS with a 79.3 completion percentage entering Week 4 before struggling through a 56.7-percent game in last Saturday’s 26-7 win over Florida.