Darian Mensah Earns Top-10 QB Ranking from Joel Klatt

A lot of the hopes for a Miami Hurricanes return to the national title game … with a different result this time … rest on the right arm of Duke QB transfer Darian Mensah. Mensah led the Blue Devils to an ACC title last year and has much superior skill position talent around him at UM, including his favorite target at Duke in 1,000-yard Cooper Barkate, plus All-American slot Malachi Toney, 1,000-yard running back Mark Fletcher and arguably the most depth at both positions for a Miami team dating back two decades.

The bar is set high for Mensah, with some Miami fans thinking he might be in line to break Cam Ward’s program-record 39 touchdown passes.

A recent national take on where Mensah stands big picture? That comes from Fox Sports’ Joel Klatt. He unveiled his top 10 QBs, with the caveat that it’s based on a fantasy quarterback draft. He had Mensah No. 8 on his list, ahead of No. 10 LSU’s Sam Leavitt and No. 9 Indiana’s Josh Hoover but trailing No. 7 USC’s Jayden Maiava, No. 6 Oklahoma’s John Mateer, No. 5 Notre Dame’s CJ Carr, No. 4 Ole Miss’ Trinidad Chambliss, No. 3 Ohio State’s Julian Sayin, No. 2 Texas’ Arch Manning and No. 1 Oregon’s Dante Moore.

As Klatt puts it, “Mensah is at his third school in three years, starting at Tulane, then Duke, and now in Coral Gables. He led Duke to the ACC title a year ago. He’s not afraid to rip it. When you couple a guy that is willing to chuck it down the field like Mensah with a team that likes to run to football, now you get some play-action passes.”

Last year Mensah completed 334 of 500 passes for 3,973 yards, 34 TDs and 6 INTs. He didn’t do much running, but can move in the pocket as needed, at a higher level than Carson Beck but not like Ward.

“Mensah is different than Carson Beck, who was typically just trying to get the ball out quickly,” Klatt said. “This year, I think Miami is going to be able to attack down the field with a little bit better efficiency. The Hurricanes are going to pair Mensah up with Malachi Toney, who is an incredible player. They will have Mark Fletcher in the backfield behind him and a really good offensive line, even with some of those draft picks leaving.”

As you go inside Mensah’s Pro Football Focus grades from last year you get an idea of his talent … and where he stands with Ward and Beck. Per PFF when Mensah was kept clean in the pocket (67.6 percent of the time at Duke) he had an elite 92.9 grade with 28 TDs and five INTs. When under pressure that dropped to 47.1 percent (6 TDs, 1 INT).

For comparison, Beck had it much easier getting kept clean 83.0 percent of the time, and he had an 80.1 grade in those situations (27 TDs, 9 INTs). When under pressure Beck sunk to a 43.0 grade (3 TDs, 3 INTs).

So it does seem based on the math that Mensah played at a higher level in pressure and non-pressure situations. Mensah was also excellent throwing the ball down the field, with an 89.7 grade on throws of 20+ yards (13 TDs, 2 INTs) and a 92.7 grade on 10-19 yard passes (15 TDs, 3 INTs). Beck had respective grades of 78.6 and 81.9 in those two levels of the passing game. So it also makes sense for Miami to have a better deep passing game this year vs. last year.

If you want a sense of what Ward did – he had a 95.2 grade when kept clean (30 TDs, 3 INTs), a 61.4 grade under pressure (9 TDs, 4 INTs), and on deep balls he had a 95.0 grade (14 TDs, 0 INTs). So that’s a high bar to clear for Mensah, although he wasn’t that far off last year.

“I think they are going to be just fine (with Mensah),” Klatt said. “Mensah is going to have a really solid year.”