It's national title or bust for Miami and Mario Cristobal this season. After reaching the CFP final last year and losing to Indiana in heartbreaking fashion, Cristobal retooled and spent big to bring in superstar quarterback Darian Mensah. Mensah is without question one of the top quarterbacks in the country. Could he be the best signal-caller to take over the offense for Cristobal?
That's something that may seem wild, especially with Cam Ward being a No. 1 pick after his brilliant 2024 season, plus Carson Beck transferring in from Georgia and leading the Canes to the memorable CFP run. Despite that, Mensah sure feels a bit more polished, and after throwing for nearly 4,000 yards and 34 scores last season, another monster year should be on the way for him.
"I think this is an UPGRADE over Cam Ward, over Carson Beck."@dannykanell on Miami QB Darian Mensah. pic.twitter.com/Dz7L5CGSm7
— CBS Sports College Football 🏈 (@CBSSportsCFB) September 2, 2026
Darian Mensah and his Heisman hype will deliver for Miami this season
The one and only Danny Kannell recently brought this up, and you know what, it's not outlandish at all. Mensah and the Blue Devils stunned everyone last year by winning the ACC. Now, imagine what Mensah is going to be able to do with the Miami weapons he's going to have at his disposal. With all due respect for Manny Diaz, you simply can't compare the two rosters.
Mensah is going to have a STACKED offensive line in front of him, plus you can make the argument that Malachi Toney is the best wideout in the game. Add in the tremendous running abilities of Mark Fletcher Jr., and this offense is really going to be humming from start to finish this season. That's bad news for Stanford, as the two sides will dance in the season opener.
And while Ward and Beck were able to turn countless heads while donning a Hurricanes jersey, were their passing abilities as strong as Mensah's? With Beck in particular, there was plenty of frustration when he'd miss on what should have been a simple throw, while the turnovers left people scratching their heads too. The natty loss, of course, wasn't on him, but that defeat to Indiana, ending with a Beck INT, was a bit of a disaster too.
As for Ward, he made history with Miami, throwing for 4,313 yards and 39 touchdowns during his lone season in Coral Gables. He then heard his name called first by the Tennessee Titans, but before that, he wasn't able to get the Canes to the College Football Playoff, which put a bit of a dark cloud over his historic year.
That, knock on wood, won't be the case for Mensah, as he has what it takes to not only get Miami back to the CFP, but help them win it all this time around. Oh, and an ACC title for the Canes in '26? It should be on the way too. In order for all of that to happen, Mensah is going to have to deliver and make sure his level of play has him in the Heisman Trophy race by the end of the year. Something tells us that's exactly how things are going to go down for him. A year to remember is on the way.
Add us as a preferred source on Google