Miami's Mensah: Success of Ward, Beck factored into transfer - ESPN

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — When Darian Mensah surveyed his options for the 2026 season, including remaining at Duke or leaving for the NFL, he couldn't ignore what had happened at Miami with quarterbacks in a similar situation.

Cam Ward had transferred from Washington State to Miami and became the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL draft. Carson Beck made the move from Georgia after a significant elbow injury and helped the Hurricanes to their first College Football Playoff appearance and a spot in the national championship game.

Mensah ultimately decided that he wanted to be next in line.

«That was a huge factor, deciding to transfer, seeing what those guys did,» Mensah said Wednesday at the ACC Kickoff. «My OC [Shannon] Dawson will form the offense around the quarterback, around the stuff he likes to do. That also made it something I wanted to be a part of.»

Mensah, who led Duke to a surprise ACC championship in his lone season with the Blue Devils, made the biggest — and last splash — of the most recent transfer portal cycle in moving to Miami. He announced in December that he would return to Duke but continued to evaluate his options, including entering the NFL draft, well into January. Mensah entered the portal Jan. 16 with Miami, days away from facing Indiana in the national championship game, his rumored destination.

He finalized the move later in January after his representatives and Duke settled a legal dispute over Mensah's multiyear NIL contract with the school. Mensah had 3,973 passing yards and 34 touchdowns for Duke, while completing 66.8% of his attempts, in 2025.

«I wanted to compete for a national championship,» Mensah said. «I've got a lot of personal goals for myself, and I think Miami was the spot to do that.»