'Scary' Darian Mensah Hyped by Rival Coach, Where Does Miami QB Go in Latest B/R NFL Mock Draft?

After transferring from Duke to Miami, junior quarterback Darian Mensah is facing lofty expectations for the 2026 season.

However, it sounds like Mensah has already earned the respect of his opponents, as ESPN's Adam Rittenberg spoke to an ACC coach who admitted that the signal-caller can generate fear within opposing defenses.

"I thought he had really good accuracy on the run," the coach told Rittenberg. "I actually thought he threw deep balls better running than he did from the pocket. He's scary, because a lot of guys get outside of the pocket and it's just sideline to checkdown, but he's throwing touchdowns. He can hurt you in a lot of ways."

Mensah led the ACC in both passing yards (3,973) and passing touchdowns (34) while completing 66.8 percent of his attempts last season. He helped lead the Blue Devils to a surprising ACC championship.

B/R's Brent Sobleski predicted in his 2027 mock draft that Mensah would be selected third overall by the Cleveland Browns and the second quarterback off the board behind Texas' Arch Manning.

Mensah will have a lot of talent around him with the Hurricanes, including returning standout wide receiver Malachi Toney and fellow Duke transfer Cooper Barkate. He's expected to reach even greater heights as Miami chases a national championship.

"He's an accurate passer, he can deliver it off-platform well, he's athletic enough, obviously, to get outside the pocket and pick up some chunk yards, but I just think he's a smart player," an ACC general manager said. "He did a pretty good job of not taking bad sacks, but with his athleticism, his ability to deliver outside the pocket, his efficiency in getting the ball to his playmakers' hands, and he's just going to make the smart throw. With the playmakers around him, him and Toney being able to link up, that's a really good duo."