"The Film Guy" Brooks Austin joined the CanesInSight Podcast to discuss his analysis of new QB Darian Mensah. Transcript below, along with video of the segment and The Film Guy's complete video analysis:
Mike Ryan: Brooks Austin joins us again. For those who’ve been with us the last couple of weeks during the College Football Playoff run, Brooks came on earlier and the response was outstanding. He’s already posted a Darian Mensah breakdown on his YouTube channel, so make sure you go support that. Brooks, I’m really pumped for this because I’ve seen what you’ve already done on Darian. Curious what new layers we’re going to get today.
Brooks Austin: I don’t know if you guys noticed, but the chat already figured out a nickname — The Mensiah. I’m kind of feeling that one. Might be time to print the shirts.
First thing, and this is huge for me as a film guy: there are almost zero turndowns on tape. And when I say turndowns, I mean plays where the quarterback doesn’t throw the ball to the playmaker the coordinator schemed open. Your primary job as a quarterback is simple — if we call a play and it works, you throw it. That’s your job. I watched four or five games and there were basically no turndowns.
This is something that carried over from Tulane. If you backtrack my takes from last offseason, I was already loving Darian Mensah. I actually picked Duke to make the playoff because I thought this kid was going to be good enough to overcome roster inefficiencies. Now he’s coming to a roster that doesn’t really have inefficiencies, and I think he maximizes play calling and passing concepts consistently.
Everybody talks about physical traits — he’s big enough, tall enough, long enough. The arm talent is elite. And I want to be clear: arm talent, not just arm strength. He has the ability to find juice at infinite arm angles. There’s a play I sent Mike Ryan where his lower body is working outward for a speed out, and off that speed out you’ve got an inward-breaking glance route. To be on time for the speed out, your feet have to be set there. To throw the glance, you have to correct it purely with arm talent. Some quarterbacks don’t even attempt that throw.
I don’t think Carson Beck would dream of doing that. Cam Ward would wake up every day wanting to do it. Mensah is a blend of both. You get pro-style reps where he’s methodical, sharp, playing on time and ahead of script. And then you get moments of freedom where he’s a playmaker and his talent takes over.
Athletically, he’s good enough to extend and create. He can make someone miss, get flat, keep his eyes downfield. He’s not a runner, but he’s athletic enough to create meaningfully.
The thing that really caught my attention — and I’m not a stats guy, I’m a film guy — was how often Duke lived on fourth down. I kept watching and thinking, man, they are living in fourth down situations, and Mensah was executing over and over. So I asked my producer to check it. Duke was fourth in the country in fourth-down attempts and sixth in conversion rate. That’s not an accident.
That tells you who he is in critical moments. He’s a dude when the game is on the line. And he’s coming to a program with playoff expectations, whether people want to admit that or not. He stonewalls pressure moments. He’s excellent there.
Bottom line: he’s an offensive maximizer. You’re not going to watch games on Sunday and say, “Man, Miami left yards on the field.” There won’t be many of those days.
Mike Ryan: That was a lot. Let’s talk arm strength versus arm talent. Where does he compare to Carson Beck and Cam Ward?
Brooks Austin: Cam Ward is elite-elite. He’s one of those truly dynamic throwers. Now, arm strength — horsepower — being able to throw it 65 or 70 yards, sure, that matters sometimes. But tight windows happen inside 25 yards. That’s where games are won.
Mensah isn’t a 100-mile-an-hour closer. But he’s a natural passer. Ball placement, timing, layering — the ball pops out of his hand. If you can’t do those things, raw arm strength doesn’t matter. He has plenty of juice where it counts.
Mike Ryan: When Cam Ward extended plays, he was still reading coverage. Is Mensah similar?
Brooks Austin: Yes, but with a difference. Cam almost anticipated pressure before it happened. He was comfortable living outside structure. Mensah can do that, but he prefers to be surgical from inside the pocket. When he’s forced to move, he keeps his eyes downfield, but he’s not looking to freelance.
I also think he’s very self-aware. He’s talked about blending what Cam and Carson did. That matters. That tells me he understands who he is as a player.
Peter Ariz: With Miami replacing so much on the offensive line, how does Mensah handle pressure?
Brooks Austin: First off, Miami’s offensive line will be better than Duke’s. Your head coach prioritizes it. You have elite OL coaching. Whoever those five are, they’ll be fine.
Mensah faced a ton of pressure at Duke. Collapsing pockets, throwing with bodies on him, knowing he’s about to take a shot. There’s toughness on tape. I actually expect him to say something similar to Carson Beck, like, “I had to get used to having this much time.”
DMoney: Watching Miami last year, it felt like teams bracketed Malachi Toney and didn’t respect the downfield game outside of him. Did you see that, and how does Mensah change it?
Brooks Austin: True brackets on an elite slot like Malachi are hard. You can drop a linebacker under him and play a safety over the top, but he’s always going to find grass. What Dawson did well was letting Malachi find space within structure.
That chemistry now has to be built with Mensah. And this is where Miami was really smart: you brought Cooper Barkate with him. That was his security blanket at Duke. On fourth downs, in critical moments, he trusted 18. That matters.
Mensah didn’t even get to Duke until mid-February, and five months later they were doing what they did. That connection travels.
DMoney: With the tight end room thinner, do you expect less 13 personnel and more traditional air raid?
Brooks Austin: The best coordinators are chameleons. You build the offense around the roster. If you don’t have big bodies at tight end, you live in 11 personnel. And honestly, Miami already did that late last year.
Shannon Dawson is that guy. His offense changes year to year. That’s a strength.
Mike Ryan: Brooks, where can people find your work?
Brooks Austin: The Film Guy Network on YouTube. I’m BrooksAustinBA on social. Appreciate you guys. I always enjoy hopping on CanesInSight.
youtube.com/watch?time_continue=5&v=h70JRphfcCU&embeds_referring_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fx.com%2F&source_ve_path=MzY4NDIsMjM4NTE
Mike Ryan: Brooks Austin joins us again. For those who’ve been with us the last couple of weeks during the College Football Playoff run, Brooks came on earlier and the response was outstanding. He’s already posted a Darian Mensah breakdown on his YouTube channel, so make sure you go support that. Brooks, I’m really pumped for this because I’ve seen what you’ve already done on Darian. Curious what new layers we’re going to get today.
Brooks Austin: I don’t know if you guys noticed, but the chat already figured out a nickname — The Mensiah. I’m kind of feeling that one. Might be time to print the shirts.
First thing, and this is huge for me as a film guy: there are almost zero turndowns on tape. And when I say turndowns, I mean plays where the quarterback doesn’t throw the ball to the playmaker the coordinator schemed open. Your primary job as a quarterback is simple — if we call a play and it works, you throw it. That’s your job. I watched four or five games and there were basically no turndowns.
This is something that carried over from Tulane. If you backtrack my takes from last offseason, I was already loving Darian Mensah. I actually picked Duke to make the playoff because I thought this kid was going to be good enough to overcome roster inefficiencies. Now he’s coming to a roster that doesn’t really have inefficiencies, and I think he maximizes play calling and passing concepts consistently.
Everybody talks about physical traits — he’s big enough, tall enough, long enough. The arm talent is elite. And I want to be clear: arm talent, not just arm strength. He has the ability to find juice at infinite arm angles. There’s a play I sent Mike Ryan where his lower body is working outward for a speed out, and off that speed out you’ve got an inward-breaking glance route. To be on time for the speed out, your feet have to be set there. To throw the glance, you have to correct it purely with arm talent. Some quarterbacks don’t even attempt that throw.
I don’t think Carson Beck would dream of doing that. Cam Ward would wake up every day wanting to do it. Mensah is a blend of both. You get pro-style reps where he’s methodical, sharp, playing on time and ahead of script. And then you get moments of freedom where he’s a playmaker and his talent takes over.
Athletically, he’s good enough to extend and create. He can make someone miss, get flat, keep his eyes downfield. He’s not a runner, but he’s athletic enough to create meaningfully.
The thing that really caught my attention — and I’m not a stats guy, I’m a film guy — was how often Duke lived on fourth down. I kept watching and thinking, man, they are living in fourth down situations, and Mensah was executing over and over. So I asked my producer to check it. Duke was fourth in the country in fourth-down attempts and sixth in conversion rate. That’s not an accident.
That tells you who he is in critical moments. He’s a dude when the game is on the line. And he’s coming to a program with playoff expectations, whether people want to admit that or not. He stonewalls pressure moments. He’s excellent there.
Bottom line: he’s an offensive maximizer. You’re not going to watch games on Sunday and say, “Man, Miami left yards on the field.” There won’t be many of those days.
Mike Ryan: That was a lot. Let’s talk arm strength versus arm talent. Where does he compare to Carson Beck and Cam Ward?
Brooks Austin: Cam Ward is elite-elite. He’s one of those truly dynamic throwers. Now, arm strength — horsepower — being able to throw it 65 or 70 yards, sure, that matters sometimes. But tight windows happen inside 25 yards. That’s where games are won.
Mensah isn’t a 100-mile-an-hour closer. But he’s a natural passer. Ball placement, timing, layering — the ball pops out of his hand. If you can’t do those things, raw arm strength doesn’t matter. He has plenty of juice where it counts.
Mike Ryan: When Cam Ward extended plays, he was still reading coverage. Is Mensah similar?
Brooks Austin: Yes, but with a difference. Cam almost anticipated pressure before it happened. He was comfortable living outside structure. Mensah can do that, but he prefers to be surgical from inside the pocket. When he’s forced to move, he keeps his eyes downfield, but he’s not looking to freelance.
I also think he’s very self-aware. He’s talked about blending what Cam and Carson did. That matters. That tells me he understands who he is as a player.
Peter Ariz: With Miami replacing so much on the offensive line, how does Mensah handle pressure?
Brooks Austin: First off, Miami’s offensive line will be better than Duke’s. Your head coach prioritizes it. You have elite OL coaching. Whoever those five are, they’ll be fine.
Mensah faced a ton of pressure at Duke. Collapsing pockets, throwing with bodies on him, knowing he’s about to take a shot. There’s toughness on tape. I actually expect him to say something similar to Carson Beck, like, “I had to get used to having this much time.”
DMoney: Watching Miami last year, it felt like teams bracketed Malachi Toney and didn’t respect the downfield game outside of him. Did you see that, and how does Mensah change it?
Brooks Austin: True brackets on an elite slot like Malachi are hard. You can drop a linebacker under him and play a safety over the top, but he’s always going to find grass. What Dawson did well was letting Malachi find space within structure.
That chemistry now has to be built with Mensah. And this is where Miami was really smart: you brought Cooper Barkate with him. That was his security blanket at Duke. On fourth downs, in critical moments, he trusted 18. That matters.
Mensah didn’t even get to Duke until mid-February, and five months later they were doing what they did. That connection travels.
DMoney: With the tight end room thinner, do you expect less 13 personnel and more traditional air raid?
Brooks Austin: The best coordinators are chameleons. You build the offense around the roster. If you don’t have big bodies at tight end, you live in 11 personnel. And honestly, Miami already did that late last year.
Shannon Dawson is that guy. His offense changes year to year. That’s a strength.
Mike Ryan: Brooks, where can people find your work?
Brooks Austin: The Film Guy Network on YouTube. I’m BrooksAustinBA on social. Appreciate you guys. I always enjoy hopping on CanesInSight.
youtube.com/watch?time_continue=5&v=h70JRphfcCU&embeds_referring_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fx.com%2F&source_ve_path=MzY4NDIsMjM4NTE
