Portal Profile: Darian Mensah

DMoney

Dec 9, 2024 2 min read

The Canes are in the market for a transfer quarterback, and one of the premier young quarterbacks in the country just entered the Portal. Tulane QB Darian Mensah announced that he will be entering the Transfer Portal and instantly becomes one of the top names on the market.

As a redshirt freshman, Mensah completed 189/287 (65.9%) of his passes for 2,723 yards, 22 TDs and 7 INTs. He also ran for 132 yards and 1 TD. Mensah has three years of eligibility remaining.

Mensah is one of the most efficient passers in America, averaging a sparkling 9.5 yards per attempt. That ties him with Cam Ward for third in the nation, behind Jaxson Dart and Kurtis Rourke. He is 6th nationally in passer rating, behind Rourke, Dart, Will Howard, Ward and Shedeur Sanders.

Tulane finished the season 9-4, losing in the AAC Championship Game to Army, 35-14. He was 15/25 passing for 209 yards, 2 TDs and 1 INT in that game.

Mensah is from San Luis Obispo on California’s Central Coast between Los Angeles and San Francisco. At Saint Joseph High School, Mensah was named Mountain League Player of the Year after posting a completion percentage of 69 percent with 2,256 yards though the air and 25 total touchdowns on the season. He led his team to a 10-2 record in 2022 and a 7-0 mark in the Mountain League. He also played basketball and carried a 3.5 GPA. His twin sister Grace plays soccer at Oregon.

Mensah’s smooth, pass-first, pocket style would fit neatly behind Miami’s massive offensive line, which brings back four starters. He is also a deft ballhandler and projects as a downfield, play-action threat with the Canes’ strong running game.

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RVACane

Jan 17, 2026

Dwinstitles said:
Aint nothing wrong with being top 10 he will still be a Miami legend at this point.

Most definitely he should go down as a great Cane.

N
NCCanefan

Jan 17, 2026

Combo said:
That's not really a fair comparison because today's game is much more oriented towards passing and offense. In both NFL and college football, your typical QB in 2025 is going to put up way bigger numbers than your typical QB 30 or 40 years ago.

Esp different is completion factor. In the Gino era dbs could push on wrs anywhere anytime unless the ball was in the air

clg003

Jan 17, 2026

Cane787pr said:
View attachment 353344Lol

Lol if you want to argue Sorsby is 1 ok it's debatable. But Mensah and Sorsby are 1 and 2.

3. Mestemaker
4. Levitt
5. Hoover

They have Husan Longstreet at 7 and Hoover at 11. The Lagway ranking (4) is so laughable its funny, dude had 16 tds and 14 tds.

D
dk72

Jan 17, 2026

NCCanefan said:
Esp different is completion factor. In the Gino era dbs could push on wrs anywhere anytime unless the ball was in the air

...and QBs could be hit with far fewer penalties

pubmedu

Jan 17, 2026

Pearson704

Jan 17, 2026

CanesNation26 said:
Interesting discussion over on 247 between Cooper Patagna, who does the transfer portal ratings, and the Miami board. Just to be clear: nothing he said made me any less excited about the pickup. I’m thrilled. I just wanted to pass along his thoughts on Mensah since he’ll likely be our next QB.

Cooper said Mensah will not be the top‑ranked player in the portal. He said that draft scouts he’s spoken with recently have Mensah currently pegged as a Day 2 or early Day 3 pick, though Cooper acknowledged that was the same projection Cam Ward had before his final year at Miami, so things can obviously change. [I personally think he's going to be a Day 1 / early Day 2 pick.]

According to Patagna, the pros are that Mensah is an elite processor, distributes the ball extremely well, plays with great anticipation and throws receivers open, and has strong pocket awareness.

The main knock is that he doesn’t have the strongest arm.

Yea, I'd agree.

It's a net loss in arm talent but we gain pocket-mobility and playmaking.

N
NCCanefan

Jan 17, 2026

Pearson704 said:
Yea, I'd agree.

It's a net loss in arm talent but we gain pocket-mobility and playmaking.

If people haven’t figured out that after a minimum level of arm strength is reached the brain processing speed is way more important than arm strength. Somebody should tell patanga

Pearson704

Jan 17, 2026

jackedaround said:
If beck wins the title hes a top 5 canes qb of all time. Im sorry thats the truth.

He knows who he is.

Dees Brown

Jan 17, 2026

KANE said:
View attachment 353367

Jordan is my GOAT. But man, he looks like he take his eyes out at night soaks them in a glass of crown royal.

Jan 17, 2026

There’s not gonna be a change of heart situation here right?

clg003

Jan 18, 2026

CanesNation26 said:
Interesting discussion over on 247 between Cooper Patagna, who does the transfer portal ratings, and the Miami board. Just to be clear: nothing he said made me any less excited about the pickup. I’m thrilled. I just wanted to pass along his thoughts on Mensah since he’ll likely be our next QB.

Cooper said Mensah will not be the top‑ranked player in the portal. He said that draft scouts he’s spoken with recently have Mensah currently pegged as a Day 2 or early Day 3 pick, though Cooper acknowledged that was the same projection Cam Ward had before his final year at Miami, so things can obviously change. [I personally think he's going to be a Day 1 / early Day 2 pick.]

According to Patagna, the pros are that Mensah is an elite processor, distributes the ball extremely well, plays with great anticipation and throws receivers open, and has strong pocket awareness.

The main knock is that he doesn’t have the strongest arm.

The bottom line is when Mensah comes here and puts up ridiculous numbers he will be a first rounder. The kid has a good arm, maybe not a rocket arm but he makes all of the nfl throws with accuracy.

KANE

Jan 18, 2026

Dees Brown said:
Jordan is my GOAT. But man, he looks like he take his eyes out at night soaks them in a glass of crown royal.

**** yea

Dr. House

Jan 18, 2026

Ver said:
There’s not gonna be a change of heart situation here right?

Iirc, the moment someone's portal entry is actually submitted by the university, it shows up on the 247 website.

Confidence1000

Jan 18, 2026

DTP said:
So if we win the title, Beck is better than Cam? Sorry, I can’t get behind that. I judge quarterbacks by how they play, not how good their teammates are.

This! Idk what @Peter Ariz be talm bout. He got a pick at Cam
4 sum reason

C
Cane30

Jan 19, 2026

Mensah isn't listed officially in the portal, yet. It has been at least 60 hrs since he went public with his announcement. I don't know if he enrolled at Duke this semester as he was still training in Tampa a week after classes started, but it's time to unenroll now if they aren't going to. Announce for Miami tomorrow.

C
CanesNation26

Jan 19, 2026

Cane30 said:
Mensah isn't listed officially in the portal, yet. It has been at least 60 hrs since he went public with his announcement. I don't know if he enrolled at Duke this semester as he was still training in Tampa a week after classes started, but it's time to unenroll now if they aren't going to. Announce for Miami tomorrow.

2 business days, not 48 hours

GrozDozer

Jan 19, 2026

Cane30 said:
Mensah isn't listed officially in the portal, yet. It has been at least 60 hrs since he went public with his announcement. I don't know if he enrolled at Duke this semester as he was still training in Tampa a week after classes started, but it's time to unenroll now if they aren't going to. Announce for Miami tomorrow.

It’s business days buddy. He will officially be in the portal today or tomorrow.