It is the speculation time of year for college football fans, as the media and each school's fan base hypothesize about who has the best and worst incoming classes of recruits, the best and worst players and everything in between.
One specific old face in a new place seems to be continually at the center of conversations about this upcoming season: Miami Hurricanes quarterback Carson Beck.
After five seasons with the Georgia Bulldogs, Beck is using the last of his eligibility with the ACC powerhouse. The 22-year-old signal-caller transferred to the Hurricanes in January shortly after his 2024 season ended abruptly because of his need for elbow surgery. A UCL injury was sustained during last year's SEC Championship win over the Texas Longhorns.
That injury is also fueling the wide discrepancies between predictions for how Beck and Miami will fare this upcoming season. It's still not clear if his recovery will affect his performance this year.
However, college football analyst Greg McElroy believes Beck overcame many obstacles last season, and he explained why he ranked him as the country's No. 6 quarterback heading into this season during his "Always College Football" podcast.
“A guy that had we done this ranking a year ago, he probably would have been No. 1 and been No. 1 by a decent-sized margin,” McElroy said. “That’s Carson Beck, of the Miami Hurricanes.
“You’re going to look at his 2024 campaign, and the numbers aren’t necessarily going to wow you positively or negatively. He threw for nearly 3,500 yards… a 28-to-12 touchdown-to-interception ratio and nearly 65% completion. So pretty solid. But if you look at where he went last year, he was the de facto No. 1 overall pick and the front-runner to become the Heisman Trophy winner. That’s where he was last offseason.”
McElroy continued to explain that Miami's supporting cast should be better, and the competition in the ACC should be more favorable. He also believes Beck is getting enough respect for his resume, which includes a 24-3 record and nearly 8,000 passing yards in his career.
McElroy's top quarterbacks for this season are from Nos. 10 to 1 are Georgia Tech's Haynes King, Florida's DJ Lagway, Baylor's Sawyer Robertson, South Carolina's LaNorris Sellers, Beck, LSU's Garrett Nussmeier, Penn State's Drew Allar, Arizona State's Sam Leavitt, Oklahoma's John Mateer and Clemson's Cade Klubnik.
He also listed Texas' Arch Manning, SMU's Kevin Jennings, Arkansas' Taylen Green, Illinois' Luke Altmyer and UCLA's Nico Iamaleava as honorable mentions.
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