Aug 28, 2025; Durham, North Carolina, USA; Duke Blue Devils quarterback Darian Mensah (10) throws a touchdown pass against the Elon Phoenix during the second half at Wallace Wade Stadium. Mandatory Credit: James Guillory-Imagn Images James Guillory-Imagn Images

How Duke’s Mensah Stacks Up Against Georgia Tech’s King

Originally posted on Duke Blue Devils on SI
By Logan Lazarczyk | Last updated Oct 16, 2025 11:00 AM ET

Duke and Georgia Tech square off in a pivotal ACC matchup on Saturday at Wallace Wade Stadium. Both teams are atop the conference, with the winner of this contest exponentially raising its chances of playing in the ACC Championship game in December.

Football has become a quarterback-centric sport in recent years, as the teams with the overwhelming, superior talent at the position are more likely to compete for a National Championship.

This matchup features two quarterbacks with completely contrasting, but effective styles that have led to great success through the first half of the season for their respective teams.

However, when assessing these quarterbacks in this game, which team should feel better about their signal caller, and that's the player's ability to overcome specific challenges. Let's take a deep dive into this conversation and analyze each quarterback.

Darian Mensah

Quarterbacks transferring is becoming the norm in the college football world. Mensah has been one of the best and most productive players who entered the transfer portal during the offseason.

The former Tulane quarterback has been incredibly efficient, completing 69.8% of his passes while attempting 9.0 yards per attempt.

Although Mensah is a mobile quarterback, he is not overly dependent on that feature of his game, which makes him a very dangerous factor for opposing defenses. Quarterbacks who can run, but can carve up a defense from the pocket, are the ones who are most likely to be consistent each and every week.

Haynes King

As mentioned, King is an underrated athletic quarterback whose running style does not mirror a typical rushing signal caller.

As much as teams love to have a quarterback with rushing upside, the over-dependence on that could reveal weaknesses in executing in the pocket.

On the surface, King's completion percentage appears better than Mensah's at 71.2%, but those passes are mostly manufactured, safe throws by the offensive coaching staff.

King does his job as a game manager at a high level, but in games where the Yellow Jackets are forced to throw, the junior quarterback's limitations in the pocket can be exposed.

There is a reason Georgia Tech wants to run the football at such an excessive volume. It masks some of King's deficiencies as a passer, which can prevent the Yellow Jackets from becoming legitimate contenders.

Verdict: While Georgia Tech can win this game by imposing it's will through the run game, the Blue Devils have the edge at quarterback with Mensah.

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This article first appeared on Duke Blue Devils on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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