Former Duke Blue Devils QB and WR Darian Mensah and Cooper Barkate have committed to the Miami Hurricanes via the transfer portal. Mensah comes to Coral Gables from Duke via Tulane, while Barkate arrived at Duke via Harvard (yes, that Harvard).
Mensah, the ACC’s leader in passing yards, passing TD’s, and adjusted yards per attempt in ‘25, will automatically serve as the starting quarterback for Miami after the departure of Carson Beck to the NFL. Barkate is a solid replacement for CJ Daniels on the outside.
Barkate caught 72 balls for 1,106 yards and seven TD’s for Duke last season. He had big games against Syracuse, NC State, Clemson, UVA twice, and Georgia Tech with Mensah firing the football his way.
The Film
We’re going to take a look at a few offensive clips from Duke’s game against Georgia Tech from the 2025 season. Mensah completed 72% of his passes with two TD’s on 8.5 yards per attempt but did fumble on a read option play that resulted in a GT defensive score. Against the Jackets Barkate caught 13 balls for 172 yards as a go-to look on RPO’s for Mensah.
The Blue Devils lost the game 27-18 even after converting 8-of-17 on money downs. How’d they lose? They were flagged for more penalty yards, gave up the scoop and score TD, and missed a FG while GT made both of their attempts and did not turn the ball over. Haynes King carved Manny Diaz’s defense up with 9.8 yards per pass attempt and 8.6 yards per carry with a score.
GT was hellbent on taking away deep shots and letting Duke try to put together 8-12 play drives and it worked for Brent Key’s Yellow Jackets and failed Diaz’s Blue Devils.
Above– Ballsy call in the end zone for an RPO but it works. Mensah is riding the mesh reading that CB. The overhang guy isn’t playing pass at all so he’s not going to help GT.
Above– Hits Barkate on the hitch and he breaks a tackle for an explosive play. You like hitches because you wind up in 1-on-1 situations against CB’s in space. If you can break one tackle, like he does, you have a big play.
Above– The count now is 3-over-3 which typically means run the ball, BUT, GT has two players above the hard deck (red line at 7y off LOS) and the S I’ve labeled with #3 can’t help. The overhang (arrow) is the only guy that could maybe help but he’s playing run still.
Above– Another RPO throw to Barkate, this time a bubble. He’s a dynamic playmaker in space so expect him to work well with Malachi Toney in taking heat off Toney.
Above– One thing I like about Barkate is that he catches the ball in his hands. Daniels, Trader and Marion had issues at times using their body. Here on a Sail Route he finds the very little space and snags the ball out of the air.
Above– Up to this point Mensah had been very efficient, completing all of his passes and really driving down the field on GT. But what Key gambled on turns out true. On a WIDE OPEN read option where if Mensah pulls early enough this is a TD… he fumbles.
Above– The RB gets destroyed, there’s miles of space for the QB to score, and the ball is on the ground. GT scoops and scores this for a 95-yard TD.
Above– Now this count for Mensah is too easy, GT lets them roll 3-over-2. In all reality he needs to check this to something like switch where he can utilize that while GT’s DB’s are deep, they’re outnumbered. Even a post–wheel here could be a huge play. They go with a safe bubble to Barkate. 2nd and 1 is ‘deep shot’ territory, too.
Above– The dreaded red zone 3rd down fade. It falls incomplete as expected. Mensah throws through the CB rather than a drop out towards the pylon which is safer and has a more likely TD rate.
Above– Mensah does some ‘Cam Ward’ things. He’s not a runner but he can move. He’s a play extender like Ward. Here he gets himself in a jam and fakes the first guy on the ground and eventually that 2nd guy before completing this ball downfield.
Above– There’s our guy Barkate finding space and getting open for his QB. Scramble drill had been an issue for Miami before Toney got on campus. Now there’s two of them and a more mobile QB.
Above– Someone learned his lesson and the throw by turns into an easy TD for Duke. Don’t throw into the DB, make his momentum work against him.
Above– Mensah is called for grounding here. He throws it beyond the LOS, but he doesn’t leave the pocket and there’s no receiver near the play. Stuff happens but not a great look at this point.
Above– Now he’s getting desperate. 3rd and 10, down 10, 3m to go and taking 5-over-1 deep shots.
Above– Another let the CB run himself out of the play. Tight coverage by GT, good to know Mensah can make adjustments in game and throw some pretty passes. He had a few thrown late in this one on Mesh but mostly he was accurate and safe with the football.
The Wrap
I think in Mensah the coaching staff sees Cam Ward. It’s yet to be seen if he has that same moxie, but he is the ACC Champion QB and did take Duke to 9-5 and a bowl win over ASU. It’s a good sign that his WR wants to come with him to Miami and that he’s been at academic institutions like Tulane and Duke- it shows Mensah is a brain as well as brawn.
Miami needs a smart QB in this offense who can get out of bad play calls and into the right ones. I’m much more excited about his upside than I was Beck coming into the season, and Beck just led the ‘Canes to the CFB Playoff National Championship Game and a blocked punt from a 6th ring.
