Is Carson Beck an NFL first-round draft pick?

The Miami Hurricanes are in a position to win the national championship on their own turf with only one more win, and it is in large part because of the Canes quarterback, Carson Beck.

Beck was a four-star recruit coming out of Mandarin High School in Jacksonville, Florida. The Florida native would, after a brief stint with baseball, commit to play football for Alabama. This decision wouldn't last long as Beck would end up decommitting from the Crimson Tide and recommitting to Georgia.

As a Bulldog, after redshirting his freshman year, Beck would ride the bench for the 2021 and 2022 seasons, winning two national championships.

Beck would then take the field as the starter for Georgia in the 2023 and 2024 seasons, playing well in both, but especially in 2023, when he led the Bulldogs to an undefeated regular season, with their only loss coming in the SEC championship to a very good Alabama team.

Even with Beck having some draft hype after 2023, he would stay another year with the Bulldogs, and after leading Georgia to another SEC championship game, along with a 10-2 record, Beck would sustain a season-ending elbow injury on the final play of the first half, causing him to have surgery to repair the ligaments in his UCL.

That brutal injury would raise concerns about Beck’s health and talent, which would bring his NFL draft stock to an all-time low, so after an offseason to decide, Beck would choose to become a sixth-year senior and enter the transfer portal.

Beck would ultimately sign with Miami with an NIL deal for three to four million dollars.

As a Hurricane, Beck has flashed that potential he showed in 2023, especially in his first five games, with a touchdown-to-interception ratio of 11 to three. Along with three ranked victories, with one being over ranked No. 6 Notre Dame, Beck looked primed to have a resurgence into a first-round draft pick.

That fast start would not last as the Canes and Beck would suffer a mid-season slump, which Miami fans have grown accustomed to under head coach Mario Cristobal. Beck played terribly in Miami's only two losses, throwing for six interceptions in those games.

Doubters of Beck pointed out that he was being carried by a roster filled with five stars and NFL talent, and when he needed to elevate his play to win close games, he couldn't deliver. Beck, the rest of the 2025 season would prove those people wrong.

After the loss to SMU, Beck would go on a tear, winning the remaining five games on their schedule and recording 11 touchdowns to one interception. This impressive streak led the CFP playoff committee to let Miami into the playoffs as the lowest seed.

Miami saw this opportunity and ran with it, going on a run beating Texas A&M in Kyle Field, the reigning National champs in Ohio State and a red-hot Ole Miss team who had just knocked off Beck's former team in the Georgia Bulldogs.

In these three games, Beck would look serviceable rather than elite. Cristobal made sure that Beck would play the role of game manager and let the star-studded cast of Malachi Toney, Mark Fletcher Jr., and a top-ten defense carry the load.

In the game against Ole Miss, when Beck was forced to lead a game-winning drive, he delivered, rushing in the game-winning touchdown after many clutch throws throughout the drive.

In college, Beck is a Quarterback who, with the right pieces around him, can lead a team to success, but when a team asks him to do too much or carry an offense, he falls to the weight of his own expectations. That being said, Beck is very mature and smart with the ball, which is a valuable skill in the NFL.

Beck is at best a day two draft pick and at worst an early pick on day three. Beck should slot in behind the Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson as the fourth QB off the board, but if Beck has a great game in the national championship, it could boost his draft stock and slot him comfortably in the second round.

Michael Fechter is a first-year journalism major. To contact him, please email maf6740@psu.edu.