Carson Beck came to Miami, leaving his NFL dream on the back burner for one more year. But why did he join Miami? His main motivation to join the Miami Hurricanes stemmed from his desire to win the national title, which he had never won as QB1 at Georgia. The other factor surely was his 4.3 million NIL deal that would see him earning a bumper paycheck. But there is still a hurdle in Beck’s elusive dream.
Sure, the Miami Hurricanes performed quite well in the 2024 season initially. They went on a 9-win run that ended with a thrilling loss to Georgia Tech by 28-23. What then followed was another loss to Syracuse on the road, culminating in a loss against ISU in the Pop-Tarts Bowl. Despite all of Cam Ward’s heroics, he couldn’t salvage anything from the season as Miami faltered to qualify for the playoffs and didn’t make it to the conference championship game. It seems similar struggles have come again to haunt Carson Beck. And here’s why.
Coach Coop, who is a Canes’ insider, discussed at length why Carson Beck may not be able to achieve the glory he wants with Miami. “He (Mario Cristobal) doesn’t have enough proven weapons depending on how you want to look at this because when looking at the wide receiver, tight end, and running back positions for Miami going into this season. There is a lot of promising talent, but the majority of those guys haven’t seen many snaps at the college level yet, at least not in actual games.” Well, that statement may look kind of loaded. But wait till you hear this.
In terms of their rushing power, Damien Martinez has now gone for the NFL. That has left them with Jordan Lyle and Mark Fletcher. While Fletcher did rush for 1,121 yards in total as a rotational role, Lyle didn’t see many snaps in his freshman year and only has 400 rushing yards to his name. Joshisa Trader is also someone in the receiver corps who didn’t see many snaps in his freshman year and only received 91 yards total. Other than him, Chance Robinson is another wide receiver who didn’t even feature for a game in his freshman season. The list is endless. But you get the idea, right? Coach Coop also provided another grim scenario for Beck.
He said that the major sentiment among fans is that Beck is a downgrade from Ward, and so, in a way, Miami shouldn’t expect anything more than the ACC championship in 2025. However, that’s where fans are wrong, as he expanded on the issue. “Miami could have the talent, but they won’t make it to the CFP because of one big reason: Mario Cristobal and the reality with this one is Mario just has to prove the haters wrong here.” Well, there were some problems in Miami’s defense in 2024, as was evident by their stats. But that doesn’t mean that they can’t make the playoffs in 2025. However, the question of whether Carson Beck has made the right decision by leaving Georgia is a very complex one.
Carson Beck did leave Georgia at the time when they won the SEC championship and lost to Notre Dame eventually. Sure, they performed better than Miami and made it to the playoffs. But they had their own problem. Alex Donno of ‘Locked on Canes’ highlighted the issues that plagued Carson Beck at Georgia.
Carson Beck stuck between a rock and a hard place?
“You know Carson Beck has seen everything, and if Miami can keep him protected, which is something he didn’t have. Much of their (Georgia) offensive line was not very good last year. I think Carson Beck can have a great year at Miami.” The major point that has to be noticed here is that Beck didn’t have much protection from Georgia’s O line. But is there any truth to it?
Well, there might be. Their O-line allowed 37 sacks throughout the season and was quite leaky on occasions. Moreover, their rushing prowess also didn’t work in their favor, as they only averaged 124 yards per game, which was the lowest in Kirby Smart’s era. Moreover, their receiving unit failed to meet expectations, dropping 36 passes during the 2024 season. That’s 665 yards dropped from Beck’s resume right there. The verdict?
The situation may seem like Beck is now stuck between a rock and a hard place. Miami may not be such a hard place after all. Their recruitment class of 2025, i.e., ranked 1st in ACC, provides a lot of hope. Furthermore, Cristobal’s latest staff additions in Corery Hetherman (DC), Damione Lewis (assistant), and Will Harris (secondary coach) surely have a lot to promise and deliver in the 2025 season.
The post Crisis Strikes Carson Beck’s $4M Miami Decision as Mario Cristobal’s Blunders Threaten to Repeat Georgia Nightmare appeared first on EssentiallySports.
