Carson Beck is now settled into Coral Gables and is all set to make his start as the Hurricanes’ QB1. His Georgia career is now in the past, for good. Beck has been in the Miami system long enough to soak up its strategies and operations. This season, Beck is expected to go big and even has good projections coming out for him for the 2026 draft. He’s now a quarterback who’s once again become someone worth watching out for. Going by the way he is developing under Miami head coach Mario Cristobal, Beck, in all possibility, can kick up a storm this year.
Beck had a disastrous season last year. He was not only faltering on the field, but also struggled mentally. The yardage and other good numbers only stand to prove that Carson Beck, the star, hasn’t completely lost his potential. In 2023, he led the Bulldogs to an SEC Championship appearance. Beck ended up repeating this feat in 2024, too. However, his mistakes continued to accumulate as the season progressed. His yardage dropped to 3485, while the interceptions shot up to 12. What Carson Beck needed in 2025 was a reset, not a write-off. He’s getting that and $4 million at Miami, now slowly getting experts back on his side.
Greg McElroy is down for seeing Carson Beck 2.0 at Miami. He thinks that it will be a worthwhile show. “I really don’t think you can ask for a better situation if you’re Carson Beck,” McElroy said in McElroy and Cubelic In The Morning on June 16. “Look at the other transfer quarterbacks this year and tell me who’s in a better spot. The only one that you can honestly make an argument on behalf of is what you’re getting with John Mateer at Oklahoma.” Unlike other transfer quarterbacks, Carson Beck is in a system that matches up to his standards. It’s a different conference, but the stakes are something he’s familiar with.
Co-host Cubelic also chimed in with his expectations. “The one thing that I am intrigued in, is just to see how he fits into the system. Because it will be somewhat different than what he operated in Athens, but also has a chance to give him maybe more opportunities to do some things down the field,” he said. “I think that offensive line has a chance to be pretty good, I think the receivers are solid,” Cubelic listed further. Offensive lines are Mario Cristobal’s expertise. The star of that department is Francis Mauigoa, who will be joined by James Brockermeyer and Anez Cooper, and more.
Carson Beck joined in late for offseason practice, being limited in spring due to rehabilitation. But now that he’s back, his odds are increasing day by day. The onus of Miami’s success lies on Beck’s shoulders, but also on Mario Cristobal.
Mario Cristobal’s pressure to make Carson Beck excel
“When [Cristobal] got there, they were a laughingstock… Now, you can’t have the College Football Playoff conversation without Miami in it,” CFB analyst Josh Pate said in May 2025. Cristobal, despite his very dramatic arrival at Coral Gables, brought so much recognition to a team that had lost its glory. After the 2024 season, he had his starting quarterback going as the No. 1 pick in the draft. When McElroy talks about Carson Beck finding the best possible replacement after Georgia, Miami did seem like the answer. He is expected to go as a top pick in the draft, and he seems like the perfect replacement for Cam Ward.
But Pate also sounded the alarm for Cristobal, still failing to make full use of his roster. “[You] accomplished some good things, but you should have accomplished great things,” the analyst said. LSU, got stuck in the same place in 2023 with Jayden Daniels. Miami also just missed out on making the playoffs, finishing No. 12 in the rankings. It’s high time that Cristobal’s potential actually reflects in the results that the team puts out. This year, he has no more excuses. “It’s on Mario… it’s on players who don’t execute, it’s on players not being put in a position to execute by the coaching staff,” Pate said sternly.
Carson Beck cannot be a wasted potential. A lot of things went bad for him last year, but he has made his comeback. Beck is bound to end his career on a high note. He is well-positioned to be ‘the guy’ for the Hurricanes’ offense this year. Cristobal also has the necessary support for Beck to use on the field – something he desperately needed last year. It’s redemption year for him, and the HC should allow him to make full use of his talents.
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