DURHAM — Cameron Indoor Stadium provided Darian Mensah with his welcome-to-Duke moment.
Mensah, a Tulane transfer and one of the top quarterbacks in the portal, visited Durham on Dec. 10. After sitting with the Cameron Crazies and watching Duke basketball’s blowout win against Incarnate Word, Mensah committed to Manny Diaz and Duke football on Dec. 11.
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“(Cameron Indoor Stadium) lives up to the hype,” Mensah said after starring in the Blue Devils’ spring game on April 19.
“Cooper Flagg, this year, was a stud. As soon as I came on my visit, I knew this was home. Just being in there, it’s electric.”
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Like Flagg, Mensah hopes to bring similar levels of excitement to Durham. And like Flagg, Mensah will reportedly be among the highest-paid players in college sports. The 6-foot-3 redshirt sophomore has an NIL valuation of $2.8 million, according to On3.
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According to On3’s NIL valuation rankings, Mensah is 11th among college football players and No. 3 among ACC quarterbacks behind Miami’s Carson Beck and Clemson’s Cade Klubnik.
Mensah will be center stage as he tries to help Diaz and the Blue Devils build off a 2024 season that concluded with Duke winning nine games as one of the ACC’s top teams.
Mensah said “an opportunity to compete in a conference like the ACC on a team that won nine games last year” and “the connections that you get at Duke” factored into his decision to pick the Blue Devils. He steps in to replace Maalik Murphy, Duke’s starting quarterback in Diaz’s debut season. Murphy threw for nearly 3,000 yards, with 26 TDs and 12 interceptions, before transferring to Oregon State.
“He saw us as a premier destination and a place where a quarterback can really get developed and excel at a high level,” Diaz said of Mensah.
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“. … There’s a lot of wind in the sails of Duke football and the support that we’re getting from our administration and our donors, the Iron Dukes and starting 11. Duke wants to compete at the highest level. We’re here to stay.”
Darian Mensah, who looks up to NFL QB CJ Stroud, could be among ACC’s top quarterbacks
Duke linebacker Tre Freeman, a redshirt senior and All-ACC defender, has seen his share of good quarterbacks in the ACC and beyond.
On the first day of spring practice, it didn’t take long for Freeman to notice something about Mensah.
“Just his competitiveness. That guy, he gone compete no matter what’s going on. We could be playing anything and he gone compete. That’s really the main thing,” Freeman said.
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Whether it’s ping pong or “who can get dressed the fastest,” Freeman added, Mensah is “gone try to win” and “he gonna be talking junk” in the process. Freeman saw it after a play on the first day.
“He threw a nice, little slot fade (pass) and he was running down there talking junk.” Freeman said. “I was like, ‘Alright, he’s got some competitiveness in him.’ ”
Mensah put that confidence on display in an impressive debut at Wallace Wade Stadium, completing 12-of-14 passes for 185 yards and two touchdowns in Duke’s spring game. He didn’t have an incompletion until his fourth series, throwing a pair of deep passes for TDs.
“I think he’ll have the confidence in what he’s done,” Diaz said. “. … I think the whole deal was on display (in the spring game).”
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As a first-year starter for the Green Wave in 2024, Mensah completed 65.9% of his passes for 2,723 yards and 22 touchdowns across 13 games. The 6-foot-3, 200-pound quarterback had eight games with multiple passing TDs, including four straight to end the season.
As for quarterbacks he tries to emulate, Mensah pointed to Houston Texans star C.J. Stroud.
“I watch a lot of CJ Stroud, so try to model my game after him,” Mensah said. “Take what the defense gives me and make plays when presented to me.”
Now, in going from the AAC to the ACC, Mensah will try to find his place among the league’s top QBs. That list figures to include Clemson’s Cade Klubnik, Miami’s Carson Beck, SMU’s Kevin Jennings, Georgia Tech’s Haynes King and N.C. State’s CJ Bailey.
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Following his first spring session with the Blue Devils, Mensah learned Duke’s “defense is legit” and he’s grown “tremendously” with finding his flow and rhythm as the leader of the offense.
He’s also confident the Blue Devils are built to compete at the top of the league. The first step is Aug. 28 against Elon at Wallace Wade Stadium.
“We’re gonna be really good this year,” Mensah said.
Rodd Baxley covers Duke, North Carolina and N.C. State for The Fayetteville Observer as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his ACC coverage on X/Twitter or Bluesky: @RoddBaxley. Got questions regarding those teams? Send them to rbaxley@fayobserver.com.
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Darian Mensah joins Duke football expected to be among ACC’s best QBs
