Duke football quarterback Darian Mensah has been garnering hype throughout the offseason as a potential breakout candidate on the college football scene in 2025. Another accolade has hit the resume for the former Tulane Green Wave, as Mensah has been named to the Davey O'Brien Award Watch List, an award given annually to the best quarterback in college football.
Davey O’Brien watch list for @DarianMensah 👀 pic.twitter.com/diaZm5mFjb
— Duke Football (@DukeFOOTBALL) August 7, 2025
Despite having a very productive redshirt freshman season as the starter for Tulane in 2024, Mensah still didn't become a household name until he signed one of the biggest NIL deals with Duke after the season. Duke signed Mensah to a two-year, $8 million NIL deal, one of the largest in the sport's history.
After not being a highly-touted recruit out of high school, Mensah fought his way up the depth chart after redshirting his freshman season to earn the starting job. The San Luis Obispo, CA native led the Green Wave to a 9-4 record and an AAC Championship game berth while throwing for 2,723 yards to go along with 22 touchdowns and six interceptions.
Viewed as one of the top quarterbacks in the transfer portal, Mensah and the Blue Devils are now trying to build on what was a very successful first year under head coach Manny Diaz. Duke won at least nine games in a season for just the fourth time in program history and made an appearance in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl against No. 14 Ole Miss.
Now, although Duke fans see the excitement around the program after Diaz and his staff revamped the roster for 2025, the national media still isn't sold on the program.
The Blue Devils were picked sixth in the ACC Preseason Media Poll and received the sixth-best odds to win the ACC Championship according to FanDuel.
However, after Duke brought in talented offensive weapons via the portal, such as Andrel Anthony and Cooper Barkate, along with returning several key defensive pieces from a unit that was one of the best in college football in 2024, the Blue Devils look like a prime sleeper candidate.
Mensah told reporters at ACC Kickoff in July that he and the rest of the team were ready to "shock some people" in 2025, and the makeup of this Duke roster surely makes it a threat.