High school football recruiting rankings are usually a gauge to help determine which players will excel at the next level. But of course, not all rankings match how players perform at the college level. There are several reasons for this, including the sheer volume of recruits in a given class, paired with the wide variety of coaching and roster situations that change the trajectory of players’ careers.
One player who did not match his high school recruiting ranking is Miami quarterback Darian Mensah. Halfway through the season, Mensah is one of the favorites to win the Heisman and has the Miami Hurricanes as the No. 1 team in the country.
Coming out of high school, Mensah was ranked as the No. 161 quarterback in the class of 2023.
Here’s a look at Mensah’s journey from high school to Tulane, then Duke, before landing at Miami.
MORE: A Q&A on the state of NIL: Agents open up about negotiations, transfer decisions, more
Darian Mensah as a recruit
Mensah was rated by the 247Sports Composite as a three-star, rated as the No. 161 quarterback in the class of 2023. From San Luis Obispo, Calif., he was rated as the No. 383 player out of his home state and played out of St. Joseph High School.
In August of his senior year, Tulane was his very first offer, followed by FCS Idaho State. Tulane was coached by current Houston head coach Willie Fritz at the time. Fritz’s son, Wes, who was on Tulane’s staff, found Mensah’s tape. According to Yahoo Sports, Wes brought the tape to his father, who then made Mensah an offer.
“We were scouring the country,” Wes said via Yahoo Sports.
“Other schools were probably like, ‘Is this Tulane offer even real?'” said Wes Fritz with a laugh, he and dad Willie now at Houston. “They were probably like, ‘What the hell is going on here?'”
”It was one of those things where I was going through all kinds of people from all over,” Wes added via The News & Observer. “And he stuck out to me on film.”
Part of the other reason Mensah’s recruitment was so quiet was thanks to California transfer rules that required Mensah to sit out several games during his junior season.
“Mensah is the textbook later-bloomer,” 247Sports’ Director of Scouting told The Sporting News via email. “He only played in five games as a junior due to transfer rules in California and was a quarterback few, if any, saw on the offseason circuit. With how accelerated quarterback recruiting has become, the combination of limited tape and no Elite 11 type of work out to stand kept him off a lot of radars.
It’s just a hard sell for personnel departments when schools are now locking up quarterbacks before junior seasons even begin. But credit the Tulane staff for going across the country and finding him. He certainly has outkicked our projection, which was a Group of Six starter.”
His senior season, he threw for 2,205 yards with just four interceptions and six interceptions per Max Preps. He added 392 rush yards with seven touchdowns.
He arrived at Tulane in 2023, and took a redshirt his first season there. Fritz left for the Houston job in 2024, and Mensah stayed put as Jon Sumrall and his staff arrived. He competed with former four-star quarterback recruit, Ty Thompson, who now plays tight end at Tulane, for the starting job ahead of the 2024 season.
Sumrall named Mensah the starter at the beginning of the season. As a redshirt freshman, he led the Green Wave to an AAC title game berth and 9-4 finish while throwing for 2,723 yards with 22 touchdowns and six interceptions.
He had an even better season at Duke last season, throwing for 3,973 yards with 34 touchdowns and six interceptions, leading the Blue Devils to their first ACC title since 1962.
At Miami, he leads the FBS in completion percentage (80.8) and has tossed 18 touchdown passes so far.
“Mensah knows what he wants to do with the football and doesn’t seem to flinch in adverse situations,” Ivins added of the quarterback. “His timing, accuracy and pocket feel are his X-factor.”
Mensah is eligible to enter the 2027 NFL Draft, if he decides to do so. He’s considered a first-round draft pick in most mocks, and ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. has Mensah as his No. 4 overall player on his most recent big board.
Not too shabby for a former 161st ranked quarterback.
MORE: College football picks, predictions against the spread for Week 8
