Carson Beck entered the 2024 faculty soccer season with a sterling skilled outlook. Many mock drafts pegged Beck as the primary quarterback taken off the board throughout the first 5 picks of the primary spherical in 2025.
However an up-and-down yr at Georgia, underscored by an SEC-high 12 interceptions and a UCL harm within the SEC Championship Sport that required surgical procedure to restore, precipitated Beck’s inventory plummet. CBS Sports activities ranked Beck as its No. 55 total prospect, and a few scouts thought he was a Day 3 decide.
That is the distinction a so-so yr makes, even when Beck nonetheless threw for 3,485 yards and 28 touchdowns, each prime 5 amongst SEC quarterbacks.
It is in opposition to that backdrop that Beck made the more and more widespread determination to return to high school for one more yr. It will not be with Georgia, although. Beck entered the switch portal, the place he immediately turned the highest prospect in 247Sports’ Switch Rankings however simply as rapidly dedicated to Miami.
NFL-caliber quarterbacks returning for one more yr in faculty is not a brand new idea. Tennessee legend Peyton Manning, famously, returned for his senior season in 1997 regardless of being projected as the highest total decide in that yr’s draft; he nonetheless went No. 1 in 1998.
USC quarterback Matt Barkley, a projected first-round choice within the 2012 NFL Draft, truly damage his inventory some by as an alternative returning for one more yr with the Trojans. He was nonetheless picked within the fourth spherical of the 2013 NFL Draft and went on to have a decade-long profession as a backup. There are worse fates.
The switch portal has solely modified that dynamic. Now, not solely can quarterbacks return for one more yr, they will achieve this with — in some circumstances — a much-needed change of surroundings. For lots of gamers, it is a prime alternative to both increase or recuperate NFL Draft inventory.
There have been six quarterbacks chosen within the first spherical of the 2024 NFL Draft. 4 of them had transferred not less than as soon as. Three of these transfers spent a minimal of 5 years on the collegiate stage.
Bo Nix went from an Auburn castoff to a Heisman Trophy finalist that developed into the No. 12 decide at Oregon. Michael Penix Jr. left an harm riddled Indiana profession behind and took Washington to the 2023 School Soccer Playoff Nationwide Championship. He then went to the Atlanta Falcons with the eighth total decide.
Then, after all, there’s Jayden Daniels. Daniels transferred from Arizona State below former coach Herm Edwards and ended up at LSU, the place he gained the 2023 Heisman Trophy. Daniels, the No. 2 decide within the 2024 NFL Draft, is a frontrunner for NFL Offensive Rookie of the 12 months and simply guided the Washington Commanders to their first playoff win since 2005.
Beck is following instantly within the footsteps of a quarterback that simply used the switch portal to drastically improve his skilled outlook. Miami took Beck to interchange Cam Ward, a two-time switch from Incarnate Phrase and Washington State who seems like he is on the same path.
Like Beck, Ward initially introduced that he would enter the 2024 NFL Draft after two seasons at Washington State. However the first wave of suggestions tabbed him as a mid-round prospect, so he as an alternative transferred to the Hurricanes.
Ward threw for 4,313 yards and 39 touchdowns in 2024 and completed fourth within the Heisman voting whereas main Miami to its first 10-win season below coach Mario Cristobal. The most recent 2025 NFL mock draft, courtesy of CBS Sports activities’ Ryan Wilson, has the Tennessee Titans drafting Ward with the primary total decide.
Returning for one more yr does not simply afford Beck the chance to enhance his inventory. By using his further eligibility and transferring, he’ll seemingly revenue extra from identify, picture and likeness offers than he would have on his rookie NFL contract as a non-Day 1 decide.
Think about that Beck might — if he improves his inventory — make tens of millions of {dollars} extra within the 2026 NFL Draft, and his determination to return through the switch portal appears fairly prudent, particularly since latest historical past is on Beck’s aspect.
