Week 3 of the college football season is packed with some intriguing and fun matchups after a lot of the top teams played against smaller schools, leading to a lot of blowouts last week. Georgia is on the road for an SEC clash with Tennessee, and Notre Dame is hosting Texas A&M in prime time Saturday night.
But it's another matchup that Cleveland Browns fans should have their eyes on in terms of prospects for their team in next April's draft. #5 Miami (FL) is hosting #18 USF, which is coming off a big win over Florida last week.
Three players from Miami stand out as potential targets for the Cleveland Browns, and fans should keep an eye on them when the game kicks off at 4:30 PM on Saturday.
Carson Beck, QB, Miami, FL
Season Stats (2 Games): 42/55 (76.4%), 472 yards, 4 TDs, 0 INT.
Heading into the 2024 season, there were a lot of draft experts who had then Georgia quarterback Carson Beck as one of the top quarterbacks in the class after a great 2023 season with the Bulldogs. However, his 2024 season was a disaster, which ultimately led him to decide to stay in school and transfer to Miami.
Through two games with the Hurricanes, Beck is starting to look like the guy he was in 2023 again. He struggled under pressure in 2024, and throughout the two games, he has been significantly better. Now, one of those games was against Bethune-Cookman, which is why some are still hesitant to throw him back into the conversations about the top quarterbacks in this class. He has to play at this level against a tougher level of competition to be taken seriously as an NFL quarterback prospect again, but it's been a good start.
Beck has looked comfortable and calm in the pocket, and through two games has zero turnover-worthy plays. He's also been playing it safe with a lot of shorter passes and a lower average depth of target than most of the rest of the class by a couple of yards.
Now he faces a USF defense that held down a good Florida offense to less than 20 points a week ago. Beck has a chance to show last year was a fluke in the coming weeks, and it all starts Saturday at home.