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.
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.