Carson Beck injury update: Mario Cristobal shares latest on Miami QB, compares to Cam Ward after transfer

Carson Beck has been in Coral Gables for less than two months, but he’s already fitting in like a glove.

Miami head coach Mario Cristobal provided a glowing update on the Hurricanes’ new fifth-year quarterback transfer from Georgia during a Tuesday afternoon appearance on ESPN’s SportsCenter.

Beck, who committed to the ‘Canes on Jan. 10 after less than 24 hours in the NCAA Transfer Portal, is “a couple of weeks” away from resuming throwing after suffering a torn UCL in the first half of the SEC Championship game in early December, according to Cristobal.

“He’s doing well. He’s running really fast,” Cristobal said of Beck, who recently had his elbow brace removed. “He’s not throwing the ball yet, but he’s very close to doing so, so he’s taking part in all that he can do. And he should be throwing soon, maybe in a couple of weeks or so.”

Of course, it hasn’t been all smooth sailing for Beck, whose Merdedes and Lamborghini were among three high-priced vehicles stolen from his South Florida home in a robbery last week. Miami police have since arrested a 20-year-old suspect after recovering Beck’s Mercedes and a Range Rover SUV belonging to Beck’s girlfirend, Hanna Cavinder, but the Lamborghini remains unaccounted for.

Despite last week’s drama, Beck appears to have found a home in Miami, where he’ll replace NFL-bound Cam Ward, who is widely considered the top quarterback in the 2025 NFL Draft.

Mario Cristobal: New Miami QB Carson Beck ‘fits us perfectly’

Cristobal praised Beck’s talent and compared him favorably to Ward, who spearheaded the Hurricanes’ FBS-leading offense with a FBS-best 39 passing touchdowns on 4,313 yards and 67.2-percent passing in 2024.

“(We wanted Beck for) a lot of the reasons why we liked Cam (Ward) — besides the accuracy and the strong arm, and the ability to just elevate a football team, the guy is just poised to have a great season with the right protection, the right scheme,” Cristobal said. “Our scheme fits him, our scheme is designed to be really powerful and strong upfront, to get the ball to the playmakers outside, to protect him really well and a very diversified passing game that has a lot of autonomy to it. So he fits us perfectly.”

As a fourth-year senior last season at Georgia, Beck threw for 3,485 yards and set a new career-high with 28 touchdowns, but struggled with ball security, leading the SEC with 12 interceptions – nine of which occurred between Week 6 to Week 9. But Beck’s own NFL Draft status was thrown for a loop when he was injured on the final play of the first half of the SEC Championship.

Despite the injury setback, Cristobal knows Beck has what it take to continue Miami’s revival as a true national championship contender after Ward brought the ‘Canes back to prominence last season.

Mario Cristobal: Carson Beck is ‘made of the right stuff’

“I think he’s made of the right stuff. I think guys that are competitive by nature, they might lead in different ways, but their intent is pure, it’s natural,” Cristobal said of Beck. “They want to win, they’re not concerned about accolades and awards, they just want to win. They want to make guys around them better, they want to do it as a team. So I think those qualities and just an internal drive to be great are a great combination for what we need.”

After entering the portal, the sense was Beck could land one of the more lucrative NIL deals in history. Dollars continue to roll in this transfer cycle, as On3’s Pete Nakos previously reported, and Beck became one of the highest-profile players to hit the portal this year.

Beck has an On3 NIL Valuation of $4.4 million, which ranks No. 5 in the college football NIL rankings. That figure also puts him at No. 6 in the On3 NIL 100, the first of its kind and defacto NIL ranking of the top 100 high school and college athletes ranked by their On3 NIL Valuation.

Nick Schultz contributed to this report.