Why J.D. PicKell Believes Miami Hurricanes QB Carson Beck is Set for Big Things in 2024

Miami Hurricanes fans are excited for the start of the Carson Beck era, although they will have to wait until he’s fully cleared off UCL surgery .. which will likely happen late in the spring or in early summer. Beck proved over two years at Georgia that he can compete with the best and beat the best.

Last season the 6-4, 220-pounder was a finalist for the Manning Award and in 13 games threw for 3,485 yards with 28 TDs (and one rushing TD) and 12 INTs. The prior year, 2023, he was second team All-SEC, throwing for 3,941 yards with 24 TDs (adding four more rushing scores) and six INTs. That was his first starting role and he led the team to a 13-1 record.

Per Pro Football Focus, Beck had a solid 81.2 overall grade, 94.5 grade on 20+ passes (16.3 percent of his throws were 20+ yards), 73.4 grade on 10-19 yard passes (23.8 percent of his throws), 74.0 percent grade on 0-9 yard passes (28.3 percent of his throws) and 73.6 grade on throws behind the line (26.5 percent of the time).

Despite the success, Georgia fans pointed to Beck as taking a step back this past season. He threw some bad interceptions, and receiver drops didn’t help (“they led America in drops – that’s legitimately bad,” PicKell points out).

Addressing it all? That’s On3’s J.D. PicKell, who takes on what he calls “far too much Carson Beck slander over the course of the last few months.”

“Carson Beck at one point in time was the far and away favorite to be the No. 1 pick and potentially Heisman Trophy winner,” PicKell said on The Hard Count. “Then the 2024 season happens and `must not be that good, fell off.'”

PicKell is a Beck defender and says losing NFL weapons Ladd McConkey and Brock Bowers hurt him in 2024 along with a team that ranked No. 102 in rushing and couldn’t take pressure off the passing game.

“That made it a more of a difficult task for him to repeat the year he had in 2023,” PicKell said.

As for the 12 INTs, some of which were ugly?

“When you can’t run the football and receivers aren’t great hanging onto the football when you throw to them, I’d press a little too,” PicKell says, adding that Georgia wasn’t able to cater to Beck’s strengths as a downfield passer with their personnel.

PicKell acknowledges that Beck left things to be desired with his play at Georgia in 2024, but also says the change of scenery to Miami can help his psyche.

“A little more low-profile, less attention – that’s exactly what Carson Beck needs, a chance to breathe a little bit,” PicKell said. “That’s not knocking Georgia (with a smaller town feel/more intense area attention), just sometimes things run their course.”

A final thought on Beck from PicKell?

“The SEC with the defenses he had to play against, not knocking the ACC but I don’t think it will be a more difficult task in general,” PicKell said. “I think he’s going to have a pretty good transition.

“Carson Beck, he’s a good quarterback. I think he’s a top 10 quarterback, top 5 quarterback even going into next season. I love this fit, love where he’s going to be at Miami – ultimately the Canes in 2025 can be right back in the mix to win the ACC, in the college football playoffs. And grabbing a guy like Carson Beck is a massive reason why that’s the case.”