NFL draft profile 2026: Carson Beck (Quarterback, Miami)

The 2026 NFL Draft is in Pittsburgh! This draft season, we’ll be scouting as many of the top prospects that the Pittsburgh Steelers could have their eye on. We’ll break down the prospects themselves, strengths and weaknesses, projected draft capital, and their fit with the Steelers.

As one of the more polarizing quarterback prospects in the 2026 draft, can Miami’s Carson Beck translate his college success to the pros?

The basics on Carson Beck

Offensive stats via Sports Reference

Carson Beck scouting report

A 6’5 passer with 10-inch hands who started three years for some of college football’s most dominant teams, Carson Beck has some standout sections on his resume.

Leading Miami to the College Football Playoff Final in 2025, Beck led the ACC with 72.4% completion in a check down-heavy passing attack that found explosives from a talented group of receivers in Malachi Toney, C.J. Daniels, and Keelan Marion. Beck contributed quite a bit as well.

When asked to do more than just spit out the ball on screens, Beck could be a high-end rhythm passer. He distributed the ball well on middle of the field routes, where he largely protected his receivers from big hits and set them up for yards after catch opportunities.

Game manager is the term that comes to mind when Beck is at his best, but that didn’t mean he went without highlight-worthy moments in 2025. He has baseline scrambling ability but did a good job of keeping his eyes downfield on broken plays, hitting some throws on the move.

Pushing the ball downfield, Beck is certainly willing, but there are some big concerns with his NFL profile. He underwent UCL surgery in 2024 and his arm never quite got back to full strength. Beck noticeably lacks high-end zip, and his long ball has a lot of arc and often forced his receivers to slow.

Beck’s accuracy can be surprisingly spotty, especially downfield. But he certainly dropped some passes in the bucket last season.

Out-breakers are generally the best judge of arm strength, and Beck did hit his fair share in college. His arm talent is definitely a tick or two below what you’d want from a starter, but it meets NFL thresholds.

However, Beck’s mental game doesn’t completely make up for some of his physical worries. As you could probably tell from the deep ball reel above, Beck sometimes attempted throws like he had more small-window ability than in reality.

And despite being a capable distributor for the most part, ball security could be an issue with Beck making some questionable decisions, especially when under pressure. He’s coming off back to back 12-interception seasons.

Still, Beck showed some skills that can translate to the NFL while with the Hurricanes. Many of his dropbacks seemed to involve full-field reads — and again, he was constantly competing at the highest level of the sport and finding success.

I don’t notice a lot of upside with Beck, but it’s easy to see him finding a long career as a capable backup who can lead an NFL offense in a pinch, especially if he can continue to fine-tune his decision making.

Strengths

Led top college football teams at both Georgia and Miami; big game experience and success
Capable of full-field reads
Good rhythm thrower; gets the ball to his playmakers
Generally above-average ball placement on short and intermediate throws, mainly in the middle of the field

Weaknesses

Arm post-surgery clearly lacks zip or elite downfield range
Fairly common lapses in decision-making; occasionally writes checks his arm can’t cash
Offense built heavily around screens and dump-offs
Mobility is just functional

What others are saying about Carson Beck

Lance Zierlein, NFL.com

Three-year starter who has weathered his share of ups and downs. Beck has NFL-caliber size and a lot of experience playing in high-leverage games. He recovered from 2024 UCL surgery on his throwing elbow, but he appeared to lose some drive velocity on deep balls and move throws. He works through progressions at a good pace and can throw with anticipation, but he loses track of safeties, throwing into hazardous spots. Beck’s decision-making showed more maturity in his final college season, but pressure can pull him back into old habits. He spins a catchable ball with a compact release, but spotty accuracy leads to pass breakups and a lower conversion rate on tight-window throws. Beck projects as a good backup with the potential to earn a starting job down the road, but he must continue developing game-managing instincts.

Damian Parson, Bleacher Report

Beck is an anticipatory thrower. He sees things quickly and throws before the wide receiver’s break. … Beck throws a very catchable football. He throws with pace and knows how to apply the right amount of touch. … He struggles under pressure, specifically interior pressure right in his face. Beck will throw off his back foot to avoid being hit or contacted. … He is prone to locking into his first read or pre-determining his reads before the snap. PRO COMPARISON: Kenny Pickett.

Todd McShay, The Ringer

Mechanically, Beck has a quick, compact release for a long-levered passer, with a tight and repeatable motion. He generates solid velocity and can fit throws into tight windows or outside the numbers, although his arm strength tapers off on deeper throws. His ball placement as a whole can be streaky. However, his supporting cast at Miami—Malachi Toney, CJ Daniels, and Keelan Marion—consistently made plays on the ball at a higher rate than his receivers at Georgia, which appeared to give him more confidence to attempt aggressive but calculated throws.

Carson Beck’s fit with the Steelers

One of the Steelers’ top-30 visits, Beck meets the mold of big quarterback new head coach Mike McCarthy says he prefers. Still, he’s one of a few mid-round types at the position who I don’t see as bringing much to the table that Will Howard doesn’t already. In fact, I’d say I liked Howard as a prospect more.

The Steelers seem to be performing their due diligence on quarterbacks in this year’s upcoming draft, which is both expected and a good thing. But prospects such as Beck with capped arm strength and mobility just aren’t the ideal dart throws. Sure, taking risks at the quarterback position are a necessary evil of getting out of passer purgatory, but there are better swings to take in the middle rounds, even in this year’s draft.

TL;DR: Beck is a NFL-sized, big game-tested pocket passer who is at his best distributing the ball to a talented group of receivers. His limited arm strength and mobility — as well as some mental flubs under pressure — limit his starter upside, but Beck isn’t much improvement away from being a high-end NFL backup.

What are your thoughts on Miami quarterback Carson Beck? And which draft prospects would you like to see profiled next? Let us know in the comments below!

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