Miami's Best Fantasy Football Pick Might Surprise You by Season's End

College Fantasy Football is right around the corner. Who's Miami's best pick?

Jan 19, 2026; Miami Gardens, FL, USA; Miami Hurricanes mascot Sebastian the Ibis leads the team onto the field before the CFP National Championship college football game between the Indiana Hoosiers and the Miami Hurricanes at Hard Rock Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

With Yahoo! Sports bringing back college fantasy football this year, the buzz around Miami's league-winning potential has already begun.

Obviously, the name to watch on everyone's mind is Malachi Toney, the star sophomore wide receiver who led the ACC in receptions last year and both threw and ran the ball for the Hurricanes as a multi-tool player.

However, following its last two signal callers putting up solid seasons, Miami now has one of its most statistically impressive players under center in recent years, and Darian Mensah is being seriously slept on as far as Fantasy quarterbacks go. Even Yahoo itself doesn't have Mensah inside the top 12 fantasy quarterbacks in the country for 2026.

Given Mensah's numbers last year, coupled with the fact that this roster is infinitely more talented than the one he captained at Duke, Mensah has a chance to be the breakout fantasy player that makes a difference in leagues across the country.

The Case for Mensah's Draft Stock

College fantasy football works very similarly to the NFL version as far as scoring is concerned. In most leagues, though, users can start one quarterback each week. Those are paired with two RBs, two WRs, one TE, 2 FLEX players, and one D/ST. The key difference? There are no kickers. Instead, users pick an entire offense rather than a few players from each one.

That's where Mensah will shine. Keep in mind, he tossed for nearly 4,000 yards last year and 34 touchdowns with just six picks. He's wildly efficient and racks up yardage with his arm. Assuming that Mario Cristobal puts a slightly above-average line in front of him, which is assumed to be the case at this point, then Mensah should have all the time in the world to dissect ACC defenses just like he did at Duke.

Darian Mensah is my pick to win the Heisman in 2026

One of the most accurate QBs in college football with an elite supporting cast around him pic.twitter.com/W22r2vedf7

— NFL Draft Files (@NFL_DF) August 7, 2026

Any time you can pair one of, if not the most accurate passers in the country with both A) his favorite target from last season in Cooper Barkate, who hauled in over 1,100 yards last year, and B) a freshman sensation like Toney, the offense should chug along nicely. And that's without mentioning the fact that Mark Fletcher Jr. is in the backfield toting the rock.

Mensah's offense is going to score points in bunches. In fact, if you're looking for a draft-day steal, Mensah might be at the top of the list. However, when picking an offense for the year, it'd be smart to think about just how many ways this Miami offense can find the end zone, especially with Mensah at the helm.

A 5,000-yard season for Mensah isn't out of the question. The last time someone hit that number was in 2021 when Bailey Zappe was leading the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers offense. If Mensah is the next, he should have no trouble winning his fair share of games for Fantasy players.