Locked On ACC - Daily College Football & Basketball Podcast - FIREWORKS: ACC Transfer QB Drama HEATS UP—Most Exciting, Intriguing, and Concerning Situations

Episode Date: August 14, 2026

ACC football’s quarterback landscape is dramatically shifting—are transfer QBs the key to a conference title run, or a recipe for chaos? Louisville’s Lincoln Kienholz and Wake Forest’s Gio Lopez headline the most exciting storylines, with Jeff Brohm’s revamped offense sparking major intrigue. Florida State’s gamble on Ashton Daniels and Stanford’s risky move with Davis Warren raise pressing questions: can these new faces deliver under pressure, or are their programs in trouble? Julian Council and Kenton Gibbs break down each ACC transfer quarterback situation, from high-upside contenders to serious red flags at Duke and Boston College. Insights include the interplay between offensive schemes, portal strategy, and the ripple effects of surprise late transfers—like Darian Mensah’s shocking move to Miami. Will any of these teams emerge as ACC front-runners, or will quarterback instability define the season? Don’t miss this crucial preview of the ACC’s most compelling quarterback battles. Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! KALSHI For a limited time, Download the Kalshi app and use code [LOCKEDON] to get $10 when you trade $10. . The Game Don't miss this chance to celebrate 40 years of The Game with 40% off your entire order. Visit https://TheGameCaps.com and use promo code LOCKEDON at checkout. Odoo Great organizations win because operations matter. And that’s why you should get Odoo. Try for free today at https://Odoo.com/lockedon. Indeed Listeners of this show get a $75 Sponsored Job Credit to help give your job the premium placement it deserves at http://Indeed.com/podcast Gametime Today's episode is brought to you by Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDON for $20 off your first purchase. Terms and conditions apply. FanDuel Today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Join all the action at https://FANDUEL.COM to play Daily Dingers and make your free pick on who’s hitting a homer this MLB season. FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Which ACC transfer quarterback situations are the most exciting, the most intriguing, and the most concerning? We'll tell you right now on Locked on ACC. You are Locked on ACC, your daily podcast on the Atlantic Coast Conference. Part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome in to another edition of the Locked on ACC podcast. I'm Julian Counsel, and he is former NC State Football Letterman, Kenton Gibbs, and today's episode of Locked on ACC is brought to you by CalShe for a limited time. Download the CalC app and use code locked on and get $10 when you trade $10.

Closing out the week of shows by taking a look across the conference and looking at the most exciting, most intriguing and most concerning quarterback situations as far as transfer quarterbacks go in the ACC. There's only five ACC schools right now who are projected to start homegrown quarterbacks. Cal is going to start JKS. Clemson's either going to start Christopher Visina or Tate Reynolds. State's going to start C.J. Bailey, Pitt, Mason, Heinchall, and SMU, Kevin Jennings. Potentially Duke is going to start Dan Mahan. But for this exercise, we're going to assume that the San Jose State transfer Walker Eaget wins that job.

So 11, sorry, 12 of the 17 schools in the conference are expected to start transfers this season. Let's start off Kenton by talking about the positive, our most exciting transfer quarterback situation. in the ACC. What school do you think has the most exciting transfer quarterback situation heading into 2026?

Well, obviously, you know, the most exciting by Amal is Darian Mensa, and that's the easy. That's the easy answer. I don't want to give you

the easy answer. I want to give you one that's going to be a little bit shocking, a little bit surprising. Mr. Lopez over there at Wake Forest, that's who I want

as my most exciting. Because he's, you know, pizzas and herbs said, reunited, and it feels so good. He's reunited with his old offensive coordinator from South Alabama. That alone gives me reason for excitement.

But also, Dickard is just a superior coach to anything that he's had recently. Nuzz, nudge, wink, wink. He is in a better situation. He's in a situation where he's comfortable, where he knows what's going on, where they know him. There's a familiarity there. I think that he's going to be very, very good in that offense. I just have a sneak suspicion about it.

And he was good in that offense back in 2024 at South Alabama. Rob Azell, who is famous for his Nick Saban impression, is the OC there at Wake this season. And looking at the numbers, I'm written down here. Last year, Gio Lopez completed 65.1% of his passes through for 1,700 yards, 10 touchdowns, 5 interceptions, and only rushed for 133 yards at North Carolina. I felt like Freddie Kitchens, Bill Belichick, and the whole operation did not utilize him to play to his strengths. And I think the best coaches, the smartest coaches, try to at least conform their offense around what they have talent-wise

instead of doing square peg, all of that, a round hole square peg. It just didn't make a lot of sense. And there's a lot of people who were in a stand in Chapel Hill, including myself last year, who were like, why are they not using Gio Lopez like this? I'm sure plenty of coaches out there were won the same thing. But you go back to 24 at South Al.

He completed again, 65% of his passes, but he threw for 2,500 yards. I had 18 touchdowns, five picks, and ran for 4,663 yards, and seven touchdowns, he was the best version of himself. Now, I am still skeptical of whether he can be an above-average quarterback at the P4 level, but I do think that GEO is a lot better than the GEO that we saw last season in Chapel Hill. Although he did improve throughout the season, as did that team,

he just never seemed to be comfortable with what Belichick, Freddie Kitchens, and that offensive coaching staff were asking to do last season in Chapel Hill. Yeah, and at the end of the day, you need to have your guys beat. in positions to win. That's what great head coaches do. Great head coaches don't go out and recruit guys to fit just their system outside of maybe like a Paul Johnson or something like that. But most great coaches, they say, you know what, this is what this player does well.

I've recruited this guy. I've got him on the campus. Let's maximize putting him in positions where he can win, where he's doing what he wants to do. So like you said, trying to make him a drop back passer, I mean, it's like trying to run a triple option with Peyton Manning. you can do it. I'm not sure it's the best idea we've ever seen. No. And I do think now with Billy Edwards or whether it's Miles O'Neill, potentially Travis Burgess, North Carolina is a better situation for them quarterback-wise. And I think Wake has a better situation as Robbie Ashford after six years of college has

finally moved on to the real world is on indeed trying to find a job, maybe even has a job. So I did think he actually acquit himself quite well last season, but I do think this is an upgrade for Wake. And I'm excited as well as a North Carolina fantasy. Geo go out there and see what he does. Maybe more intrigued than excited, but certainly will have my eyes on that, of course. My situation is up there in Louisville, Lincoln Keenholds. I talked about this a couple weeks ago with you that I felt like this was my most intriguing situation, but also I kind of excited about it if we're not going to pick Dary and Mentza, which that's very clearly, as you mentioned, start the show the most exciting situation in the ACC. When I was driving up to Richmond,

where I'm on assignment for my other job at NASCAR in the hotel right now, doing the show with you for the folks watching on YouTube. I was listening to The Audible, which is hosted by Ralph Rousseau, Stuart Mandel, and Bruce Feldman, and they were doing their ACC preview, their over-under-win totals. And Bruce Feldman brought up once again just how close that quarterback competition was last year in Columbus between Julian Sand, who ended up being a Heisman Trophy finalist and Lincoln Keenholds. And that made me even more excited about this situation under Jeff Brom, who's had the veterans like Miller Moss, Jack Plummer, Tyler Shuck.

now he is a quarterback who does not have that much experience. He's never started in a game. He's gotten appearances, but now it's his chance to actually have a guy who he can develop, not just this season, but potentially next season as well as long as things all go to according to plan. And you look at the talent around Keenholz. He doesn't have to be perfect. He has Isaac Brown. He has Kiwan Brown.

They're bringing in trance of wide receivers, which Brom always sits on those guys. Trey Richardson from Vanderbilt, Luan McCoy from FSU. Brom finally has to tie it in a room where he wants it to be. And I think the biggest element that Keenold is going to bring that Plummer Shuck and Moss did not bring is his ability to run the football. You look at their numbers rushing wise over the last three years, quarterback wise. Plummer at 34 rushing yards. Shuck had 19. Miller Moss, negative 65.

Now, I don't think that sack yardage should count for rushing yards. It should count for passing yards like the NFL, but college is not caught up to that just yet. Keenholz had 36 rushing yards on 11 attempts in two touchdowns last year. I think that element is really what excites me. along with knowing that Jeff Brom is the kind of coach who can get the most of his quarterback for the most part and also the situation around him with town. I'm very excited to see what he's doing this season at Louisville,

especially week one air in Nashville against Ole Miss. Hey, quick question. Do you know how many rushing touchdowns Miller Moss had last year? You want to take a guess? You want to take a stab at it? Was it zero or did he have like five or something crazy? Nine. Nine, okay.

He had nine. Why is that important? Brahms knows when his quarterbacks are in that situation, hey, let's go ahead and run them. Hey, let's go ahead and get us a little touchpush go. Hey, let's go ahead and run a quarterback power, quarterback zone, figure it out. I'm telling you, I'm, this is, you know, I knew there was going to be some overlapping our answers,

but this is a situation that I'm curious about. I'm curious because I love me some brown. But Brom normally brings in guys that he's seen play good football at the college level. They may not have been perfect, but he's seen them play good football. And he says, all right, come on over here. We can rehab your image. We're going to fit this offense to what you do.

And when you leave here, people will say, okay, this kid can do this at quarterback. I'm intrigued because we haven't seen anything from Keynholz. We don't know what the best version of Lincoln Keenholz is. We don't know if it's a 75-25 split between passing the ball and run the ball. We don't know if it's pure 50-50. We don't know. No, but I got a feeling. O'Bron does.

I got a feeling. He has already figured out this is what we want him to do. This is how we want him to do it. And with that backfield that they've got as well, he'll have the ability to not have to be a win-it-all type of guy, just to do your 11-type of guy, and they'll figure it out from there. Do your job.

If he does that, I think that he and Louisville are going to have a chance to win this conference and potentially be a playoff team this season. So those are our most exciting, or quarterback situations heading into the season. What about our most intriguing? We'll give you those here in just a moment on Locked on ACC. Support for today's episode comes from Indeed,

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Back here on locked on ACC discussing our most exciting, most intriguing, and most concerning transfer quarterback situations in the ACC. Five schools set to have homegrown quarterbacks while the other 12 are likely going to start transfers this upcoming season. Go back to last year in the ACC title game. Virginia had a transfer in Chandler Morris. Duke had a transfer in Darien, who is now down in Coral Gables playing for the Miami Hurricanes heading into the season. What about the most intriguing situation? What's yours, Kenton? You know, we already talked about them, but I think I need to double down. Okay.

Since they got the connection with KFC, we're going to bring back the double down sandwich. By the way, what a crazy sandwich idea to have the chicken under the stairs and then on top of the stairs as the bread, too. That's just the KFC lobby tried to cut off my camera, but you can't shut me up. That double-down sandwich was crazy. You got, it's just, it's not even like surfing, it's turf and turf and just more, we ain't got to go there. But anyhow, I'm telling you, Lincoln Keenholz,

I'm intrigued, because I'm not sure what we're going to see. And I think that this is the transfer with the widest variance for boom or bust. I think that if things work out well and he hits over there, not only is he going to be good there, how many years of eligibility does he have love, Julian? Two. Two. That's more than any of these recent Louisville quarterbacks we've seen.

That could be Brown's first time bringing a good quarterback back. Think about that. At Louisville, not once has he had a quarterback that's like, oh, this is my guy for multiple years. So I'm very intrigued by Keen Holtz and what he could be. You talk about the rushing aspect of things. A good rushing quarterback is compounded by a really good rushing running back. Look at Louisville legend Lamar Jackson. Look at the backs that these had

and look at how all of them have had resurgent years in their career. The careers were hanging on by a threat. They weren't quite. They thought everybody thought they were on the downhill trajectory. Next thing you know, you get with a dynamic running quarterback, boom, those rookie numbers get pumped up immediately. Imagine Isaac Brown averaging even more yards per care.

Jesus Christ, that is already at what? Six and some change? Yeah. You know, this is an intriguing situation. This is a situation like you said. As much as we talk about Brahm as a quarterback whisper, quiet is kept. His ability to work in the portal with receivers has also been,

oh my, if Brom takes a receiver out the portal, I'm starting to think things about you. I'm starting to think you can play a little bit of football. So all in all, I'm very intrigued by Keenholz. I'm very intrigued to see, does he hit the ceiling or does he look like a guy that just hasn't played much football, to be honest?

Yeah, and it's interesting. you look at the talent around him like as he brown this should be his last year in college football i think truerre richardson's done after this year they could bring back mccoy uh the tight ends i think it's over for julio skinner brodie foley the transfer tolson not sure his situation than justin reed from toulain so a lot of the talent that he has out wide in the back field right there with him may be gone so this may be the season where if bram is going to hit it big like this is year but also they do a really good job of bringing in transfers kewan brown should be back next year as long as The salary and roll matches what he expects for out of Louisville next season.

And I'm sure Brom will find more receivers out of the portal to come in and be excellent for him next season. So it may not be kind of you got to hit on this season, but you look at the talent. And if he can hit, like you said, like they could really be a title contender or maybe even more this upcoming season. I'm going to get to mind momentarily. But I'm looking at other situations because Boston College, Mason McKinsey, probably more concerned than intrigue there. I'll get to the other ones here in a moment. But Alberto Mendoza, that's certainly intriguing,

knowing what Haynes King was for Georgia Tech last season and that they have that running back. Really, you got four guys back there. You have a Haynes as always. So they bring in Justice Haynes. They had Malachi Holesley back. Chad Alexander was banged up last season. He's back Trulane Maddox, another name there,

in that backfield on the flats of Georgia Tech. Like, that's an offense that's going to want to ground and pound play on their own terms. Zosa can make the plays when needed and when asked upon. That's a team that can certainly win plenty of games this season. You look at Virginia, whether it's Bo Probula or it's going to be potentially your boy from Pitt, whose name is now escaped me as we're talking about right. There we go.

Eli Holstein, that's a situation where you can run Prubula knowing that, okay, if he gets hurt, Holstein's there and Holstein can sling it a little bit. So those are all interesting. And I guess we can count Grunkomeyer in this, even though I don't really want to count him because he's following James Franklin. Yes, technically he's a transfer, but he was already in that system, already with that coach.

But he's one where I thought he acquitted himself quite well late in that season once Drew Aller went down. And honestly, watching Penn State last season, Drew Aller wasn't great. Grunkumeyer maybe wasn't great, but he certainly felt like he utilized the offense, played in it better than when they had Aller early on that season. And that Indiana game, he had Indiana on the ropes.

Penn State had Indiana on ropes, but he played well in that game. So I'm very interested in what's going to happen in Blatchburg, but those other kind of intriguing situation I'm looking at as well before I get to mine. So go ahead. Any thoughts on those guys? You know, I think a lot of those guys it's not good. They're going to be bad.

I think a lot of those situations are just bad. Listen, I love me some Michigan D2 footballer, or FCS football. I love me some Saginaw Valley. Love him. McKenzie Milton ain't going to be good at Boston College, man. It just ain't, you can't sell me on that.

You can't sell me on it, okay? you can't sell me on it. AJ Black can't sell me on it. Shout out to AJ Black blocked on Boston College. There is nobody who could sell me. Doug Flutie and Matt Ryan couldn't sell me on that. Can I try to sell you on it?

Can I try? Tell me on it. All right. Go for it. Go for it. So you said Mason McKenzie from Saginaw Valley State, Division 2, that is the same conference where Trinidad Chambliss came from.

And then went into the SEC and tore it up. And now everybody saw about Trinidad Chambliss as one of the best quarterbacks in college football, Heisman Trophy, all that. So why can't Mason McKenzie, who also dominated that conference, which name I don't even know what the conference name is, why can't he come to BC under the football mind of Bill O'Brien and have success this season in Chesson Hill?

Why not? There's the sell. I hear you. I hear you. And here's the problem with that, okay? Here's the problem with that. I cannot believe, and I can't believe that we're having to do this game here, the Great Lakes Conference

does not automatically make you a great quarterback. That's the conference there in. Great Lakes, great quarterbacks. Yeah, I hear you. I'm from the Great Lakes State, baby. I love it. You know what I mean? Michigan Man through and through here, okay?

The reality is, not only is he not a Trinidad Shameless, he also doesn't have the infrastructure around him that Trinidad Shambliss does. If he was a Trinidad Shamblish, you think he'd be at Boston College? You think like, Trinidad was going to Temple. Casey Keeler had him on campus before Lane called. It's like, hey, get your ass down to Oxford.

We want to make you the backup quarterback. And he left, took the bag. And Megan Estabu was going to date me before Clay Thompson snatched her up off. He literally was on campus in West Philly. Yeah, I'm sure. Yeah, I believe you. I believe you. For sure.

Yeah. The thing is, if ifs and butts were berries and nuts, squirrels would never starve. Unfortunately, we live in the real world. We live in the real world. And again, I'm not saying that Mason McKenzie is a terrible quarterback. I think that he could be at top end. I think he could be an above average P4 quarterback. Here's the problem with that.

He's not surrounded with average infrastructure. He's not surrounded with like, man, could be better, could be worse infrastructure. He's surrounded by some of the worst infrastructure in the league in terms of who his head coach is. Do not believe in Bill O'Brien. In terms of his weapons, go ahead. Name me one Boston College player that if somebody said, I'm kidnapping your old lady. This player has to go over

a thousand yards this year or else. Evan Dickens from Liberty. And you would bet. You are 100% sure. You would say, if there's going to be anybody, it's going to be him. That's my point, exactly.

I'm sure your words would be, can I just say goodbye to her before you do it? Because I know I'm not going to see her again. I understand your point. There's no Kiwan Lacey, who was excellent last year. There's no Caden Lee. There's no Harrison Wallace.

There's no the John Stribbling who apparently was balling last time for the Titans for preseason. There's no due. Like, yeah, I understand. I understand your point. Let me. Again, there, a lot of these guys, they're, they're just, it's either them or the infrastructure or a combination of both.

And in this situation, it's a combination of both where I'm like, I don't see it. I just, I don't see it being a great marriage. But I can be proved wrong. I've been wrong in the past. I'm just a guy to talk too damn much. So I'll be wrong again in the future. I know it. I know I will be.

And I'm okay with that. That's the problem. We do this five days a week. We're over exposed. It's never wrong, just early. That's what I like to say. But yeah, I think I'm actually more concerned about Boston College and Mason McKinsey because Bill O'Brien's same guy said,

Jalen Milrow, you should play wide receiver. You're not a quarterback. Okay, Bill. And then also, yeah, last year going with the situation that the team didn't want to go with, that's not ideal. Okay. The most intriguing to me, though, is Ashton Daniels at Florida State. you look at FSU, they clearly did not want him to be their quarterback.

Like he was not their top choice. There was intel about Colton Joseph. They literally had Anthony Calandre who's now at Nebraska, formerly Virginia on campus. They had DJ Lagway on campus. And they lowballed those guys that ended up paying Aston Daniels reportedly less than a million dollars, which if you're Florida State, you shouldn't be in the bargain been hunting for a quarterback. You honestly shouldn't really have to be hunting for a quarterback in the portal. Should he be able to get, not draft at all, but recruit and develop.

a guy on campus. And maybe Kevin Sperry ends up being that for them down the line. Unlikely, just based off of Norville, likely in his final five or six games here coming up in a few weeks. But the talent around Ashton Daniels, that intrigues me. Uzman Kroma, Duce Robinson, Mackay Danzy, got Chavon Boggs, Jason Lopez, Devin Carter, intriguing young wide receivers that they seem to be excited about. The offensive line is TBD there.

They do have Xavier Chappell, who wasn't great at Auburn, but has experience at left tackle. I don't expect the O-line to be as good as it was last year and last year's O-Line was just fine into replacing all six of the top guys from a year ago. But he's played a ton of football. And that is valuable when you look at a guy coming to the situation. When we talk about Keenholds, we haven't seen him play. We have seen Asson Daniels play, which can be good and bad because teams know what he does well and what he does not do well. But you look at the last two games he played last year at Alford at Vanderbilt, a 10-win-vandy team. Again, a 10-win-vandy team.

Got to keep saying that so I can just wrap my mind around how that happened out there. And Nashville, what he threw for 353 yards, two touchdowns, 89 yards rushing, two more touchdowns. Outstanding game against an outstanding Banderbill team against Alabama and the Iron Bowl, 259 yards passing, one touchdown, did have an interception and in 108 yards rushing against a playoff Bama team. So that's the last two games that he played. If you can get that Ashton Daniels consistently, and it's not going to happen every single way, but you can get that guy to show up on Labor Day night against SMU. You can get him to show up again in Tuscaloosa

and get him to show up in some of your bigger games like that with what he has around him. I think they can have success with him. Now, I'm very skeptical of Florida State overall just based off the last two seasons and how they handle or really don't handle on field adversity. But it could work.

That's all I'm saying. So I'm intrigued. I see the vision. I love me some Duce Robertson. That's a big body bids right there. That's a, oh, if he can't separate from you on the field, he can separate from. you in there. I mean, he's just,

he's the, you know, the song that never ends. Like Lamb Chop, that's his arms. They just never end. He's got those Go-Go Gadget, extension arms, can scratch his knees standing up damn near. The young man can dunk on just about anybody. And Crowman's as powerful of a back as they come. I mean, he is,

it's like you can hear the horns playing as soon as he touches the ball. Pum-p-p-pum-pum-pum-pum-pum-pum. Because he's just, it's big fella. He's trurning. He's moving. Like you said, the offensive line was fine last year, but it's a new debt. They're resuffling the deck. I'm worried about the infrastructure

around him outside of the skill players. It's a Florida Power 14. Any Florida Power 14, even if it's the worst that we've ever seen, you're going to have good skill players. That's just the reality of being in Florida. However, if they can get that offensive line,

good enough. If they can get Chrome a second in Wisner and he can get it done, they'll be good enough in that department to where they take some of that pressure off of him. When you look at Asson Daniel's best games, Auburn also ran the ball decently in those games. Not great, just decently in those games because

that it all works together, right? Now, are we talking about Florida State's a team? No. But are we talking about just this offensive unit? It is possible. I see the vision. I see we got glimpses of the vision there. And I'm with you, brother. All right. Let's see. I cannot wait for that game Labor Day Night. I know you're high on SMU, I think they should be solid. But we'll not be surprised if Florida State pulls an upset and comes out, firing like they did last year against Alabama there in Tallahassee.

We told you about our most exciting, most intriguing. What about our most concerning trans-b quarterback situations in the ACC? We'll let you know what those are here in just a moment on locked on ACC. Before the season even kicks off, everyone's making predictions, who wins the conference, who makes playoffs, who's lifting the trophy at seasons end on CalChi, America's number one prediction market platform. You can trade those predictions in a live market. Well, the Clemson Tigers win the ACC this year.

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event contract trading involves risk. It may not be suitable for all investors. CalCshu products are not available in all jurisdictions, prices, values, and available markets may differ from those mentioned. For more information, see calcci.com slash regulatory. Running a business shouldn't feel like you're trying to connect a bunch of systems that were never designed to work together, one app for accounting, another for inventory, another for sales, and sales, and sales, and sales, and sales, and that's where Odu comes in. Odo is an all-in-one business management software that brings every part of your business together in one powerful platform from sales and accounting to inventory and marketing. in one place, helping your team move faster, stay organized, and focus on growing a business instead of managing software. The best organizations know that success isn't just about talent. It's about having everyone working toward the same goal. And that's you in sports, just like it is in business. Louisville setting step trimble earlier this week is huge news in ACC basketball. You can tell that this wasn't a reactionary move. The organization had a vision,

stuck to it. And now you're seeing the results because everyone was working from the same playbook. Great organizations win because operations matter. And that's why you should get Odu. Try it for free today at Odu.com. So it's locked on. That's OD-O-O-O-com slash locked-on. Back here on Locked-on, ACC, one final segment. We're going to let you know our most concerning transfer quarterback situations heading into the ACC this fall. Ken, who are you worried about? I hate to do it because I love this head coach.

I really, I think he's the guy. I think he's the right guy. I think in two to three years, they'll be successful. there is no accent you can tell me about Davis Warren being successful at Stanford in year one. And I love me some Michael Ford. Anybody who knows me, you know,

all types of running backs are good with me, but then big power for Joker's, that's my bread and butt. That makes me happy. It makes me happy to see one man run through another man's face. It makes me happy, okay? Michael Ford is going to be doing a lot of that. The problem is I don't see anything outside of Michael

where I'm like, like, okay, I believe in this. I really, really believe in you. You got an Ivy League transfer that was a starting receiver for all of what? One year that we're like, oh, he's now wide receiver number one. And again, I've seen Davis Warren throw football. I've seen it. I've seen it in real life.

I've seen it on TV. I've heard about it from Michigan fans. You know, a cast tech guy here, lots of my former technician, you know, my babies, those are my young boys out there. They tell me what they're seeing. Yeah. Yeah, no. They were concerned.

They were concerned at Michigan. I'm going to tell you, they felt relief when he got in that portal. They said, oh, thank God. Can't hurt us anymore. Exactly. The bad man can't hurt us anymore. I'm concerned. I'm concerned.

Coach Pritchard, please, prove me wrong. Prove me wrong. Of every quarterback, of every player I talk bad about, y'all are still in the ACC. So I would love for everybody to prove me wrong. I love for all of our quarterbacks to throw for 3,500 plus. I don't see a world where Davis Warren gets to 2,600,000. I'm not joking.

I don't see it. Yeah, going back to 2023 at Michigan, he threw for just under 1,200 yards, like literally a yard below that. So seven touchdowns, nine interceptions, wasn't great. He has played nine starts. That is a positive. The injuries, and I think it's a,

overall lack of talent. He was at Michigan, I suppose, for a reason, but also should he have ever been at Michigan in the first place? I'm not high on him. Again, when I was driving up here to Richmond yesterday, I was listening to The Audible, Stuart Mandel, who lives in the Bay Area, said he was over at Stanford recently. And he feels like, from what he saw, they have past catchers against people he talked to said they think they have guys can catch the ball. But the concern is, can they have someone throw it to him, whether it's Davis Warren, who like who's going to win this job, or maybe Dylan Erizik, who's coming from UCF. It's just going to be a work in progress there for Stanford.

They have shown in the past that they can get quarterbacks. We saw it with Andrew Locke. We saw it with Kevin, who's last time escapes me. He's from the Alexandria, Virginia area, who helped them get to multiple roles. But yeah, yes, there we go. So they've had quarterbacks. I know we've seen it.

Like Stanford can be good at football. I know that the world around them has changed. But again, as I'll continue to reiterate, when we talk about Cal and Stanford and just the financials, If they want to do it, they could smoke everybody with the amount of money that they could pull in for their rosters. What goes out on my most concerning? It's got to be Duke.

I think it's possible from what we've seen from Manny over the last two years with Dary and Mensa, and even to a lesser extent, with Malik Murphy, for them to figure it out and win football games. I do think that he's built a pretty solid foundation there in Durham. but a big part of having success, especially the court deposition, is having that guy healthy and there during spring practice. Salt and Chapel Hill last year,

they chipped, they got brought in geo, and I think a big part of him not having success was not just the way they operated the offense, but also the fact that he didn't really know the guys. He wasn't around. Now, Walker, Eagitt, was at least around his teammates last spring, but the problem was he didn't play.

It was Dan Mahan taking all of the snaps. Eget was fine last year and had decent numbers in San Jose State, threw for over 1,000 yards, 17 touchdowns, nine interceptions, but he tore his ACL back in October 2024, played through it all last season. Then he suffered an MCL injury in November finally had surgery. Like, how healthy is he really?

Like he's able to practice right now, but is he cleared for full contact? Will he actually be 100% good to go, confident in that knee once week one rolls around for Duke? Like that's what concerns me. Yeah, he's played a lot of football. That could be great for Duke. It makes sense like for Mani. Like they didn't want to do this. They did not want him to be their quarterback.

Derry Mentsa told him. yeah, I'm staying. And then on the final hour of the portal, he bailed to go down to Miami, which you're not going to begrudge him for doing that, but also, come on, there's a way to go about situations and then coming back what he said last month that he has to kickoff, I can do without. So, Mani, I give him props for at least finding a veteran quarterback to go to, but I just have a hard time seeing how this is going to yield positive results from the Blue Devils this fall. And like, I truly do feel bad for them, especially Mani Diaz, who's done such a great job at Duke and Durham for the last couple of seasons.

Yeah, no, and you know what? That kind of gets at what my 1B was for most concerning quarterback situation. It is Daryincent. Not concerning in terms of I'm worried about his actual quarterback play. I'm concerned for what that means for the state of college football. Like that was legitimately 11th hour I'm leaving. I'm taking while receiver number one with me. You destroy the team's offensive infrastructure, just like that.

Then O'Snap took longer than how long it took you to put that team in the absolute mud. And don't get me wrong. I'm not crapping on Miami, not saying they did anything wrong. I'm not even saying that Minson did anything wrong by part of the rules. It's just morally, man. Like there's a way to do these things, you know? Like, it's, you know, I, I'm worried about it. If you're going to go, go. Like, exactly. Here's thing. Like, I understand, like, whether these contracts are binding or not in that whole situation and the athletes, all the years that that y'all didn't get paid and all the things the injustice like i totally understand all of that i just know the way that i was raised in a way a lot of people raised how you conduct business and how you go about treating people

you're what you sow and that's that's my only thing it's like how we lost all dignity all decency as human beings and how we respect and talk to each other to where you can't if you want to go like you look miami missed they missed and they decided they had to throw outrageous sums to try to get derri mits down there and darian took the money again if he were left early on no one's going to be like, oh man, I can't believe he would want to go play at Miami. I think they'll play for a national championship. Can't believe, or at least they're on the way to go do that. I can't believe Derek Mentson would want to go down there.

Like, no one would say that. But when you tell Duke you're coming back, you have the reported to your deal, and then you decide at the last minute to leave, it's like, okay, what changed? Like, why now? Like, that's the only thing I think you and I, and really, I think any reasonable person has. We don't begrudge them leaving is how we did it. That's the problem. Exactly.

And trust me, I'm a recruiter. I'll post people from their jobs. That's literally my whole deal. I got to, hey, you don't look happy over there. I don't know why my camera keeps betraying me on this wonderful Friday. But it's one of those things where it's like, you know, you don't look happy over there, whatever the case may be. Or you might be happy over there.

I think you'll be a little happy over here. Come on. That's my entire job. But again, even in doing that, I am fully cognizant, fully aware of, you know, one of the questions I ask people all the time, what is your, how much leave do you have to give? How much? because that's noticed to let the company know. They probably can't replace you in that time,

but it's noticed to let them know, this is happening. This is a thing that's going on. And it just felt like that didn't happen. But again, Walker, Egan and company, I'm worried. I'm concerned. I like Shepherd. I like Shepherd.

I think he's a good, do it all back. I really do. I like the tight end that they kept as well. Jeremiah Easley, yeah. Unless you got a superstar tight end, it's tough to let a tight end. the end be your wide receiver one, your past catcher one. It's a little tough, you know, so I, too, I'm worried about the guys in Durham. And the thing that concerned me most is how bad their defense was

last year. It's been a steady regression since Elko left defensively. And last year it felt like it bottomed out a little bit, but the offense covered it up in a multitude of ways. I don't think that Walter Eagitt has it to cover up a multitude of sins with that defense. So we'll see. Yeah, highly unlikely, but we'll have to wait, and as you said, and see how the Blue Devils are able to handle that situation later on this fall. That's going to wrap up this episode of the Locked-on, ACC podcast part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, where your host, as always, Julian Council.

And Kenton Gibbs, again, y'all subscribe and follow the show for free over on YouTube and wherever you listen to your favorite podcast. Also, go ahead and give us a like as well on the video. And be sure to follow us over on Twitter at Julian Council and at TGIF underscore Kitten. And in the meantime, be safe, be happy. B-Hole and we'll be back on Monday, big scrimmage in Clemson, South Carolina this weekend. Other scrimmages going on, other campbos, we'll give you all that on Monday. And also, AP poll comes out on Monday.

So we'll give you our predictions on what the AP poll may look like for the ACC here on Monday on Locked-on, ACC.