Mensah Added to Manning Watch; NFL Roundup

Duke redshirt sophomore Darian Mensah has been added to the Midseason Manning Award watch list after a breakout start, leading the ACC with 2,211 yards and 17 touchdowns and setting school marks through seven games. Despite Mensah’s strong play, Duke’s ACC title hopes were complicated by a loss to Georgia Tech that featured a 95-yard scoop-and-score off a fumble and a botched field-goal hold. In the NFL, veteran Carson Wentz signed with the Minnesota Vikings, started when J.J. McCarthy was injured and is 2–2 (averaging 268 yards per game with five TDs and four INTs), though McCarthy is expected to reclaim the job soon. The Arizona Cardinals enter their bye week amid a five-game slide, with PFF highlighting left tackle Paris Johnson Jr., tight end Trey McBride and the steadiness of starter Jacoby Brissett as positional bright spots. The Los Angeles Rams are 5–2 going into their bye behind a top-11 scoring offense led by Matthew Stafford (third in passing yards and leading the league in TDs) and productive receivers like Puka Nacua, while outlets continue tracking 2026 quarterback prospects including Carson Beck and Garrett Nussmeier.