Carson Beck didn’t take long to pick a new school.

The former Georgia QB announced Friday he’s heading to Miami for the 2025 season and his final year of eligibility. Beck had previously declared for the NFL Draft but entered the transfer portal Thursday as he decided to stay in college for another season.

Beck suffered a season-ending elbow injury late in the first half of Georgia’s SEC title game win over Texas in December when he was hit while attempting to throw a deep pass. Beck missed the rest of the game — though he came in to hand the ball off late near the goal line — and also missed the team’s Sugar Bowl loss to Notre Dame.

Gunner Stockton replaced Beck against Texas and started against Notre Dame. He’s set to compete for the Bulldogs’ starting job in 2025 along with Ryan Puglisi.

Beck was Georgia’s starter for two seasons and had a down year in 2024. Beck was one of the better QBs in college football in 2023 and was 302-of-417 passing for 3,941 yards and 24 TDs with six interceptions a season ago.

But with players like Brock Bowers and Ladd McConkey off to the NFL in 2024, Beck’s stats took a dip as Georgia didn’t have a top-tier receiving option.

Beck was 290-of-448 passing for 3,485 yards and 28 TDs in 2024, but he also threw 12 interceptions as his interception rate nearly doubled from 1.4% in 2023 to 2.7% in 2024.

Beck will likely miss spring practice

Beck suffered a UCL injury against the Longhorns and is unlikely to be able to practice this spring for Miami. The uncertainty about his near-term future seems to clearly have played a role in his decision to stay in college. By returning to school, Beck can not only continue to make money off NIL deals at Miami in 2025, but he can also position himself as a stronger draft prospect ahead of the 2026 NFL Draft.

That worked out well for Cam Ward at Miami in 2024. Ward declared for the draft after two seasons at Washington State following a two-year stint at FCS Incarnate Word. But not long after he declared for the draft, Ward reconsidered his NFL options and entered the transfer portal.

At Miami, Ward was one of the best quarterbacks in college football and was a Heisman finalist. He played his way into the first round of the NFL Draft and could even go No. 1 overall. Ward was the No. 1 pick of the Tennessee Titans in our latest Yahoo Sports mock draft earlier this week.

It’ll be hard for Beck to duplicate what Ward did — especially if he has limited to no reps at all this spring. But the ACC should be wide open again in 2025, and a strong showing could put Beck in a better draft position than he currently finds himself in because of the injury and a down season.