CORAL GABLES – Last year, the Miami Hurricanes had a huge problem with the quarterback position.
Despite coming into the season with promise, the Miami Hurricanes struggled to gather any consistency with arguably the most valuable position on offense. Redshirt freshman Jarren Williams, who was named the starter going into the season, was arguably the Hurricanes best quarterback, throwing for 2,187 yards, 19 touchdowns and 7 interceptions with a 61 percent completion percentage.
Although the play seemed promising on paper for a first-year starter, Williams had his struggles, including a three-interception performance on just seven passes in Miami’s 42-35 loss to Virginia Tech in early October.
That problem, however, has seemingly found its remedy in Houston graduate transfer D’Eriq King, who announced that he would play his final year of eligibility at Miami on Monday, Jan. 20.
In 2018, King put his name on the map with a dominating junior season. He threw for 2,982 yards and 36 touchdowns, while adding another 674 yards and 14 touchdowns on the ground.
Although that season propelled King into the conversation for the best college quarterback in the country going into 2019, King played just four games before redshirting with the intention of returning to Houston for 2020.
King, however, entered the transfer portal and began to pursue a transfer to a bigger problem.
In 2020, the senior quarterback will enter a situation that is fit for a king with new offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee, who was hired from SMU earlier in the offseason.
These two huge moves – the transfer quarterback addition and the offensive coordinator hire – have overhauled the Hurricanes offense into a more modernized and uptempo scheme.
No offense could be fit better for King. He thrives away from the center because of his small 5-11 stature, which is below the threshold most coaches look for in a quarterback.
Although King does not check the box of a prototypical quarterback, his blazing speed for the position, along with his ability to throw on the run, makes him an intriguing option for a Hurricanes team with a young offensive line that had had its own struggles.
When King is given time, he is able to make most throws with a strong arm and good mechanics. This allows King to get the most out of his throws, which are often placed where only the receiver can catch it.
Although King and Lashlee are tasked with fixing an offense that finished as one of the worst in the nation, there is no better match for the Hurricanes, who could potentially have a Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback with a strong season and a rise back to the top of the college football world.
