Malik Rosier earned the Miami football team’s starting quarterback job in camp last summer. He had only one previous college start in his career.
Rosier led the Hurricanes on game-winning drives to defeat Florida State and Georgia Tech. Miami football Head Coach Mark Richt and Rosier’s teammates say he thrives on the pressure.
Once he earned the starting quarterback job for the Miami football team Rosier did not face much pressure of losing his job. Evan Sherrifs was not the talent that Rosier is. He knew barring injury he was a near certainty of maintaining the starting position throughout the 2017 season.
Sheriffs transferred to Charlotte after last season ended. Rosier will face more competition this summer in training camp.
Redshirt Freshman N’Kosi Perry and True Freshman Jarren Williams will challenge Rosier to be the Hurricanes starting quarterback in 2018. Both Perry and Williams were four-star recruits with a lot of hype.
Perry has a big following. A lot of the Miami football fanbase was disappointed when he did not win the job last season. When Miami lost their last three games at the end of last season without their three best skill position players a sizeable portion of the fanbase blamed Rosier.
The criticisms and challenges Rosier has faced do not faze the Redshirt Senior signal caller. Head Coach Mark Richt spoke to ESPN’s Andrea Adelson extensively about Rosier.
"“I just want him to be more consistent, and we’ll have less drama and I’ll probably age better… We’ve got to make plays when they present themselves throwing and catching…We don’t do that well enough.We’re not doing a good enough job on a consistent basis putting the ball in play, especially on the deep balls on the outside-lane go balls..If you don’t have some great players on the edge and quarterbacks that can get the ball to them, it’s going to be a long day.We’ve had a few of those and we’ve just got to be able to put the ball in play, and the guys have to make the play when it gets there…In the Pitt game, we couldn’t hit our target. That was the deal. Other than that, it was a joint effort. That one game, though, we had protection, we had guys open and we couldn’t put it on the money that day. That’s what that day was.But the next two games (ACC Championship vs. Clemson and Orange Bowl vs. Wisconsin) it was the normal little bit of linemen, little bit of running backs, little bit of tight end, little bit of receiver. It wasn’t like some monumental implosion of the quarterback position. That day, though, at Pitt, we couldn’t hit open receivers.There’s times … he sees the blitz, and he goes to his check. He throws a beautiful strike for a first down in a highly contested drill,…That’s why he’s the guy. He knows what to do by far better than the other guys. He gets us in the right things, he gives us a chance for, instead of a good play, a great play, or getting out of a bad play into a great play.”You try to be consistent in what you tell him on how you want the ball placed versus different looks,…The thing about a go ball — you have to throw it a certain way. If he’s a super-fast guy, you might throw it a certain way. If they’re side by side and the guy’s not super fast, you might throw it a different way.The guy might be totally cut off and you might throw the ball a different way, or if he slips inside, you might throw it another way, so what helps is a nice wide pocket to really see and determine what type of ball I need to throw. If the pocket squeezes in your face, it’s not easy.”"
The losses of running back Mark Walton against Florida State in the fourth game of the season, tight end Chris Herndon against Pittsburgh in the final regular season game and wide receiver Ahmmon Richards during the week of practice between the loss to Pittsburgh and the ACC Championship game limited the Hurricanes offense.
They had the depth at wide receiver, but running back and tight end were very thin on the Miami roster last season. When Sheriffs replaced Rosier against the Panthers he also showed that he wasn’t ready to compete for a Power Five program. Rosier knew he wasn’t likely to be pulled for long.
Richt said this spring that Rosier knows that Perry and Cade Weldon will not be redshirted this season. Williams is a possibility, but many of the reports this spring have him more ready to take over at quarterback then Perry.
If Rosier struggles this season, Richt and Offensive Coordinator Thomas Brown will likely look to the bench much quicker than they did in 2017.
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In addition to the wide receivers returning, a lot of talent is being added to the Miami football roster at wide receiver. The Hurricanes bring in four-star Freshmen Brian Hightower, Mark Pope and Marquez Ezzard, plus three-star Dee Wiggins.
Miami also adds five-star running back Lorenzo Lingard and four-star players running back Camron Davis and tight ends Brevin Jordan and Will Mallory. It’s a significant talent upgrade to the Hurricanes offense. That can only help Rosier.
One of the biggest questions for the Hurricanes entering training camp will be on the offensive line. Tyree St. Louis and Navaughn Donaldson seem entrenched at left and right tackle and Tyler Gauthier will be starting Center.
The guards are a bit more unsettled. Jahair Jones has played well at left guard this spring. Entering his Senior year he has yet to start a game. Hayden Mahoney was promoted to the first team at right guard this Spring. He could be pushed by Graduate transfer Venzell Boulware.
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Rosier is going to need a cohesive unit throughout the offense for Miami to exceed their 2017 season. If the Miami football team can accomplish that, Rosier can have a more consistent season in 2018.