15 Days to Miami football: QB Jarren Williams 2018 preview

Jarren Willams enters his Freshman season on the Miami football team with a lot of anticipation. He has a tough battle to try and make an impact this season.

Williams joins the Miami football program as the ninth-ranked quarterback overall in the Class of 2018, the 77th best player, the fifth best pro-style quarterback and the tenth best player in Georgia according to the 247Sports Composite rankings.

Williams is competing with Redshirt Freshmen N’Kosi Perry and Cade Weldon to be the primary backup to Malik Rosier in 2018. Miami Football Head Coach Mark Richt has said that Williams will likely play at some point this season because of the new redshirt rule in college football.

Players are now allowed to receive time in four games without using up their redshirt season. That will give Richt a chance to see how Williams reacts in a real game situation and where he is at in his development. Willams was quoted in the Miami Herald earlier this month about the likelihood of playing this season.

"“Coach [Mark] Richt said he’s going to put me out there…I’ve just got to be ready and he’ll give me the chance. The hardest part for me has been mastering that playbook. That just comes with time. I’m learning, but I still make mistakes sometimes.’’"

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Williams was injured earlier this week but returned the next day. He reportedly had problems with an abdominal muscle and his hamstring. After leaving Tuesday’s practice Williams returned on Wednesday.

The Hurricanes took Thursday off to go bowling. Yesterday they held their first practice in the new Carol Soffer Indoor Practice Facility.

Williams will get his second chance of training camp to impress the coaching staff when the Hurricanes hold their second of three scrimmages tonight. No stats on Williams were released from last week’s first scrimmage.

Williams was the most accurate of the Miami Quarterbacks this Spring. His stats in the Spring game were nearly identical to Rosier’s. Weldon did not play because of an eye infection.

• Malik Rosier 9-of-14, 105 yards, long completion 36 yards, sacked 4 times
• N’Kosi Perry 11-of-21, 166 yards, touchdown, interception, long 52 yards, sacked 1 time
• Jarren Williams 9-of-14, 107 yards, touchdown, long 25 yards, sacked 3 times

Williams is still trying to learn what it takes to be a college quarterback. Despite the accuracy he has Richt wants him to know why he is making the throws he executes. Richt spoke to the Herald about Williams progress.

"“(Williams) doesn’t quite know what to do on every play,…He’s a typical freshman. …But the one thing I love about him is he seems pretty fearless in the pocket. He’s not perfect by any stretch, but fundamentally he’s pretty sound and he hits his targets more times than not.’’"

That combination of accuracy and fearlessness bodes well for Williams future. He will have a tough battle in 2019 to be the starting quarterback. Perry has a different skill set, but like Williams was a four-star recruit coming out of high school in 2017. Weldon is less likely to figure in the competition to be the starter.

After losing out on quarterback Michael Johnson for 2019, the Hurricanes are not likely to recruit another quarterback in the upcoming class. The next few seasons will come down to Williams, Perry and Weldon.