Miami Hurricanes quarterback battle continues to get national attention

The battle to become the Miami Hurricanes starting quarterback has not gotten any closer to a determination then it was before spring practice started. The three player race is continuing to receive national attention.

Rising redshirt sophomores N’Kosi Perry and Tate Martell and rising redshirt freshman Jarren Williams have evenly split time this spring taking reps with the Miami Hurricanes first-team offense. They all bring different strengths and weaknesses at QB. We will learn a lot in the final week and a half of spring practice.

The QB battle has been the talk of the spring. It’s what the majority of the Miami Hurricanes fan base has been talking about and is interested in. Everyone has a signal caller they support. The Miami coaching staff have said that the QB play so far this spring has not been good enough. The Hurricanes need more consistency at QB.

As they have been throughout the offseason the Miami Hurricanes QB battle has attracted national attention. USA Today was the latest national publication to proclaim that Miami has one of the “top college football’s best spring quarterback battles.” Auburn and Central Florida were the other schools mentioned.

Martell and Perry have struggled with accuracy this spring. They are more athletic than Williams though. Several intangibles will also go into what Miami Hurricanes head coach Manny Diaz and offensive coordinator Dan Enos look for to become the starter at QB. USA Today examined the Hurricanes QB race.

"“Miami (Fla.)Contenders: Tate Martell (So.), N’Kosi Perry (So.), Jarren Williams (Fr.)That Martell was granted immediate eligibility in his transfer from Ohio State drastically alters the makeup of Miami’s competition. Before, the focus centered on Williams, a talented if unproven redshirt freshman, and Perry, who has the physical ability to shine but failed to impress in his time as the starter.Now Martell takes center stage under new offensive coordinator Dan Enos, formerly of Alabama, and the expectation is that his athleticism will eventually separate him from the pack.Best guess (as the starter): Martell"

Enos and Diaz have both discussed that the Miami QBs are nowhere near where they need to be. Enos discussed the QB play after Saturday’s first scrimmage at Columbus High School and on Tuesday after practice. Miami’s offensive coordinator was initially asked where the three QBs rate versus each other.

"“Pretty much even…All of them played really, really slow…Slow in the huddle, slow at the line of scrimmage, too indecisive making decisions — all three of them at times. Their pocket demeanor, pocket posture got them in problems at time(s).When they played more decisive and when their feet were good, they played very well. It was the same for all three of them. The defense totally dominated the offense the entire day so it was hard to really get a huge evaluation of the three quarterbacks…they didn’t turn the ball over.They took way too many sacks. N’kosi was the benefactor of having a couple big plays, of generating a couple big plays. One time he really negotiated the pocket well, stepped up, slid, eyes downfield, hit a dig and got a big play out of that.Was the benefactor of having some good eyes and some good feet. But to be totally honest, there wasn’t a lot of offense explosiveness at all so it was hard to really evaluate those guys…the defense is in year four of their system. We’re in week four. There’s a big difference. They got all sorts of blitzes in.We’re seeing the gamut as far as an offense, and we’re trying to learn a whole new offense. The competition is good. Whoever wins the competition is going to benefit from being in the competition.When things are handed to guys in my experience, sometimes they have a tendency to get complacent and don’t push themselves as hard. The competition will ultimately make each of them better players. The cream rises to the top, so may the best man win.I don’t know that there was a best. They all know they have to play a lot better for us to win games. To crown somebody from the performance on Saturday would be effort in futility. The numbers are not going to reflect the decisions, and the biggest thing is are we getting the ball out and are we finding the guy that’s open?One of the great things about this offense is there’s going to be an answer for the quarterback. Because of a lack of at-bats, we’re having a hard time finding the answer in terms of where the ball should go.There is going to be a place where the ball needs to go. When we have that, then we will be in a position to really evaluate we have. (Saturday’s scrimmage) will have some weight, I can’t speak for the head coach. But I’m certain we’re probably not going to name a starter after the scrimmage this Saturday.Obviously, you can help yourself or hurt yourself. Just like every time they come out here is [like] a game.”"

The Miami Hurricanes QB battle is going to last into summer training camp. None of the three has asserted themselves and only Perry has experience. Perry’s six starts in 2018 didn’t show us much. He was inaccurate and was too immature off the field for what Diaz wants in a Miami QB.

Miami needs a QB who will command the offense and the huddle, who is decisive and a leader on and off the field. Most accounts have that being Martell but he is not as good of a passer as Williams or experienced as Perry. It will likely be close to the August 24 opener against Florida before we find out who is under center.