Traits Tate Martell brings if Miami Hurricanes need him at QB

The Miami Hurricanes announced Tate Martell as the co-backup quarterback with N’Kosi Perry behind Jarren Williams for Saturday’s season opener against Florida.

Tate Martell is one of the most polarizing players in college football. After he missed his first (excused) practice on August 12  following Jarren Williams being named the Miami Hurricanes starting Quarterback the day before, the Ohio State transfer took a beating on social media. Martell still has value for the Hurricanes as the backup QB.

Martell was one of the most touted QBs in the class of 2017. Many have stated that Martell’s talent has not equaled the hype. It is a debate that will always linger and at this point for the Miami Hurricanes doesn’t matter. what matters going forward is how Martell and Perry can still be valuable to the Miami Hurricanes football program.

There have been some rumors that Martell could be moved to wide receiver. Canes Warning covered that a couple of times last week. At this point, Miami Hurricanes head coach Manny Diaz has said that is not in the plans. Martell can still be valuable to the Miami football program at a QB.

At Ohio State in 2019, Martell was often used in special run packages. Martell ran 22 times for 128 yards and two touchdowns as a redshirt freshman for the Buckeyes in 2018. The fact his rushing attempts equaled his completion total is a bit concerning. Martell was 22-28 for 269 yards and a TD for Ohio State in 2018.

Martell’s 78.6 completion percentage with the Buckeyes in 2018 belies his struggles with accuracy since arriving in Coral Gables. It would be surprising if Martell were to enter a game ahead of Perry if Williams were to be taken out.

Manny Diaz was quoted in The Athletic earlier this month discussing the QB situation. The Miami Hurricanes first-year head coach stated before announcing Williams as the starting QB that they were not going to have a QB shuffle. That basically squashes the idea of Martell entering the game solely in a run package.

Diaz did have praise for the redshirt sophomore QB from Las Vegas. Martell still has value for the Miami Hurricanes as a signal-caller. Manny Navarro of The Athletic quoted both Diaz and Martell. Diaz is quoted first.

"“I think he’s got a toughness that the team respects. I mean, obviously, he can run, he can throw. He’s got some different things in the game plan that we can feature with Tate in there.”"

Martell has been repeatedly praised by his teammates and the coaching staff for his work ethic and leadership skills throughout the offseason. Martell was asked by Navarro after Miami’s first scrimmage about his development with the Hurricanes.

"“I didn’t turn the ball over at all in the scrimmage, so that was my biggest thing, just being efficient out there, moving the chains and driving down the field…I was on target with a lot of my balls, but there’s always things you can correct when you’re watching film."

Navarro followed up by asking “What is Martell most pleased with regarding his own play?”

"“Everything that Coach Enos worked on with me is my timing, my footwork, throwing the ball and just getting in rhythm under center and doing some of the draw, lead action, play-action stuff,” Martell replied."

Martell played exclusively in the shotgun since seventh grade. He struggled immensely under center during spring practice. Navarro quoted Martell discussing his adjustment to being under center since arriving in Coral Gables.

"After we got done with the spring game, I was like, ‘I really don’t like this under-center stuff.’ Hopefully, he just puts me in the gun for the whole time. But now, I’ve worked on it because I need to be able to do this for the team success.I need to be able to go out there and do really well with the under-center stuff and be able to drive us down the field with whatever (Enos) thinks will help the team.”"

Diaz has stated the entire team’s attitude has changed since Williams was named the starting QB. It is probably a relief they do not have discuss who if anyone they prefer as the starter anymore. Martell and Perry both have to be ready in case Williams comes out of the lineup. Most football teams cannot win with just one QB anymore.

The perfect example was Alabama in the last two seasons. The Crimson Tide won because both Jalen Hurts and Tua Tagovailova were ready to play with the other suffered an injury or were taken out for ineffectiveness. No one knows that better than Alabama’s QB coach in 2018, Dan Enos.