Miami Hurricanes D’Eriq King should be most dynamic QB in ACC

The offseason for college football will produce a plethora of lists. Miami Hurricanes quarterback D’Eriq King will be ranked among the top signal-callers in the ACC in 2020 and should be it’s most dynamic.

The addition of graduate transfer D’Eriq King to the roster gives the Miami Hurricanes credibility at quarterback for the first time since Brad Kaaya left Miami following the 2016 season. Kaaya departed Miami as the all-time leading passer in program history. King is a QB that has not been seen in Hurricanes’ history.

The ability of King as a true dual-threat QB has made him the third favorite in the Heisman Trophy behind signal-callers Trevor Lawrence of Clemson and Justin Fields of Ohio State. King is the most dynamic QB in the ACC entering the 2020 season. As a junior at Houston in 2018, King helped the Cougars light up the scoreboard.

Houston finished fifth in the country in scoring 2018 averaging 43.9 points per game. In their final year under Major Applewhite, King led the Houston offense to 512.5 yards per game in 2018 which was the seventh-best in FBS. Playing under new offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee, King should lead an explosive offense.

Under Lashlee, SMU posted similar numbers in 2019 that the Houston offense reached in 2018. The Mustangs finished ninth nationally with 489.8 yards per game on offense in 2019. SMU was seventh in scoring in 2019 averaging 41.8 PPG. The combination of King and Lashlee will make the Miami offense exciting.

King has been ranked anywhere between fourth and second among ACC QBs entering the 2020 season. Lawrence is the unquestioned top QB in the ACC in 2020. The other two to three depends on a few factors. Some sites that rank ACC football players include Notre Dame and some do not.

The main competition for King to be the All-ACC second-team QB will be Sam Howell of North Carolina. Ian Book of Notre Dame is not eligible to be named All-ACC but will make life difficult for conference opponents in the fall of 2020. Clemson will play at Notre Dame on November 7. Miami hosts North Carolina on October 24.

The numbers King put up with Houston in 2018 compare favorably with what Lawrence and Howell had in 2019. The challenge for King is to produce at the same level against a Power Five schedule with the Miami Hurricanes in 2020. Lawrence threw for 3,688 yards, 36 touchdowns and eight interceptions in 2020.

The favorite for the 2020 Heisman Trophy, Lawrence ran for another 563 yards and nine TDs. Howell threw for 3,641 yards, 38 TDs and seven interceptions. Howell is limited as a runner with only 35 yards and one TD on the ground in 2020. Book threw for 3,034 yards, 34 TDs and six interceptions and ran for 546 yards and 12 TDs.

Playing in the uptempo, spread offense under Lashlee in 2020, King should come close to reaching the numbers he did with Houston in 2018. If he can eclipse those numbers, King should have a chance to post a season similar to Lawrence. Lawrence being named first-team All-ACC is a virtual lock with Clemson owning the ACC.