Miami Hurricanes QB D’Eriq King will make ESPN regret leaving him off top 10
Despite being one of the favorites for the Heisman Trophy in 2020, Miami Hurricanes quarterback D’Eriq King was left off the top 10 signal-callers in college football for 2020 by ESPN.
New Miami Hurricanes quarterback D’Eriq King has received a lot of attention since announcing he was taking a redshirt season with Houston after the Cougars began the 2019 season 1-3. King who is the third favorite to win the Heisman Trophy in 2020 was not named by ESPN as one of their top 10 QBs in college football.
The numbers King put up during his only full season playing QB in college are as good as any of the returning signal-callers in college football in 2020. King averaged 271.1 passing yards per game in 2018 to finish 16th, threw for 36th TDs which was sixth, was seventh in passer rating at 167.04, and completed 63.5 percent of his attempts.
King enters the 2020 college football season as one of the most dynamic QBs in the country. The 14 rushing TDs that King scored in 2018 ranked 20th overall and sixth among QBs. Only two QBs in 2019 eclipsed the 14 rushing TDs that King had in 2018. Malcolm Perry of Navy and Jalen Hurts of Oklahoma were both seniors.
Trevor Lawrence of Clemson and Justin Fields of Ohio State who are the only two players nationally ahead of King in the Heisman Trophy odds were the only QBs on the ESPN top 10 list that finished in the top 100 in rushing TDs in 2019. Fields ran for 10 TDs and Lawrence had nine end zone trips.
D’Eriq King throwing to freshman WR Keyshawn Smith and Tate Martell to freshman WR Dazalin Worsham @DeriqKing_ @TheTateMartell @_ksmith_5 @dazalin4 @CanesFootball pic.twitter.com/0RrNHEUUyC
— The Miami Hurricane Sports (@TMHsports_) March 6, 2020
Jamie Newman who transferred from Wake Forest to Georgia is third on the list behind Lawrence and Fields. Those three are understandable. Sam Howell of North Carolina who Miami hosts October 24 is ranked as the nation’s fourth-best QB by ESPN. That will be one of the marquee games for Miami in 2020.
Howell finished fourth in the country with 38 TD passes as a true freshman in 2019 and 16th averaging 280.1 yards per game. The former Florida State commit is nowhere near the dynamic QB that King is. Howell ran for just 35 yards and one TD last season. King threw for 2,982 yards, 36 TD and six interceptions in 2018.
The Miami Hurricanes new QB accomplished in 11 games what Howell needed 13 to do. King has 1,421 career rushing yards and 28 rushing TDs and 59 receptions for 504 yards and another three TDs. All but one reception for 12 yards came in King’s first two seasons when he played wide receiver. King playing WR showed his versatility.
Next. Miami has to prove itself on field for three top 50 players to move up. dark
The other six QBs on ESPN’s list are mostly unknown names to the average college football fan other than Sam Ehrlinger of Texas. The name recognition that King brings to Miami should help himself and the Hurricanes create some buzz as the season gets closer. King should be considered one of the best returning QBs for 2020.