Miami Hurricanes D’Eriq King second best QB group Per CBS Sports

The 2020 offseason has built a lot of excitement for Miami Hurricanes graduate transfer quarterback D’Eriq King. CBS Sports named the dual-threat signal-caller part of the second-tier of QBs in college football.

Houston graduate transfer quarterback D’Eriq King provides stability that the Miami Hurricanes have not had at the position since 2016. The ability King has as a dual-threat QB brings a dynamic for the Hurricanes that has not been seen before in school history. CBSSports.Com ranked King in the second tier of QBs nationally.

The season King had for Houston in 2018 is one of the best in the history of college football. King accounted for 50 TDs, nearly 3,000 yards passing and another 674 rushing as a junior. After four games in 2019, the Houston coaching staff asked King to consider redshirting the rest of the season.

King agreed but the decision backfired on Dana Holgersen and the Cougars coaching staff as King chose to transfer to a Power Five conference after the season to increase his exposure before entering the NFL Draft. The tier one QBs are the dual-domain of Trevor Lawrence of Clemson and Justin Fields of Ohio State.

King was listed fourth among Tier II QBs by Ben Kercheval of CBSSports.Com. The top three listed QBs in the second tier are Tanner Morgan of Minnesota, Sam Ehrlinger of Texas and Brock Purdy of Iowa State. Purdy’s brother Chubba signed with Florida State in the 2020 signing class. Kercheval assessed King.

"“King deserves a pass for last year’s fiasco at Houston. This was a player who accounted for 50 touchdowns in 2018 without playing the entire season. When he’s healthy, he’s one of the most electrifying players with the ball in his hand.He drops a few spots because of what other quarterbacks did, but I can’t in good consciousness let him slide more than that.”"

Explaining the process of determining the QB tiers

Before summarizing each of the QBs, Kercheval explained extensively what went into his rankings. Kercheval went into more detail about what each of the six criteriums means. The QBs are judged more on past production. Therefore, no freshmen were included in the rankings. Noticeably King is ahead of Sam Howell of UNC.

• Not every quarterback is ranked.
• Passing numbers are the primary focus.
• Not every two-deep is going to be settled post-spring.
• Experience matters more than potential.
• Players could fit in more than one tier.
• The data is courtesy of Sports Info Solutions.

Kercheval judges the Tier II players as “Tier II Potential all-conference selections and a few fringe Heisman contenders.” King has been mentioned on several Heisman lists and among the players who have received odds to win the iconic award. At the very least, King and Howell are likely to compete to be the second-team All-ACC QB.

The stats as listed for King in Kercheval’s article were based on 2019. Kercheval acknowledges the outstanding 2018 season King had with Houston. For the first time since Brad Kaaya left for the NFL Draft following the 2016 season, the Miami Hurricanes enter the 2020 season with one of the best QBs in college football.