Miami Hurricanes D’Eriq King should be top 10 QB in 2020

The addition of D’Eriq King at quarterback has given the Miami Hurricanes a national presence at the position for the first time in four years. King has been rated one of the best QBs in college football on many preseason lists.

A ranking of what would have been all 130 football bowl subdivision starting quarterbacks in 2020 by Pro Football Focus and a revised list by 247 Sports ranks Miami Hurricanes QB D’Eriq King among their best QBs. In the last full season King played in 2018, he was responsible for 50 TDs in 10 games for Houston.

Houston coach Dana Holgersen asked King to redshirt last season after the Cougars began the season 1-3. The expectation was that King would return for his redshirt senior season in Houston in 2020. Instead, the dynamic QB chose to transfer to Miami to play against Power Five opponents in his final season collegiately.

PFF graded King one of the best QBs in the country in 2018 with Houston. In their revised rankings of the entire list posted by PFF, 247 Sports ranked King the seventh-best QB in 2020. PFF ranks King 11th overall. The QB play for the Miami Hurricanes over the last three seasons has arguably not been 11th best in the ACC.

King graded out as the second-best QB in the country in 2018 behind Heisman Trophy winner Kyler Murray of Oklahoma. That was under Major Applewhite. When Holgersen took over for Applewhite in 2019, King was not able to produce as efficiently in the four games he played. King’s 2020 outlook was summarized by 247.

"7. D’ERIQ KING – MIAMIPFF: “King played in only four games before taking a redshirt, and in that small sample, he produced just a 59.9 passing grade in Dana Holgerson’s Air Raid offense.King was still lights out as a runner in those four games, though, so it’s not surprising to see that he’s averaged 4.5 yards after contact (first among FBS quarterbacks) and produced a 10-plus-yard carry on 26.9% of his carries (second) over the past two seasons.”“King was a star at Houston and it looked like he was ready to take another step forward in 2019. However, he played four games, took a redshirt year and decided to transfer out of the program. Boy was that 2018 season fun and something for Miami fans to look forward to this year.Two years ago, King finished the year with 2,982 yards, 36 touchdowns, six interceptions, 674 rushing yards and 14 rushing touchdowns."

The first two paragraphs summarized by 247 Sports came via Pro Football Focus and the second last half of the summary was via their 247’s own analysis of King. The way Lashlee has adapted to the strengths of his QBs throughout his career as an offensive coordinator is promising for the Miami Hurricanes in 2020.

Lashlee was a graduate assistant at Auburn when the Tigers won the National Championship with dual-threat QB Cam Newton. In 2013 with Lashlee as the offensive coordinator at Auburn, the Tigers lost to Florida State in the final BCS Championship game with Nick Marshall who was more of a running QB.

At SMU in 2019, Lashlee led an explosive offense led by Shane Buechele who is more of a traditional pro-style, drop-back QB. The ability for Lashlee to adapt to his personnel is a good sign for the Miami Hurricanes offense in the future. With King at QB in 2020, the offense has a high ceiling.

"11. D’ERIQ KING, MIAMI (FL) PFFKing was quite easily one of the best quarterbacks in the country in 2018. The true dual-threat produced a 91.2 PFF grade, second to only Kyler Murray that year, but then everything came crashing down under a new regime in 2019.King played in only four games before taking a redshirt, and in that small sample, he produced just a 59.9 passing grade in Dana Holgerson’s Air Raid offense.King was still lights out as a runner in those four games, though, so it’s not surprising to see that he’s averaged 4.5 yards after contact (first among FBS quarterbacks) and produced a 10-plus-yard carry on 26.9% of his carries (second) over the past two seasons.Rhett Lashlee, Miami’s new offensive coordinator, has a past with mobile quarterbacks and will almost certainly bring out the best of King."

King will provide Miami with a dynamic at QB that hasn’t been seen before in Coral Gables. The ability for King to improvise when a play breaks down should help the Miami offense tremendously. His ability as a runner to break tackles as stated by PFF in their summary shows how dangerous King can be in the open field.

The passing grade King had in the Holgersen offense in 2020 is concerning but should be rectified under Lashlee. With King at the controls, the Miami offense has the potential to the most prolific the Hurricanes have had in nearly two decades. King should provide a lot of excitement on offense and highlight-reel moments.