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Miami Player Profile: Kevin Olsen

In an effort to keep even the most hardcore Miami fan up to date on their favorite players, SOTU will be running a Player Profile series. In these posts, our writers will profile two players from each position that they think should get more face time. They will recap their previous year, or in some cases, preview what may be to come. That way, when the season get's here, you hopefully will have a new found love for the team on the field.

By Jerry Steinberg
USA TODAY Sports

Kevin Olsen

RS Freshman - QB - 6'3 210 - Wayne, NJ

Brother of former Miami Hurricane and current Carolina Panthers TE Greg Olsen, is a former 4 star recruit.  Ranked in the top 5 pocket passers by most recruiting services coming out of H.S.

Did not see any action last season.

Completed just 7 of 21 passes for 65 yards and 0/1 TD/INT in UM's 2014 Spring Game.

Summary:  Early on during Spring Practice there were reports that Olsen had made significant improvements from his freshman season, but in the Spring Game they did not show. Obviously the coaching staff has concerns as well, or they would not have brought in former BYU/Kansas transfer Jake Heaps. Olsen has also had an off the field incident that was troubling, and was also left home for the Russell Athletic Bowl for undisclosed reasons.  For all of the above reasons, this summer is critical to Olsen's UM career.  Ryan Williams should be back at some point during the season, and likely resumes the role as starter.  But in the meantime if Olsen can not beat out Heaps to start the season, it would raise serious doubts in my opinion whether or not he will ever be "the man" for this program. True Freshman Brad Kaaya also arrives this summer, so Olsen has a very small margin for error. The good news for Olsen is that despite some setbacks, he is still a young and talented player.  At his best, he is an accurate, smart QB who gets rid of the ball quickly and makes nice reads. And while his arm does not appear to be elite, he appears to have decent athleticism and more then enough zip to be a good college QB.  The month of August is going to be a very important one in how the story of Kevin Olsen plays out.  Stay tuned.