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Before the best laid plan of all time, the squiggly-doo kickoff return that went just how the staff planned it won Miami the game, Malik Rosier was overcoming some amazing odds to put on a hell of a show against Duke on Halloween night in 2015. A fired coach, his first career start, and a 6-1 Duke squad were standing in his way.
Rosier is now the front-runner for the Hurricanes’ starting QB job heading into 2017. Rosier is a redshirt junior with only 13 games of experience and one start. The Alabama native is 6’1 215 pounds with above average mobility, a strong arm and average accuracy. His mechanics were shaky at times causing him to misfire on throws.
In the Duke game, we can get some idea of what Rosier will excel at under Coach Richt. Larry Scott’s regime put the offense a little more in-line with Richt and Brown’s ideas. We see familiar parts of the scheme: inside zone read, play-action passing, the screen game, the use of TE’s in Herndon and Njoku, and deep fades taking advantage of speed in Coley (this year, Ahmmon Richards).
Command
Miami was always plague by penalties in the Al Golden era which can be a testament to poor conditioning and poor leadership. Rosier managed a nice game against Duke fixing guys who were lined up wrong, using a hard count for multiple deep shots (one as a TD, ~19:21) and even after taking an early hit after a bad protection call (~5:30)- he gets back up to lead the team. If Malik can improve his consistency in his mechanics (back foot throws, lazy footwork) he can lead this ball club.
Mobility
I only re-watched the one hour version, but I didn’t see enough rollouts with a guy that can move behind an average Offensive Line. I think Richt’s staff will use the mobility to their advantage. What we did see was a few inside zone read plays (mostly gives, ~10:52) and a power read (~57:55) where Rosier kept for a couple of yards. He’s not going to be Vince Young or Keenan Reynolds but no one is asking for that. The scheme Richt showed at UGA was to use the QB on the ground as a chance of pace or to get out of trouble and pick up a few yards.
Arm
Rosier showed zip on the short and intermediate throws in the Duke game. A play-action seams play, similar to what Coach Richt likes, to David Njoku for a nice pick up (~18:50), and good zip on the screens (~25:25, ~23:30).
- Good to see Malik connect with Christopher Herndon who should have a big 2017.
I liked some of his back shoulder fades as well. There are a couple nice throws at ~48:45, ~52:38, ~56:51. I also liked the touch and placement on the smash route at ~17:06.
Needs Improvement
Rosier isn’t flawless. I think a major issue for him is nothing stands out as ++ for him. He understands the game but doesn’t have a ton of experience (~42:20), he’s mobile but I wouldn’t call him fast, he has a good deep ball but it’s not great, and his footwork can get off timing (~24:40).
Many people want to count Malik out but I wouldn’t. He has taken college snaps, led the ‘Canes to victory, and he’s a gutsy kid that won’t just hand over the keys without a fight.
- Above, highlights of Rosier vs Duke 2015
- Above, the presser after the Duke game
- Above, the one hour version of Miami/Duke from Halloween 2015