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If you follow Canes fans on social media, or any Canes media source, the consensus is clearer than ever: Malik’s time is up.
Almost everyone is on board with a N’Kosi Perry, or Cade Weldon sighting at this point, as Malik Rosier missed multiple wide open receivers in 2018’s debut matchup. Not to say that there weren’t other glaring issues with the staff/team, but Malik’s reign of inconsistency has to come to an end. Unfortunately, that won’t be the case anytime soon.
As fans, we heard a lot about Malik’s improvement, and the chemistry he built with the receivers during the off season. Sadly, the only thing that he’s proved to us, is that he hasn’t changed at all.
There had been reports of his heightened leadership role, as he was commanding the offensive line in scrimmages, and spending extra time with his receivers to be on the same page. This ‘commanding’ role however isn’t useful if he’s going to remain a key issue in the offense, as Malik went as far to blame receiver Jeff Thomas for chemistry issues in the post-game presser, stating that he was “too fast” for some routes.
We’ve seen Richt favor seniority before, as Kaaya won the starting job in 2016 without an issue; but this is more than having bias to experience, this is pure ignorance.
What does Richt have to lose by starting a new quarterback? It was understood that Sunday’s game wasn’t the ideal place to break in a new quarterback, but going forward, what does he have to lose against teams like Savannah State, Toledo, and FIU?
We can’t ignore other problems that were a part of Sunday’s loss, some involving other units, but something has to change.
Unfortunately, Malik being demoted to second string isn’t likely to happen. Last season, Richt made a point by benching him against Pitt, but the threat didn’t seem to have much of an impact, as nothing in Rosier’s game has changed. The off season is just that… it’s all hype and predictions. Maybe LSU was better than we thought, but that’s no excuse for how the Canes were dominated on Sunday.
If the Canes somehow manage to go undefeated until the ACC Championship game the naysayers will be silenced, but until that happens, 2 things are apparent: Malik needs to sit, and Miami needs a new play caller.