D’Eriq King’s Skillset Will Take Miami’s Offense To A Whole New Level

Without a doubt, the biggest move that the Miami Hurricanes made on the field this off-season was picking up quarterback D’Eriq King, who transferred over to South Florida from Houston. King’s accomplishments with the Cougars are well documented, but how much of an impact will he make now that he’s with the Hurricanes?

Many are making the claim that King could have an impact similar to Joe Burrow when he transferred to LSU. With new offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee at UM, it very well could happen for King in Coral Gables, as he ran almost the exact same style offense at Houston.

Since he announced his transferring to Miami, I've said time and time again, that King is the biggest threat that UM has ever had at the quarterback position. Now I know that a lot of people are going to come at me, arguing against this claim of mine. That’s not to take anything away from someone like former Heisman Trophy winner Gino Torretta. But what King brings to the Miami offense, is unlike anything Hurricanes fans have ever seen.

Never before, has Miami had a dual-threat weapon at quarterback like King, and his stats are there to prove it. As a junior at Houston, King ran for 674 yards and 14 touchdowns. With his cheetah-like speed, King has the rare ability to make plays out of nothing when the pocket breaks down.

While people talk about N’Kosi Perry’s or mobility or Tate Martell’s play-making skills, King’s athleticism opens up a whole new playbook for Miami, as he’s a perfect fit for Lashlee’s up-tempo offense. There’s a reason why King holds the FBS record of 15 consecutive games with at least one passing and rushing touchdown, he can do it all.

The Hurricanes have obviously had home-run threats on offense before, mainly running backs like Willis McGahee or Duke Johnson, but they’ve never had that kind of threat at quarterback, and that’s what King is.

Now, with defenses fearing King and focusing so much on him and what he’ll do, it’ll allow Miami to better utilize running backs Cam’ron Harris and Jaylan Knighton to run free.

Frankly put, all King does is score. To give you an idea, King averaged 27.5 points responsible per game in 2018, which led all of college football. The Hurricanes entire team averaged 25.7 points per game in 2019, and Miami hasn’t averaged at least 30 points per game since 2016.

Along with that, he moves the football, which the Hurricanes have obviously had a hard time doing the past several years. In 2018, King by himself, averaged 332 yards of total offense. Again, just as a reference point, Miami’s offense as a whole averaged 367.4 yards of total offense per game in 2019.

As a passer, King is equally impressive, as he threw for 36 touchdowns and 2,982 yards in 2018. He may not be your prototypical drop-back passer like Brad Kaaya or Ken Dorsey, but King’s quick release and ability to throw the deep ball may result in one of the finest seasons by quarterback in Miami history.

With his superb arm-strength, Miami finally has a quarterback that will be able to push the ball downfield and hit a deep-threat receiver like Dee Wiggins, or deliver a strike to Mark Pope underneath.

There are few players who can so drastically change expectations for a team. Prior to King’s arrival, I had Miami going 7-5 in 2020, just because of the question mark at QB. Now, with King as the quarterback, I see the Hurricanes winning 9-10 games and also capturing the ACC Coastal division. King is the guy Manny Diaz needs to kickstart his quest in returning the Canes back to prominence. Match King’s ability with Rhett Lashlee’s offense, then we should see Miami in Charlotte.