By BJ Bennett
SouthernPigskin.com

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D’Eriq King’s arrival energizes Miami’s future. He will help usher in a new era for Manny Diaz’s Hurricanes.

The addition of former Houston quarterback D’Eriq King gives Miami one of the top quarterbacks in all of college football. A high-profile graduate transfer who, ready to play now, was perhaps the biggest name on the market, King is the Hurricanes’ new offensive centerpiece. In an ACC where there is considerable upward mobility after Clemson, Miami’s new signal caller immediately becomes one of the league’s biggest names and makes his new team a fascinating one to watch.

A dynamic playmaker, King has a resume to which few can compare. He has 50 career touchdown passes and 28 career rushing scores, also catching three touchdown passes and taking a kick back to the house when injuries required him to contribute some on the perimeter early on in his tenure with the Cougars. King’s abilities are complete and continual; he can beat teams throwing or running the football and has a natural fluidity to his play. Among other accomplishments, King broke Kyler Murray’s Texas 6A passing touchdowns record in high school. At Houston, King earned all-AAC honors as a junior.

In 2018, King, emerging as one of the premier playmakers in the country, completing 63.5% of his passes for 2,982 yards and a 36 touchdowns,which tied for sixth nationally, adding 674 yards rushing and 14 more scores on the ground. For point of reference, just two quarterbacks this millennium have had single seasons with at least 35 passing touchdowns and 14 rushing scores: King and Oregon’s Marcus Mariota, who won the Heisman Trophy.

King will transition to Miami alongside new offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee, a former quarterback at Arkansas who became a national name at Auburn and has recently been the play-caller at UConn and SMU. Lashlee utilizes an up-tempo spread scheme, a system which King thrived in at Houston. The Hurricanes’ new quarterback-coordinator combination will help reset Miami’s offensive approach and will be part of the program’s foundation for this fall. All that King does will be the starting point for what Lashlee hopes to do.

After a disappointing finish to last season for the Hurricanes on offense, King’s arrival energizes Miami’s future. He will help usher in a new era for Manny Diaz’s Hurricanes.

Very few quarterbacks in recent college football history have accomplished what King has. Having picked Miami over a number of other showcase opportunities, he, along with Lashlee, will now work to become leading names at one of the most storied programs in the game. King has the potential to help the Hurricanes, who have a talented roster across the board, continue to improve and, ultimately, contend.

One of the most talked about players of the off-season, King won’t just spend his final season in Miami, but in the spotlight as well. He has a new role and his Hurricanes will have new momentum entering spring practice.