No shortage of competitors aiming for Miami QB job
Perry perhaps has best shot of unseating Rosier.
CORAL GABLES — Because of his considerable talent and recruiting pedigree, many Miami fans are convinced redshirt freshman N’Kosi Perry will wrest the starting quarterback spot from Malik Rosier this fall.
That may come true. Multiple people who watched Miami’s first three spring practices say Perry has the strongest arm on the roster, with the ability to flick passes far downfield. The Ocala native has a nice touch, and changes speeds better than anyone. He is not thick of frame (listed at 6-foot-4 and 185 pounds), but moves quickly in the pocket.
UM allows reporters to see about 20 minutes of individual drills, mostly throwing and catching, blocking and tackling. Any game-simulation drills and scrimmages are private, except for the April 14 spring game.
But while insiders view Perry as the lead challenger to Rosier, beware of dismissing redshirt freshman Cade Weldon and true freshman Jarren Williams as contenders for the job.
Weldon, a three-star recruit from Tampa, is wellbuilt (6-3, 212) and athletic and has impressed with his toughness in practice. Weldon’s freshman year ended with a one-game suspension — he violated team rules before the Orange Bowl — but there is no indication he is still in Richt’s doghouse.
Williams (6-2, 206), who enrolled in January, is fourth in the rotation for practice drills behind Rosier, Perry and Weldon. Recruiting analysts praised Williams, a fourstar recruit from Georgia, for his passing ability; UM’s official account called him a “big-time gunslinger” in a tweet on signing day. Richt likes his intelligence and said while he’s new to the system, he’s not lagging far behind the others.
“He’s a quick learner and he’s got some really good arm talent, I’ll tell you that.” Richt said Monday on WQAM. “I’ve got all these guys getting good, quality reps.”
As for Rosier, the incumbent starter, he feels healthy and refreshed after last season’s late struggles, some the result of a shoulder injury suffered Oct. 28 at North Carolina. Monday, Richt said Rosier’s completion percentage numbers — 54 percent on the year, 50.7 in the final three months, 44.9 UM’s last three games, all losses — were “deceiving.” UM has a grade for accuracy, grading quarterbacks on their ability to hit an open receiver with good protection. He said Rosier missed “a few deep shots” (the underthrown ball to Jeff Thomas early in the ACC title game springs to mind), and that he wants a quarterback to hit “80, 90 percent of our open targets.” He didn’t say how UM graded Rosier.
Meanwhile, UM’s top quarterback target, Michael Johnson Jr., was scheduled to be on campus Wednesday and today, according to 247Sports. Johnson, from Eugene, Ore., is the son of Oregon’s wide receivers coach. He visited Alabama and Mississippi last weekend and told Rivals he is also interested in those schools — as well as Nebraska, Arizona State, Penn State and LSU — but Miami is recruiting him the hardest.
Johnson’s father, who spent 10 seasons in the NFL and was the San Francisco 49ers’ offensive coordinator in 2010, signed on at Oregon in Feb. 2017. The Ducks are also recruiting his son, rated by both Rivals and 247 as the 4th-best dual-threat quarterback in the 2019 class.