Ask Farrell: Are you surprised at Miami's choice at QB1?
There are many quarterback battles going on across the country as the college football season inches closer. The one at Miami has been settled - for now.
The Hurricanes will start former four-star prospect Jarren Williams over N’Kosi Perry, who played in 11 games last season, and Ohio State transfer Tate Martell, who many believed was the leader to win the starting job once he came over from Columbus.
Williams, who was once committed to Kentucky twice in his recruitment before finally flipping to Miami, played in only one game last season and threw three passes all season.
There was a heated quarterback battle going on at Miami as Perry had the experience from last season but never seemed to run the offense smoothly as he completed less than 51 percent of his passes for 1,091 yards with 13 touchdowns and six interceptions.
After former five-star Justin Fields transferred from Georgia to Ohio State, Martell left the Buckeyes for a new home and found an opportunity at Miami. It looked like he had an early jumpstart on the starting job - and that he would be reunited with former Las Vegas Bishop Gorman teammate Brevin Jordan - in operating the Hurricanes’ offense.
Rated as the No. 39 overall prospect in the 2017 class and the second-best dual threat QB (one spot ahead of Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa), Martell showed outstanding ability at the high school level. But that has not materialized in college, at least not yet, as he did not win the starting job in the season-opener against Florida.
FARRELL'S TAKE
We ask Rivals.com National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell if he’s surprised by Miami’s decision to start Williams over Perry and Martell and to offer his thoughts on how he sees the Hurricanes’ quarterback situation playing out through this season.
“I am a bit surprised because I was never a huge Jarren Williams guy in our rankings meetings. I thought he was a bit inconsistent and I felt he had progressed well between his junior and senior year but was closer to his ceiling than Perry and Martell.
"I was always a big believer in Martell and I’m surprised he didn’t break through and win the job. Perry was a raw prospect I liked a bit more than Williams coming out.
"If you had asked me to guess the order Manny Diaz would come up with it would have been Martell, Perry and Williams. There could be a revolving door at quarterback this season for Miami. But they obviously see a lot in Williams and are very confident in his abilities, so we’ll see how that opener goes and take it from there.”