The nightmarish 2022 season is finally over! That was brutal for real. Now, though, we can start looking forward and I, for one, have knocked the rearview mirrors off with a baseball bat.
We can now move on to the off-season and this one is going to be centered around talent acquisition. Over the next 9 months the roster will be flipped and I’ll probably talk about the High School and portal guys that are brought in, position group breakdowns and depth chart projections. Much of that can wait but there’s one position group I want to talk about now…the quarterbacks.
Quarterback is the most important position on the field in college football and right now the Canes are in a precarious position in regards to theirs. You’ve got Tyler “TVD” Van Dyke who entered the year as the unquestioned “QB1” but started the year slow then experienced an injury to his throwing shoulder that essentially knocked him out for the season (he tried to play multiple times after the injury but none of those attempts lasted long). When TVD went down he was replaced by Jake Garcia who was the epitome of hot and cold, sometimes lighting it up and other times making truly head scratching decisions. There was also true Freshman Jacurri Brown who started several games as well and showed potential. So, where does Mario and Miami go from here?
Best case scenario…Tyler Van Dyke returns and is the starter once again in 2023. This makes sense for Tyler foremost. In the preseason he was projected to be a potential 1st Round pick in the upcoming 2023 NFL Draft. That ain’t happening. TVD clearly has ability and he possesses attributes NFL scouts are fond of – he’s big, has the arm talent to make all of the throws and mobility to get yardage on the ground when he needs to. Declaring for the draft, though, probably isn’t a good idea because this was supposed to be his “prove it” season. Last year he did very well but he wasn’t the starter for the full season and there were still questions about if he can truly read defenses and perform when teams have had ample time to prepare for him. Well, after only playing in 6 full games and putting up pedestrian numbers (~1800 yards, 10 TDs, 5 INTs) it's safe to say those questions still linger. Some are of the belief he might look to transfer but I would rebuttal that unless he’s reuniting with Rhett Lashlee, his former Offensive Coordinator at Miami and now Head Coach at SMU, Miami provides the most familiarity and is probably a safer bet. Would he better off at schools like Georgia, Ohio State and Alabama who will be losing their starters and have better talent on their roster to surround him with? Absolutely. Will those schools come calling? I don’t think so. The final pitch Miami will be able to make will be to Tyler’s pockets by way of a NIL package. UM has a, now infamous, NIL structure and one would think they’d be willing to pay him competitively to remain in Coral Gables. Not only because he embodies Mario Cristobal’s business first mentality but also because the rest of the QB room isn’t ready yet.
Which brings me to the rest of the room - Jake Garcia has been referred to as a gunslinger more than once and there’s truth to that moniker for the young man. The thing is, quarterbacks like that always carry a high ceiling and low floor and you just hope it’s way more high than low. Jake had highs (his 1st couple of drives against Duke, 2nd half vs Pitt) but he also had some really low lows (three bad interceptions and two fumbles vs Duke). Jacurri Brown brought moments of excitement during his time on the field with his ability to run. The true freshman is gifted with his legs and has a really big arm so he definitely looks as though he could be the man in the future but right now his mechanics and decision making need time to be properly developed. Both of these young QBs would benefit from Tyler coming back because they simply aren’t ready to be starters at the collegiate level.
For Mario and Miami, Tyler would bring consistency and leadership-in-action on a team that’s about to new in so many ways in 2023. There are quarterbacks entering the portal but few, if any, have the ceiling TVD has and none of them are familiar with what Cristobal is trying to do in South Florida. If the offensive line is solidified and additional wide receiver talent is brought in you've got a guy who's shown he can make win ballgames. There will be some tough decisions made by Coach Cristobal but recruiting #9 on his roster shouldn’t be one of them – it’s what’s best for everyone.
Go Canes.
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