Tate Martell -150 to Win Miami Starting QB Spot, But N’Kosi Perry (+175) and Jarren Williams (+300) Have Decent Odds

• Tate Martell is one of few transfer quarterbacks to go from primetime program (Ohio State) to primetime program (Miami)
• The starter won’t have much time to settle in before a Week 0 game against Florida
• Will Martell beat out sophomore N’Kosi Perry for the starting QB role for the Hurricanes?

First-year Miami coach Manny Diaz recently said, according to the Miami Herald, “There are all kinds of guys in college football who make good throws, or have a good quarter, or heck, even have a good game. This is the University of Miami. Our standards are so far beyond that. We need a guy that can bring it every week.”

As the Hurricanes take an honest look at their quarterback battle just a few days into preseason camp, they can’t honestly say they know for sure what they have that in any of the three contenders, and that’s why the odds are as close as they are.

Odds on Miami Hurricanes Starting QB: Game 1, 2019

The court of public opinion will almost always favor the transfer, and in this case, the bookmakers are doing the same, but in this case there is a wild card: new Miami OC Dan Enos.

Enos the New Sheriff in Coral Gables

Enos was widely credited with the development as a passer seen in Jalen Hurts from his sophomore to junior seasons at Alabama — albeit in limited sample as Tua Tagovailoa was lighting college football ablaze. Enos deserving the credit for it isn’t necessarily wrong, considering his strong track record of quarterback play before at Arkansas (the Allen brothers, Brandon and Austin) and Central Michigan (two of his final three Chippewa teams were top three in the MAC in yards per attempt).

If Enos is in fact a quarterback savant, that’d be great news for N’Kosi Perry. He did throw all four touchdown passes in the win over Florida State last year and took advantage of a bad Virginia Tech defense for two more scores. But his bad moments were really, really bad, and frankly, the reason why the coaching staff was inspired to hit the market for Martell.

In Diaz’s vision for Miami, there is no room for the two interceptions against Virginia — a three-point loss, so two interceptions that very much impacted that game — or going 6-for-24 for 52 yards against Pitt. Enos ironing those wrinkles out of Perry could be all he needs to be Miami’s quarterback of the future, since he is just a redshirt sophomore.

But another redshirt sophomore has all the buzz around the program.

This Is Martell’s Miami

Martell has always been a highly sought-after asset on the market: he committed to Washington and to Texas A&M before enrolling at Ohio State, just to leave Columbus for Coral Gables this offseason. But this is the end of the road for Martell: either it works out for him here or it doesn’t work at all.

first day out.. pic.twitter.com/M81jx3KV0R

— Tate Martell (@TheTateMartell) July 27, 2019

Martell has always been heralded as a valuable dual-threat pivot, but how exactly that fits into what Miami wants to be offensively going forward remains to be seen. But having a ready and willing runner in the pocket could be useful behind what could be a struggling offensive line.

That just leaves the redshirt freshman Jarren Williams, who as I see it really got the unlucky draw when Martell transferred in. He’s the least experienced of the three by classification and wasn’t afforded the on-field reps Perry got last season. His number being so close to Perry’s surprised me.

My Bet on the Hurricanes’ Starting QB

Transfer quarterbacks don’t always work out, but they almost always get the opportunity. I think Martell will get the first crack against Florida on Aug. 24th.

For the record, I do believe Enos is capable of making something of Perry that is significantly better than what we saw last year — but he’s coaching Martell, too. On a team that is going to be heavily influenced by the incoming transfers from this offseason, it’s only fitting that Miami will start one at quarterback.

Pick: Martell (-150)