New coordinator Rhett Lashlee is bringing a spread hurry-up attack that seems custom-tailored for South Florida talent and has the potential to get things turned around on offense as quickly as he runs plays.

Bringing in D'Eriq King?

A master stroke that gives UM the stop-gap it needs to either find a stud this recruiting cycle or get a Tyler Van Dyke ready for the big-time next season ... we currently see him as the future out of the QBs on the roster.

There were only four spring practices to gauge how this might look whenever UM takes the field again.

But there was a lot to glean.

First and foremost, King seems like the real deal ... but with some caveats. While there's no doubting he can get things done with his legs, passing-wise he can have some hiccups accuracy-wise. And he is clearly the shortest of the QBs, with media analyzing him standing next to a shortish Tate Martell and realizing that while both QBs are officially listed at 5-11 one is shorter than the other. King might, in reality, be pushing 5-10. With that said, it's probably not a huge issue unless he has to do a lot of pocket passing in which case seeing over linemen will become a challenge. And there might be a lingering concern about him getting sacked 12 times in four games last season behind a suspect line ... including four against a team named Prairie View A&M. It's not like the Canes' line will be world-beaters based on last year. So those are the caveats.

Now for the good stuff: We could see how in 2018 he had an American Athletic Conference record 50 total TDs (36 passing, 14 rushing) despite missing two-and-a-half games with injury. When the Canes switched to 11 on 11 live drills in the spring King was electric. He scrambled away from pressure, buying time. He made accurate throws and pushed the ball down the field. He seemed to have good command of the plays.

Moving down the line it was interesting to us that Tyler Van Dyke got a lot of second-team reps ahead of Perry in the shortened spring. Van Dyke is an impressive looking QB in the mold of an NFL pro-style guy, but he also has some decent mobility (although nowhere near that of King's or even Perry's for that matter). He has a strong arm, throws an accurate ball, and his challenge will be to learn the offense. If we had to make a prediction now it would be Van Dyke starting next year once King is gone.

Perry? He worked mainly as the second and third teamer in the spring, and we think he would be the No. 2 guy simply because there's no reason to blow Van Dyke's redshirt unless King gets banged up. And Perry would be pushed for that role by Peyton Matocha, who we think was one of the most improved players from last fall to this year.

So let's move over to Matocha. He's not the biggest, most agile guy and he doesn't have the strongest arm. But he showed plus ability in all of those skill sets this spring and really looked like a different guy compared to last fall. We're not saying he'll he a longterm answer at QB, as Van Dyke looked the part a bit more as a true freshman, but if Matocha continues his upward trend anything can happen.

Then there's Tate Martell, who has looked a heck of a lot better than last spring and fall (before he moved to WR) but still had an issue here and there with accuracy on simple passes without defenders on the field. Martell has great mobility and the new scheme seems like a great fit for his skillset. But if he can't throw consistently accurately there just won't be a place for him on game day. And with King's athleticism there won't be a need for him to do Wildcat or have any specific packages. So Martell will be a guy who would hope to make strides with an eye toward somehow competing next year as a redshirt senior.

A closer look at the four QB's on the roster:

D'ERIQ KING, RSR

It goes without saying that King was an ultra-talented steal of a transfer by new coordinator Rhett Lashlee. King is arguably the most talented guy lining up behind center in more than a decade for UM with a good enough arm and speed that saw him begin his college career as a wide receiver who was also returning kicks. A quick look at his numbers from Houston: In 2018 he had an American Athletic Conference record 50 total TDs (36 passing, 14 rushing) despite missing two-and-a-half games with injury. Last season he played in four games before deciding to redshirt with his team 1-3 - he threw for 663 yards with six TD passes and six rushing scores along with two interceptions in those games. In his career at Houston he had 4,925 passing yards with 50 touchdowns and 10 interceptions, adding 1,421 yards rushing with 28 touchdowns. He has to stay healthy, especially if N’Kosi Perry decides to transfer at some point. And with Miami’s suspect offensive line, will his elusiveness be enough to prevent the same kind of offensive issues the team had a year ago?

TATE MARTELL, RJR

Martell is sticking it out as a Hurricane, and when he arrived as an Ohio State transfer last spring everyone thought the job was his and QB U was back in good hands. That wasn’t the case, as his balls fluttered all over the place in practices and coaches moved him to wide receiver during the season. He’s back at QB, but we don’t envision him having much of a role. For those that think he should run some Wildcat packages … well, King is as big a threat behind center running as you’d want, so that just wouldn’t make much sense.

PEYTON MATOCHA, RFR

Matocha is somewhat of a mystery. He wasn’t recruited by a ton of programs in high school and was signed by a coordinator who is no longer at Miami. He has some sneaky athleticism and reports from practices last year were encouraging and he had a good spring. His main objective will be to secure the No. 2 QB job, but that won’t be easy if N’Kosi Perry sticks it out. We see Van Dyke with more upside moving forward, but coaches would likely prefer to redshirt him. We don't see Matocha as a future star, but he can be serviceable.

N’KOSI PERRY, RJR

Good for Perry not to simply cut bait and run like Jarren Williams once King came on board. UM certainly has to be happy having a veteran with starting experience as a potential backup. Perry showed much better maturity and leadership last season and his job is to support King and Lashlee as this offense transitions to a spread hurry-up. Truth be told, Perry can probably function a lot better out of a spread than he did the last two years, when he struggled with consistency and errant throws.

TYLER VAN DYKE, FR

Van Dyke enrolled early and looked good in the spring. A highly touted prospect, he’s not the most mobile guy and was signed by the previous coordinator Dan Enos. So does he have the type of skill set Rhett Lashlee wants in his spread offense? What we do know from watching Van Dyke is he stands strong in the pocket and has a strong arm and excellent accuracy. It would not surprise us at all if he winds up the No. 2 guy this season (if King doesn't stay healthy ...otherwise UM would like to redshirt him) and is poised to be the starter in 2021.

The bottom line here?

We think King will be an electric playmaker ... if his wideouts step up and the line does its part. That's a big "if." King, on his own merits, certainly has all the tools to succeed in this offense. And we feel the program is well stocked with King followed by Van Dyke, Perry (if he sticks things out) and Matocha along with Martell working to improve. Don't forget that Lashlee's SMU attack averaged 41.8 points and 489.8 yards per game last season compared to 25.7 points per game for UM and 367.2 yards. If the Canes can come anywhere close to the production Lashlee got out of his guys at SMU in this scheme then the QB will be putting up big numbers. And we're optimistic King can be a guy that gets things rolling.

The real question big picture-wise is whether King and one of the younger players can help return UM to its former QB U glory.

It's been a while since a signal caller at Miami has made national waves.

Guess how many Cane QB's have been drafted since Ken Dorsey in 2001?

The answer: One. Brad Kaaya, in the sixth round, and his Cane career was up-and-down and he hasn't panned out in the pros.

It all begs the question: What happened at Quarterback U?

Part of the equation, of course, is simply guys past regimes targeted. Here's the list of players Miami signed in 2002 and since: Marc Guillon (2002), Kyle Wright (2003), Kirby Freeman (2004), Daniel Stegall (2006), Robert Marve (2007), Jacory Harris, Taylor Cook and Cannon Smith (2008), Stephen Morris (2010), Preston Dewey, David Thompson and Gray Crow (2012), Rosier and Brad Kaaya in 2014, Shirreffs in 2015, Jack Allison in 2016, Perry and Weldon in 2017, Williams in 2018, Matocha in 2019 and then Van Dyke in 2020 with King added as a graduate transfer.

Some of the past takes were a case of bad evaluation.

Some of it was not coaching guys up.

Some of it was both.

The bottom line: The misses on QB's targeted in the last 15 plus years is hard to fathom at a program that once groomed guys like Kelly, Testaverde, Kosar, Torretta, Walsh and Erickson.

It's even more disappointing when you see a guy like Sam Howell land at North Carolina and perform so well in Year 1 - he was a freshman All-American in 2019, setting the FBS true freshman record and UNC school record with 38 TD passes. UM had a hot-and-cold recruitment of Howell, starting to go after him late in the recruiting process and whiffing. It didn't help that the Cane offense wasn't putting up big numbers.

You can look to the past with area guys like Teddy Bridgewater and Lamar Jackson, who went elsewhere, and there were others. Get one guy like that who could have had the offense humming and others might have followed.

Sure, top recruits aren’t always going to be interested in a program that was faltering at that time. But there were Cane coaches not going after the right guys and not doing a good enough job convincing top prospects to consider Miami. That’s how you wind up with that disastrous 2012 class of Preston Dewey, David Thompson and Gray Crow. That’s how you wind up with a rudderless offense for too many years.

Mark Richt tried to get things on the right track at QB.

So did Enos.

It didn't happen.

Now it's Lashlee's turn.