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Trio of UM Players Earn Preseason Recognition

DE Quincy Roche, DE Jaelan Phillips, QB D'Eriq King Each Cited

Miami’s starting defensive ends – Quincy Roche and Jaelan Phillips – each earned a measure of preseason recognition from a national publication Tuesday as did quarterback D’Eriq King. Interestingly, all three players are transfers.

ESPN named Roche, who transferred from Temple, to its preseason All-ACC team. It also named Roche its preseason Best Defensive Transfer. Roche, a senior, had 13.0 sacks for the Owls last season and earned 2019 AAC (American Athletic Conference) Defensive Player of the Year honors.

Phillips, a junior who transferred from UCLA, was named preseason ACC Comeback Player of the Year. Phillips was the nation’s No. 1 recruit in 2017. He played two injury-affected seasons for the Bruins and had thoughts of quitting football before transferring to UM last year.

King, a senior who transferred from Houston, was named preseason Best Offensive Transfer. King accounted for 50 touchdowns (36 passing, 14 rushing) in 2018, his last complete season. King, a graduate student, transferred to UM in January. ESPN also said King has a chance to win the Heisman Trophy.

ESPN picked UM to finish sixth in the ACC behind Clemson, Notre Dame, North Carolina, Louisville and Pitt.

Among Roche, King and Phillips, it’s Roche who has the best chance to thrive in the NFL at this point. Roche, a relentless pass rusher, is projected as a second-day (second or third round) draft pick.

UM defensive coordinator Blake Baker said it’s not unrealistic to project a double-digit sack total for Roche this season. Baker also said to keep an eye on Roche’s pressures as opposed to just sacks because many times defensive ends will move quarterbacks off their spot and force poor plays that work to the defense’s advantage.

UM opens the season at 8 p.m. Thursday when it hosts Alabama-Birmingham at Hard Rock Stadium. The game will be televised on the ACC Network.