Washington State football could be interesting fit for Houston transfer D’Eriq King

Houston quarterback D’Eriq King has announced he will sit out the rest of 2019 and transfer. Washington State football could be an interesting option.

If I’m Mike Leach, I’m on the phone as soon as coaches can start calling Houston quarterback D’Eriq King.

The talented quarterback’s dad dropped a bombshell on Monday afternoon, stating that his son would be sitting out the remainder of the season voluntarily with the intention to transfer. How many kids do you remember have gone from starter and dark-horse Heisman candidate to voluntarily sitting out and planning to transfer? None.

The quarterback whisperer who resides in Pullman, Wash., should give him a ring immediately and it would be bad news for the rest of the Pac-12.

King may not have great numbers this season, completing just 53 percent of his passes for 663 yards and six touchdowns. His numbers were all on pace for career-lows. Is it the fault of Dana Holgorsen? I wouldn’t blame the coach, but rather the new system and trying to learn a lot in a short period of time. King has been trying to do too much and it’s backfired.

Just look what Leach has done with Gardner Minshew (who was going to Alabama to be a third-stringer) as well as Anthony Gordon. The former is now the starting quarter for the NFL’s Jaguars and the latter is coming off a 500-yard game where he threw nine touchdown passes. If you think that’s impressive, just watch what he would do with King.

Last season, the Houston quarterback passed for 2,982 yards and 36 touchdowns with only six picks. The talent is there, but he’s not in the right system.

No quarterback is a “bad” fit for Leach’s system unless they don’t like slinging the ball and I think that’s what King wants to get back to. He doesn’t want to be looked at as a run-first guy, and Leach will make sure that doesn’t happen.

It’s OK to be mobile, but he’s not going to rush for 100 yards per game in Leach’s air-raid offense and he’ll be the quarterback that he was set out to be in 2019.

If you want to see an intriguing fit for King in 2020, Washington State would be just that. Try to argue against that being a mutually-beneficial match made in heaven.