Tyler Van Dyke must prove himself with bounce-back season

Tyler Van Dyke’s second season as Miami’s starter did not go as planned. Still, to On3’s JD PicKell, 2023 is the season where he either flips the narrative from a year ago or justifies it as the truth.

PicKell named Van Dyke as one of the college quarterbacks under the most pressure in a recent episode of ‘The Hard Count’. To start, he shared his opinion that his struggles from last year weren’t totally on him and him alone.

“I saw what Tyler Van Dyke did in ’21, I saw what happened in ’22. And I said I don’t believe Tyler Van Dyke is the problem,” PicKell shared. “Mario Cristobal came on this very show and if we’re trying to translate the coach speak? He kind of said the same thing. He said last year’s system wasn’t a fit. Nobody’s fault but it wasn’t a fit.”

From there, he went on to talk about the different additions that the Hurricanes made to better suit Van Dyke this fall. However, PicKell explained how those additions could also be his undoing. It’ll all be okay if they help him to be the player that he showed that he could be in 2021. If not, though, he thinks the verdict on Van Dyke could be very obvious considering he’s one of the only offensive pieces that didn’t change.

“Tyler Van Dyke’s still there and a lot of things around him have changed. In fact, just about everything around him has changed,” said PicKell. “New pieces on the offensive line, new offensive coordinator in Shannon Dawson.”

“The point I’m trying to make is with Tyler Van Dyke? When everything else around you changes with the assumption that you’re not the problem? If we’re going to miss a bowl game again? Or maybe we don’t achieve the level of success we want to for a second year in a row? At what point do we say we changed everything else around you? Maybe it is on Tyler Van Dyke, maybe Tyler Van Dyke actually is the issue.”

That scenario is going to place a signifcant spotlight on Van Dyke, especially after he threw for over 1,000 less yards and 15 fewer touchdowns from 2021 to 2022. Even so, PicKell maintains that he still has full belief in his ability to turn things around and make things right with the people down in Coral Gables in 2023.

“Now, again, I’m still leading that fan club. You’re going to have to kick me off that roster if you want me to not supper Tyler Van Dyke as a good quarterback,” stated PicKell. “But the reality is I think this is the year where he has to prove a lot of people right. He has to prove the staff right, prove the fanbase right that he actually is who you saw in 2021.”

“I think it’s going to work,” PicKell said. “To what degree? It remains to be seen. But I think he is the right guy at quarterback for you.”