Except QB, positions look solid
A few questions loom, but UM heads into fall with most jobs settled.
HOLLYWOOD — The University of Miami is widely considered a top-25 football team entering the fall, despite its open concern about the quarterback position. Is it fair to say this could be a top10 team if it gets good quarterback play?
“Oh, I don’t know,” Hurricanes coach Mark Richt said. “We all know preseason rankings don’t mean a whole lot. If you go six games into the season and then start ranking people, you might have a better feel for where everybody is and a lot better feel for
where we’ll be at the quarterback position.
“I think we’ve got a lot of guys that understand what we’re doing and why we’re doing it and how we’re doing it. We’re getting a lot of leadership this summer, which is a great sign. More player involvement, self-policing things on and off the field. That’s where you want to be. I think we’ve got a chance to be a very good team.”
Last summer, speed at receiver, tackling in the defensive backfield, the offensive line and NCAA-related trouble with several starters were among Richt’s concerns. What worries him about this roster?
“I will say this, we are a lot faster now than we were a little while ago,” Richt said. “I think we have some great speed at receiver. If you look at our depth chart right now, we’re a little concerned with the running back position. We have inexperience in the defensive backfield but I think we’ve got the right guys, not only the guys that we have, but some of the guys were coming in new, whether it’s a freshman (Tra- jan Bandy) or a junior col- lege player ( Jhavonte Dean) or a graduate transfer (Dee Delaney). We’ve got to figure out who is going to punt.
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