Canes’ receivers can do it all
Offensive coordinator excited about their size, speed and depth.
CORAL GABLES — Miami’s wide receiver group has a lot of speed, plenty of skill, and several players with great size.
What is it missing?
“Ahmonn Richards, that’s all,” sophomore Jeff Thomas said.
This should be one of the deepest Hurricanes receiving corps in several seasons, even with Braxton Berrios off to the NFL and Richards, the former freshman All-American from Wellington High, returning from last season’s injuries. Whomever wins the quarterback job will find a bevy of options at his disposal.
Want to win on the outside? Redshirt junior Lawrence Cager, 6-foot-5, 215 pounds, uses his size and strong hands when he can’t outrun defenders.
Looking inside? Sophomores Jeff Thomas and Mike Harley, both about 5-10,175, burn slot defenders with a type of speed that Cager colorfully described using a term that translates to “fiendish.”
“I think that’s a compliment,” Harley said. “It means I run like I stole something.”
Considering Richards and injured 6-6 redshirt freshman Evidence Njoku are expected back in full force this summer, and five-star freshman Mark Pope and four-star Marquez Ezzard have yet to arrive, offensive coordinator Thomas Brown is more than happy with this group.
“When you have three or four guys at (one) spot, and every single one of those guys can take their spot every single day, to me, that’s how you become great,” said Brown, who along with receivers coach Ron Dugans, is training 6-3 freshmen Brian Hightower and Daquris Wiggins this spring.
Cager aims for greatness after missing all of 2016 with a knee injury. Last season’s numbers (16 catches, 237 yards, three touchdowns) included a season-best performance in the Orange Bowl
— four grabs for 76 yards, including a 38-yard touchdown — that showedflashes of the All-American prep star Miami signed in 2015. He trusts his knee fully now.
“Bringing back my old self, not worrying about maybe getting hurt one game if I plant wrong,” he said. “Going out and playing freely, just being me again.”
That means playing phys- ical. At his size, “he should be,” coach Mark Richt said. “He is blocking well. He’s really one of the guys that we can use as a guide to show the young guys how to do it. He should be. Look at him. He’s 6-4, 6-5, 215, whatever it is. He should be one of our better blockers.”
Athletic enough to make a one-handed sideline catch in Saturday’s practice that had Richt talking afterward.
“In our point system, if he doesn’t lay out and make that catch, offense loses that day,” Richt said. “He made the catch and offense won the day. Just that one play good, he’ll come back and made the difference in win- do something good. … On ning and losing.” the field together, we are just
Be h ind Ca ger, th ere’s too fast.”
October hero Darrell LangPope (6-1, 170) and Richham, who caught the winards will be factors in fall ning touchdown last year at camp, but the speedy sophFlorida State and followed it omores are likely to be in up with a tying score against the top group for targets. If Georgia Tech. The 6-4, 220Cager keeps bringing it, he’ll pound redshirt senior is a get more than his share. capable backup. “He should be a dynamic
The little guys, Harley and guy all the time,” said Brown, Thomas, are competing to a former NFL running back replace leading wideout Berfrom Georgia listed at 5-8, rios (55 catches, 679 yards, 203. “I tell him, ‘If I was your nine touchdowns). They’re height and your weight when impressing Brown with their I played, nobody would ever toughness and energy. cover me up.’ We joke a lot
Harley, Brown said, is a about that. I’m definitely “scrappy dude. He might pleased with his progress. not be the biggest guy in the “When it comes to focus world, but he’s probably the and detail every single day, most aggressive blocker we he has been up and down. have” as a receiver. Thomas, So far this spring, has been who like Harley arrived on pretty good. I’m not going to campus last summer weigh- say he’s been great. He’s capaing around 156 pounds, said ble of being great. He knows he’s up to 177. They’re a he should be great. We want dynamic duo. him to be great. We want to
“One’s faster, one’s got bet- push him to be great. He’s ter routes,” said Harley, who definitely made some steps feels he is the latter. “He’ll do in the right direction.” something good, so I’d be,
‘All right, let me do some- thing good.’ I do something