Pope, depth hot topics of Canes’ offseason workouts

So which freshman is most impressing in informal player-only workouts?

Safety Sheldrick Redwine sees a clear choice: five-star receiver Mark Pope, who enrolled last month.

“He’s very quick and fast,” Redwine said at UM community service event. “I see something special in him. He’s going to be a great player. You can see something special in somebody and I see how fluid he moves and how he digs in his breaks.”

From this freshman class, it’s clear that early enrollee/ spring sensation Brian Hightower should play a lot this season. And Pope probably will be too good to keep off the field.

Starter Ahmmon Richards (Wellington High) and likely starter Jeff Thomas will play a lot at receiver, too, of course.

And Mike Harley, Lawrence Cager and Darrell Langham (Santaluces High) figure to get playing time. Freshmen Daquris Wiggins and Marquez Ezzard will need to be exceptional in August to warrant offensive snaps. No wonder UM gave Dayall Harris its blessing to seek more playing time elsewhere.

Offensive coordinator Thomas Brown his raved about this freshman class and believes UM’s talent is now comparable to anybody in the country.

“Talent-wise, it’s not going to be an issue,” Brown said. “I think in every single spot, we have competition now. The two tight ends we brought in are going to be really good. Running backwise, we’ve got some depth. We talked about Mark Pope and Marquez Ezzard coming in from a receiver standpoint to add to that mix. It’s already a deep room. And even having Evidence (Njoku) coming back off an injury to hopefully be 100 percent will add to the competition mix. Talent won’t be an issue. We can line up and match up with anyone in the country. As long as we continue to get more depth, it’ll put us in a better spot to help us win.”

Though Redwine — according to coaches — has held off Amari Carter for the starting safety job opposite Jaquan Johnson, Johnson said he has seen considerable growth in Carter.

“Amari, he’s come a long way,” Johnson said. “He’s stronger. He’s faster. He’s smarter. Everything that you want to see in a freshman progressing to the next year, he’s done that. Every time he’s on the field, everybody’s looking because you know he’s going to give a big lick and a big blow. That’s just the way he plays.”

So will there be much of a decline at defensive tackle from Kendrick Norton/Richard McIntosh/Pat Bethel to a possible top three of Gerald Willis/Bethel/Jon Ford, with freshman Nesta Silvera and Illinois transfer Tito Odenigbo trying to crack that group?

“Of course, RJ and Kendrick were great football players. We all know that,” center Tyler Gauthier said “I don’t think there’s going to be much of a drop. When we play that first game against LSU, you guys will see how good they actually are.”

On Ford, Gauthier said: “It was an amazing difference when he went in the spring compared to the fall. The fall, it seemed like he was still trying to figure everything out.

“Now he’s just playing. He will come off the ball and hit you. He’s definitely a better player now.”