Redding eager for breakout season at WR
University of Miami receiver Michael Redding III’s chance to make an impact last year in spring was pretty much taken away because of an injury to his right wrist.
That meant those valuable reps for which the former IMG Academy Under Armour All-American had envisioned were all in his head — “mental reps,’’ as football players call them.
Then, the coronavirus pandemic took it all away when 2020 spring practice was canceled after only four sessions.
“I’m very physical,’’ Redding, a second-year freshman, said this past week in his first interview since last year. “I like to use my hands. I like to be very technical with what I do.”
Now, Redding is battling with a crowded wideout room for the chance to do this spring what he couldn’t last time around: secure a prominent spot among among more than a dozen receivers vying to be noticed.
“Competition is really great for us,’’ Redding said. “We’re trying to get better, we’re trying to reach that next step. Once we get really good with competition and everybody is getting better, it’s going to be to a point where we’re able to play any guy in and the guy is just as good as the next one.
“We’re managing it very well. We’re all trying to get our opportunities. Like I said, that’s the only thing that’s going to make us better. Everybody wants to be that guy. We want to be that dude.”
BIG TD AGAINST FSU
Redding, a 6-2, 202pound former consensus four-star prospect played in seven games in 2020. He caught three passes for 19 yards with his first and only college touchdown coming against archrival
Florida State.
“It was amazing,’’ Redding said last year after making his monumental 7-yard catch, which gave UM more than 50 points for the game. “Just watching the ball come all the way into my hands knowing I was in the end zone, knowing we just put a 50-burger up. It was just really, really exciting.’’
Redding’s touchdown catch that game was preceded by a first-quarter, rim by essentially collapsing whenever the ball is approaching the paint, will help Bjelica on that end.
“Basketball changed during the years, a lot of teams play small ball,” he said. “This team is great. For example on defense when I blitz, it’s like five guys on defense. So for me, it’s much easier to adjust and to help my team on defense when we’re together like collapsing and taking care of each other.”
Of Bjelica, Spoelstra said: “He’s not a young player. He’s a highly decorated experienced veteran. He has been playing professionally for a long time and a lot of success particularly overseas. We feel really comfortable with him. I think it helps too that Jimmy played with him [in Minnesota]. So they already have a little bit of a connection and then defensively in our system, he’ll continue to get better because he has already been committed to that process.”
But Spoelstra cautioned not to read too much into this new wrinkle in the Heat’s power rotation.
“He has been learning everything through a fire hose this year,” Spoelstra said of Achiuwa. “I think it’s important to keep that all in perspective. I think if you look at this leaguewide, this is what the rookie class looks like without a training camp and without summer league and then the whole player development programs that they typically get. He is a contributing player right now for us in the rotation. Depending on matchups and how the game is going, it might be bigger some games than it is in other games. So I wouldn’t read too much into it.” 6-yard reception on thirdand-5 from the Seminoles’ 48-yard line.
The catch extended the 68-yard drive that led to CamRon Harris’ touchdown to make it 14-3 Miami.
Redding said he’s been working on his “route running” and “having good body control, being at the top of the route, not giving any indicators, because if you give indicators then DBs are going to be able to cut you off or be able to figure out what you’re doing.”
“He’s really been harping on that and our releases so we can get off the line and run past DBs so we can restack them — doing little things that are going to create separation.”
HARLEY, WIGGINS ARE MENTORS
He said veteran receivers Mike Harley and Dee Wiggins have taught him “to play the next play’’ if you drop a pass.
“You’ve got to stay positive,’’ Redding said. “Sometimes you may have a bad play, but let’s go to the next play, let’s do better this play.”
Redding, who lines up on the outside and rotates with receivers such as Keyshawn Smith, Charleston Rambo and Wiggins, said he had two catches — “one bubble and one screen pass for 30 yards” — in UM’s first spring scrimmage
March 27.
“IMG prepared me very well,’’ Redding said. “IMG had a lot of the same things, kind of the same schedule. It was just very, very similar how you wake up in the morning, go to practice, then have school afterward. So when I came to Miami it was nothing new, just two times harder.”
The Hurricanes are off this weekend for Easter and resume practice Tuesday.
Susan Miller Degnan: 305-376-3366, @smillerdegnan