WR corps boasts plenty of speed
Newcomers bring depth as well to group
CORAL GABLES — The Hurricanes’ top receiver — one of the leaders and a spark on the offense — has graduated, his sights now set on the NFL. Their former Freshman All-American is still recovering from a knee injury that ended his season in November.
And yet, the Miami football team can’t help but feel excited about the size, speed and depth they have in their squad of wide receivers ahead of the start of spring practice.
In addition to recovering Ahmmon Richards, veterans Darrell Langham, Dayall Harris and Lawrence Cager, among others, the team got even deeper and more talented at wide receiver on National Signing Day, when the Hurricanes added four-star prospect Marquez Ezzard. That recruiting class already included four-star December signees Mark Pope, Brian Hightower and Daquris Wiggins.
The biggest challenge Miami might face now at the position will be figuring out how to utilize all the talent it as, a problem receivers coach Ron Dugans is more than happy to have.
“I start off, I don’t have a
depth chart. I have an organizational chart. Nobody’s a starter. Everyone has to earn jobs. If you’re competing and you handle your business, you’ll be a starter. If not, you’ll be the guy behind him,” Dugans said this week after Miami wrapped up its 2018 recruiting class. “But are you going to settle for that or are you going to push the guy that’s in front of you? I’m still pushing the guys that are not starters. It’s up to me to have a good rotation and make sure everybody’s playing and that’s what I’ve done in the past, set a really good rotation because guys earn the chance to play in practice, give them the chance to play in a game.”
As the Hurricanes continue working through offseason conditioning, it remains uncertain whether Richards — a former Wellington High standout who broke Michael Irvin’s 31-year-old freshman receiving record in 2016 — will be available for spring practice. Dugans said only this week that Richards is “doing great out there” as he continued rehabbing from a meniscus injury.
What Dugans was willing to detail was how early enrollees Hightower and Wiggins have done as they’ve participated in their first mat drills, an offseason workout program Hurricanes coach Mark Richt brought to Miami when he took over in 2015.
The workouts are known not only for being tough physically, but for forcing players to work on discipline, with many drills done in unison. If one player falters during a drill, often, everyone has to do it again, which — Richt has noted — builds accountability, too.
“They went through their first day of mat drills and it wasn’t pretty. Not for those guys,” Dugans said with a laugh of Hightower and Wiggins. “But I was impressed with what I saw the first day. They didn’t quit, they didn’t give in, they competed. That’s what I wanted to see, some resiliency out of the guys when they faced adversity, when they got tired. So that was promising."
Also promising, the Hurricanes say, is the way Miami’s deep receivers corps will continue challenging their defensive teammates, particularly Miami’s defensive backs.
That group will have to contend with the return of sophomore speedsters Mike Harley and Jeff Thomas, both of whom showed flashes of their speed and potential last season.
Thomas finished with 17 catches for 374 yards and was Miami’s fifth-leading receiver behind recent graduate Braxton Berrios, tight end Chris Herndon, Richards and running back Travis Homer. Harley, a former St. Thomas Aquinas standout, meanwhile, appeared in 11 games and averaged 10.1 yards per catch.
And Miami defensive coordinator Manny Diaz said he’s eager to have them — and the rest of the Hurricanes receivers — challenge the Miami secondary, including some of its own recently signed talent such as Gilbert Frierson, Gurvan Hall, DJ Ivey and Nigel Bethel and Al Blades Jr., once they arrive on campus.
“That’s why they were recruited here. Let’s see what they can do. Coach Richt and coach Dugans and I have talked about getting the one-on-ones back to what one-on-ones should be on the Greentree Practice Field,” Diaz said. “With the wide receivers we’ve got and the DBs we’ve got and their type of mentality, where you really have that iron-sharpens-iron practice mentality, I think that could be the most telling thing in our football team a year from now, the personality and depth we added at both spots.”
ccabrera@ sun-sentinel.com; On Twitter @ChristyChirinos.