Lashlee: Impressive young WRs deserve more opportunities
The Miami Hurricanes had multiple young wide receivers step up in Sunday’s intrasquad scrimmage that was closed to the media and public, and those impressive showings may lead to them getting more reps against veteran defensive players during practices this week.
True freshman wideout Jacolby George led the receivers with seven catches for 127 yards and a touchdown in the scrimmage, while fellow true freshman Romello Brinson had four receptions for 73 yards.
Brashard Smith, also a true freshman, had 30 receiving yards.
While speaking with 560-WQAM on Monday morning, UM offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Rhett Lashlee reflected on the receivers who signed with the Hurricanes as part of their 2021 recruiting class and what could come next for them after Sunday’s scrimmage.
“All three of them [Brinson, George and Smith] have shown the talent and ability we thought they had when we recruited them,” he said. “They are who we think they’re going to be from a talent standpoint. Now it’s a matter of getting ready to play at this level. [Sunday] night was a good step for them. We’ll probably reevaluate this week and see that those guys get opportunities with some of the older guys here to see if they’re ready to contribute now.
“When you put a young kid in a live scrimmage at the college level, for them to come out and prove the moment’s not too big for them, that’s always encouraging and I thought those guys did that [Sunday] night.”
Key’Shawn Smith, a second-year freshman who had two receptions for 58 yards across eight games in 2020, has been another young wide receiver who’s impressed during preseason camp.
He’s regularly lined up with the presumed first-team offense, consistently showing the ability to get himself open.
“He physically looks a lot different than he did a year ago,” Lashlee said of Smith. “Key’Shawn is fast. He’s explosive. But we also have to remember he’s a redshirt freshman. Last year was his first year here and it was the COVID year. He’s been up and down but once the consistency comes together for him, we think he has a chance to be a good football player. You can’t discount his explosiveness when you watch him play. That’s our job and goals — to get him where he can be as a consistent contributor.”
Lashlee also touched on true freshman tight end Elijah Arroyo, who’s competing for the backup tight end role behind Will Mallory after missing spring camp due to a “minor” injury.
“The encouraging thing is that he came into fall camp and he still changed his body in the spring,” Lashlee said. “The six months he was here early was still a huge asset with what he did in the weight room. Some freshmen, you put them out there and the game just doesn’t seem too fast for them and the physicality doesn’t seem too much for them — he’s one of those guys.
“Is he making mistakes? Yes. Does he have a lot of room to grow? Yes. But he’s also a guy who’s shown the moments not too big for him. He has the physical tools. I’m pretty optimistic that he’s a guy who can help us win this year.”
While discussing Charleston Rambo, the Oklahoma transfer who had a one-handed touchdown catch in Sunday’s scrimmage, Lashlee suggested that he needs to be more consistent.
“There’s no substitute for experience and he brings that,” Lashlee said of Rambo. “Yes, he made a really nice catch and that was encouraging. We needed that and we need that, too. For Charleston, and really the group as a whole, we’re still seeking that consistency. We took a good step forward, but it’s one thing to make a one-handed catch but can we make a routine catches consistently? That’s where we have to continue working.”
With three weeks until Miami’s season opener against Alabama on Sept. 4 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Lashlee said depth-chart competitions among the receivers are still “pretty open” and this week will be used to further evaluate the younger wideouts.
“What [Sunday] night helped us realize was there’s some young guys who need to get a look against some of our older DBs to see how they can handle that,” Lashlee added. “We might have an idea at some spots, but we’re not looking for just one guy either, we’re looking for at least two-deep.
“We’re going to play the guys who are ready and proven they’re trustworthy to go out there. We’d like to continue that competition because we really can’t say we know yet, so I think this week’s a big week for us.”