Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Despite QB’s injury, chemistry building
Transfer WR Rambo bonding with King, even as QB rehabs
Although Miami Hurricanes wide receiver Charleston Rambo was one of the standouts from the team’s second spring scrimmage on Friday night, he has not been able to take reps this with the quarterback expected to be ready as UM’s starter by the time the season kicks off in the fall.
Rambo, the Oklahoma transfer for his fifth and final college season, has made an effort to develop chemistry with D’Eriq King nonetheless as King recovers from the torn ACL in his right knee from last December’s bowl loss to Oklahoma State.
“I’ve thrown with King a few times,” Rambo said on Tuesday, as his spring session with Miami is set to conclude with Saturday’s spring game. “He’s not going to run and throw it, but he can set and throw the ball. He’s a good quarterback. He put the ball there. Just waiting on him to get through the rehab process, make sure he’s good.”
King played a role in getting Rambo to come to UM. When the 6-foot-1, 175-pound deep threat entered his name into the transfer portal, it was King who reached out to him to see if he could lure an extra playmaker to join his receiving corps a year after he made his own move to Coral Gables from Houston.
The two have a bonded over hailing from Texas, but they’re from different parts of the Lone Star State.
“He was from Houston. I was from Dallas. That’s like two hours, 30 minutes away,” Rambo said. “I didn’t play with King in high school, but I probably did see him in a camp or something, and then going on to college going our separate ways, seeing him go to Houston making plays.”
The two paths crossed in the 2019 season opener, when Rambo’s Sooners topped King’s Houston Cougars, 49-31, in a nationally televised ESPN Sunday night game. Rambo had three receptions for 105 yards including a 56-yard touchdown to start the second half. King threw for 167 yards and two touchdowns while running for 103 yards and another score, but he couldn’t keep up with Jalen Hurts in his debut as OU quarterback.
Now, Rambo starts to think back to his one season with Hurts, now the quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles, when he sees King.
“He’s a good guy, and I know he’s going to be a hard worker,” Rambo said. “He almost reminds me of Jalen Hurts — their work ethic. I know when he comes back off rehab, he’s going to go even harder. He can get back on the right page.”
For now, Rambo has worked with Tyler Van Dyke, Jake Garcia and Peyton Matocha in the spring. He caught a long touchdown from Van Dyke on a trick play in Friday’s scrimmage, and he said his seven receptions came on seven targets.
“Every uncatchable ball, make it catchable,” said Rambo.
The insertion of Rambo, plus the development of the four freshman receivers from the 2020 recruiting class — Keyshawn Smith, Xavier Restrepo, Michael Redding III and Dazalin Worsham — has Dee Wiggins and Mark Pope, both starters last year, facing some competition. Wiggins had five receptions for 63 yards and two touchdowns on Friday.
“It’s more competition in the receiver room,” Wiggins said. “We’re working harder. We’re pushing harder every day. We’re learning something new every day. Every time we watch film, coach gets on us about the little stuff, the little details that’s going to push us to the next level.”
Added Rambo: “All of our receivers, we’re just making plays, route-running, taking the top off of [the defense].”
Rambo said he has gotten better this spring from facing more man coverage in the Hurricanes’ defensive scheme, as opposed to zone, and going up against cornerbacks Tyrique Stevenson, the Georgia transfer, and DJ Ivey.
“They’re both long and strong, so just working different releases on both of them, getting better, competing with each other,” he said. “They’re getting better. We’re getting each other better.”
Rambo is looking to bounce back in production. After putting up 43 catches for 743 yards and five touchdowns in 2019, he had 25 receptions for 312 yards and three touchdowns in 2020 — but in four fewer games at Oklahoma.