The pads were popping on Thursday, as the team practiced in full gear for the first time this spring. I shared my thoughts and info on the CanesInSight Daily Podcast. My comments are reproduced below:
On Elijah Arroyo: Absolutely outstanding today. He had a long catch-and-run TD down the sideline during team drills, which got the offense fired up. He's got the speed to outrun our defense, the ability to break tackles, the physicality and the coordination with the ball in the air. He's got it all. He’s an NFL tight end all day if he can stay healthy.
On Cam Ward: He put on a show at the end of practice. Threw a beautiful back shoulder ball to Riley Williams down the sideline, and then lofted a perfectly placed deep ball for a TD to Isaiah Horton. He has a unique ability to attack one-on-one coverage perfectly to the receiver’s outside shoulder when there's not that much separation. He's hitting guys in stride, with enough distance away from the defender and before the sideline that the receiver is able to make a play. He does that better than any quarterback I've seen in Miami in a long, long time.
On Riley Williams: He’s starting to show you his receiving ability with that big body. This is a legitimate 260 pounder. You can throw him back shoulders. You can throw him fades. And you don't have to throw him perfect balls for him to make a play on it. He has ball skills. He's putting on weight, but he can still make athletic plays against the first-team defense.
On Isaiah Horton: Isaiah Horton has really has changed his body. He looks like a whole new receiver. He's wearing #2 now. Strong, fast. He can get deep. You saw it in Texas A&M game, his ability to run by guys. But he's gotten so much stronger and now he's separating very, very easily. I’m not saying he'll make it to this level, but he physically looks like an NFL receiver right now.
The real step for him to reach the next level will be consistently catching the ball and using his size to make the 50-50 plays. Colby Young is ahead of him with the ability to make contested catches and use his size. But Horton's ability to run down the field in straight lines or on posts with his speed and his size is excellent. And he has a quarterback that can hit him in stride for TDs, which happened multiple times today.
On Ny Carr: You've heard me say this name a bunch, but Ny Carr continues to make plays. He doesn't look huge by any means. He's fast, but he doesn’t zip by guys like Tyreek Hill. He doesn't look as smooth as a JoJo Trader. Just looking at him, he doesn’t jump out as an obvious stud. But every practice he's making play after play, running wide open downfield for long touchdowns, adjusting to under thrown balls, adjusting to balls outside of his frame, finding soft spots in the zone, taking screens and exploding. He’s just a baller.
If you look at his film and his production at a high level of Georgia football, that's what he did. He just finds a way to make plays. He's been making plays since he stepped on Greentree and nothing changed today when the pads came on.
JoJo Trader also had a long touchdown in one-on-ones. If those guys can have good summers, adding strength and really polishing their games, they can make an immediate impact. It's one thing to do it the first practice. But when you do it the first practice, the next practice, the next practice, and the next practice, now you're something.
On Markel Bell: Still raw, but you're seeing massive, massive strides. He doesn’t need to be perfectly squared up to pass block you. If he gets his long arms on you, even if he's a little late at first, he can drive you right out the frame. His length is unique, and he's not fat and sloppy. We saw some physicality from him today with the pads on that got the coaches excited.
If you played a game right now, would he start? No. But he's someone that's going in the right direction. The tools are there. He's already in shape. And he's going to get in better shape. Maybe he plays in unbalanced lines, six offensive linemen. You can see the vision with him.
This is the kind of OL talent that you're adding to the team. It's not just Jalen Rivers, Samson Okunlola and Jalen Rivers. Now we have Markel Bell at tackle. Matt McCoy. They signed Deryc Plazz, who had an outstanding rep against Marquise Lightfoot. Once you get everybody together healthy, it's gonna be a very, very impressive room and a very deep room, which Miami has not had probably since the Jeff Stoutland era.
On Raul “Popo” Aguirre: I mentioned how the offensive line has been transformed physically since Mario got here. Another position that's seen a transformation is linebacker. It just looks different. You don't see small, slow linebackers running around. You're seeing big, fast SEC-type linebackers.
One of them is Popo Aguirre, my fellow Cuban out of Georgia. He’s been starting all spring with the injury to Kiko Mauigoa. Wesley Bissainthe is a little banged up, too. Popo has taken over and he’s looking really, really good. He was hitting everything that moves with the pads on today. He's fast, instinctive, good against the pass and the run, just a complete linebacker and someone who is ready to make a major impact.
His instincts are exceptional. He's not just a run-and-hit guy. He was a true linebacker in high school, so he has experience. He was also a running back. I've heard from different coaches that they like when linebackers play running back because they know where the holes are. They have vision, just flipped in the other direction. Popo is having a good spring.
On Judd Anderson: He’s done a real nice job with his limited reps. Ward's a starter. Poffenbarger is likely number two, at least for now. Emory Williams started games last year. Jacurri Brown also started games. Those guys are all getting reps ahead of Judd. When you're the fifth quarterback, there's not that many reps to go around. But when he's gotten his reps, he's impressed.
He impresses just walking around as a 6’7, coordinated athlete. The weight’s coming on. He throws very naturally, smooth motion, not goofy. Kind of like Ward, he has been able to identify one-on-one matchups and throws a catchable ball for the receiver to make a play on. He can also drive it when needed. He was 5-5 in skeleton and, in team work, threw a long touchdown to Robby Washington.
On Robby Washington: Last show, we talked about him playing corner in Tuesday’s practice. He also played receiver. Today, he was more on the receiver side. I think you’ll continue to see both. Ultimately, I hope he'll be a corner. There just aren't that many corners like him athletically, and he’s tough. But he’s also a good receiver. He caught a lot of balls today. It seemed like he wanted to show people he's still a dangerous offensive player.
