forums

Buzz from Saturday’s practice

View as article
Advertisement
Seems like a great young man from his interviews & academic pedigree. Hopefully it works out for him here (he’s young) but if not he’ll be just fine.. Just business.
 
Advertisement
NicKane said:
I agree with you, he’s definitely not a number one to me, but I think he can be a solid number two at 2nd string. What I’ve seen about him since he’s been here, is that he is limited. Now maybe over the off-season he’s upped his physicality and physique and those physical limitations are gone but I have to see it first.
Click to expand...
IMG_2261.gif
 
Advertisement
FrancisSawyer said:
No doubt! I thought the same thing. Great to hear that Shemar is out there making plays and looking good doing it. I may be in the minority but I'm very intrigued by this WR group. There is a lot of talent there albeit in varying stages of development but I'm getting the sense that the group as a whole is really beginning to develop. Granted this room will look very different in 2-3 years in terms of Mario and staff bringing in more elite type talents.

Even so, this particular group right now will continue to get better and better up to game 1 then throughout the season. We have the rock solid, super productive and unquestioned leader in Restrepo and Jacolby George bringing experience and big play ability. Then we have 3rd year WR Isaiah Horton who has attacked the off season and transformed his body while adding strength and more speed and is seemingly on the verge of a breakout year as the frontrunner for a starting spot on the outside opposite George. Then we have Ray Ray Joseph who flashed his explosive big play ability as a true freshman last year both as a WR and a return man followed by sophomore Robbie Washington. Washington is an explosive speedster who is dangerous with the ball in his hands. Washington can also return kicks in addition to playing CB. Next up is JC transfer Shemar Kirk who up until this spring has been invisible. Kirk is having a good spring and is coming on.

Finally we have our uber talented true freshmen WRs in Jojo Trader and Ny Carr who have been consistently making huge plays in practice since their arrival. Chance Robinson arrives in the summer and D$ says he looks like a college ready WR already with impressive physical characteristics.

This is shaping up to be a fairly deep WR corps. We still lack a true #1. Horton has a chance to develop into that this year and Jojo certainly has the ability but he's still a true freshman. Due to this there is a very good chance that the staff adds a WR in the post spring portal period. They likely wouldn't be interested in a depth piece and if they bring someone in it will be a player that the staff believes gives them that true #1 WR.

The thing that is going to make this entire group effective and productive will be the QB play. Cam Ward brings the type of skills at QB that we haven't seen at Miami in well over 30 years.
Click to expand...

Going into the offseason, I felt we had screwed ourselves by not going harder after a elite WR1. I think the addition of the young receives and the reemergence of the TEs as legit receivers gives Cam enough multi-dimensionality that we're no longer desperate.

Horton "should" step up as a sophomore, and I'm a big fan of Robinson who is polished and stout enough to play early and often. But we've seen sophomore slumps with other impressive young WRs in the past, injuries happen, and we still need to be skeptical about the glowing reports coming out of camp given the questionable talent at DB.

Net/net, trend is good, more to be done and while not dire, a WR1 would solidify this group as playoff ready.
 
QuattroCane said:
- Meesh Powell and Xavier Restrepo continue to battle in the slot. Both are hard workers and experienced playmakers. Restrepo made a beautiful one-handed catch on a pass behind him in the seam and numerous other big catches.

Sorry...what, excuse my ignorance but I've never heard of Powell, how is there a "battle" there?

Did some research aka Googled it, forgot all about him.
Click to expand...
Against one another. This is a good sign for both since each are upperclassmen and it’s their money year
 
JHallCanes said:
This time last year every report of practice was Ray Ray lighting it up

He barely played all season and now we haven’t heard anything about him

I have no inside info but 🤷🏼‍♂️
Click to expand...

I am almost sure I heard Donno say earlier this weak that Ray Ray is one of the primary return guys. The guy is playing behind one of the top slots in the country so I’m not too worried about him not emerging yet. That comment came from out of left field.
 
Advertisement
Guess it depends where you are looking seems like on 247 Gaby has said a lot of good things about ray ray as far as looking the fastest at Wr, seems like he burns Day every other practice and I've also read about him catching a few bombs as well. As far as jojo and Carr lapping him they both play different positions the only person he is competing with is X.
 
grover said:
I am almost sure I heard Donno say earlier this weak that Ray Ray is one of the primary return guys. The guy is playing behind one of the top slots in the country so I’m not too worried about him not emerging yet. That comment came from out of left field.
Click to expand...
It’s definitely not out of left field in my opinion but same time no one is saying the kid is gone either

We have a ton of “portal candidates”
 
Advertisement
TRick72 said:
Just a gentle reminder of how much stock we should put in these spring practice reports
Click to expand...
For sure though with RayRay I’ll say that kid looks pretty electric. With freshmen though we know it’s gotta be more than that when it comes to putting in the work, handling business on/off the field etc

Not saying he doesn’t do that but talent gotta back it up too
 
He (Ray Ray) doesn't really make any plays. 🤷🏻‍♂️ We know he's fast in a straight line, but there's something that's just "not there" in his game. He doesn't do anything else particularly well.

First of all, he's tiny, and he can get overwhelmed in coverage. I eluded to this when I coached against him a couple years ago and my long Corners gobbled him up all night (pause) for zero catches. (and they're at FIU & NIU)

For someone who's tiny, he doesn't do well getting off press coverage and/or stemming his routes/releases. Maybe this is a result of him not perfecting his craft or maybe he just doesn't have it. 🤷🏻‍♂️

A kid like Carr, for example, is also explosive but he's bigger.
Ray-Ray was absolutely a take considering the circumstances, but I've been told that going forward Miami doesn't want any more slots under 5'11".
 
Coach Macho said:
He (Ray Ray) doesn't really make any plays. 🤷🏻‍♂️ We know he's fast in a straight line, but there's something that's just "not there" in his game. He doesn't do anything else particularly well.

First of all, he's tiny, and he can get overwhelmed in coverage. I eluded to this when I coached against him a couple years ago and my long Corners gobbled him up all night (pause) for zero catches. (and they're at FIU & NIU)

For someone who's tiny, he doesn't do well getting off press coverage and/or stemming his routes/releases. Maybe this is a result of him not perfecting his craft or maybe he just doesn't have it. 🤷🏻‍♂️

A kid like Carr, for example, is also explosive but he's bigger.
Ray-Ray was absolutely a take considering the circumstances, but I've been told that going forward Miami doesn't want any more slots under 5'11".
Click to expand...
That’s odd considering the success Restrepo has had here.
 
skyman said:
What else you saw? Or did you write your lemon pepper wings report somewhere else? If so link please..
Click to expand...
RB room is 🥱
Chris Johnson was running with the first team and I'm hoping he ceases the opportunity to make some plays. I really like that kid.
We'll hit the portal for a big fish at the RB position though.

WR room needs a true #1.
X is who he is, but nobody else has established themselves as that alpha big dog in the room.
X was having his way with everybody on Saturday though. He made big play after big play.

OL room definitely looks the part. I'm most excited about this unit.

I thought the front-7 looked more impressive than I've seen in a very long time. They finally LOOK the part. I didn't see them giving up much in the running game. Lightfoot looks like a surefire NFL prospect. Blount is up to 275lbs so it's intriguing to see where he'll end up. I think Miami sees him as a DT.

I'm loving the first 2 TE's. Williams made some nice plays down-field and Arroyo looks like an NFL TE. I hope he can stay healthy.

Lofton!
Is a dude!
Not the best looking player you've ever seen in their uniform, but he is a ball player. He's being utilized all over the offense. He even got some carries at RB. I'm very excited about this kid.

I love Kaleb Spencer. True hybrid football player. Powell is a grown man.
I would like to see someone on the defense emerge as a "tone setter" though. ..an enforcer. Someone who's good for a nice pop every practice, to get the defense hyped. I heard that's something that they wish they had, and I kinda saw that for myself Saturday.
To be fair, I wasn't always close enough to the action to hear/see EVERYTHING...but I didn't notice a lot of intensity, pad poppin or **** talkin. I could be wrong.
Maybe it's youth or unfamiliarity, but many of the kids on defense seem to be "going through the motions" with what I observed. That's to be expected when kids are still learning though. Defense is about confidence.
 
Advertisement
Back
Top