Hurricanes do something unusual at receiver, clarify playing time decisions elsewhere
A six-pack of Miami Hurricanes notes on a Monday:
▪ UM has nine scholarship receivers and at this point, it would be difficult to say — with any degree of certainty — which four are best equipped to help them win games.
And in something of an acknowledgment of that, the Hurricanes on Monday did something highly unusual: They released a depth chart listing nine possible starters at the three receiver spots.
Of the nine in the mix, there are four veterans: Mike Harley Jr., Dee Wiggins and Mark Pope (all of whom have been uneven in their performance) and seldom-used former walk-on Marshall Few.
There’s one redshirt freshman in the mix — Jeremiah Payton, who has consistently impressed in practice but has just two career receptions for 36 yards.
And there are the four talented freshmen competing: Keyshawn Smith, Michael Redding Jr., Xavier Restrepo and Daz Worsham, the first two of whom appear most ready to help.
On the depth chart, UM indicated that Wiggins, Redding or Smith would start at one wide receiver spot; Pope or Payton or Worsham would start at the other boundary receiver spot and Harley or Few or Restrepo would start in the slot.
“All we’re really doing is changing the emphasis [that] Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday will matter on who trots out there first play for the game, first play of the second half,” coach Manny Diaz said. “We want to play a lot of guys. It’s not ‘these guys can’t do it, these guys can.’
“The young players are improving. We had a couple shots down the field with Keyshawn Smith. One we couldn’t get the ball to him. The other [should have been called] defensive pass interference. Payton has continued to develop. We thought Mark Pope played very well on Saturday.”
There was a big disparity in playing time between the top three veterans (Harley, Pope and Wiggins) and the younger players early in the season, but that closed somewhat on Saturday against Pittsburgh.
Per Miami Herald UM metrics correspondent Daniel Gould, Harley played 56 offensive snaps against Pittsburgh, Pope and Wiggins 42 apiece, Smith 31, Payton 29, Restrepo 6 and Redding three.
A few of the young receivers are getting a chance partly because of issues with the veterans, including Wiggins’ recent struggles in catching contested passes.
For the season, Harley has caught 17 but dropped four of the 30 passes thrown to him, per Gould.
For the season, of the 20 passes thrown to Wiggins, he has caught nine and dropped three. On Saturday, Wiggins dropped one of the three passes thrown to him and the other two were incomplete.
Of the 25 passes thrown to Pope this season, he has caught 16 with one drop. (He also muffed two returns on special teams.) Pope was better on Saturday, with five catches on six targets for 46 yards.
“I thought Pope had a nice game,” offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee said.
Asked if it gives him anxiety that there’s no clarity at receiver — in terms of who the best players are — Lashlee said: “It doesn’t stress me out. Guys that are having the best game are going to stay in there. At times they’ve made some really nice plays. It’s frustrating sometimes not seeing the fruits of your labor on deeper throws. We’ve got to keep swinging [on deep throws]; that will really open things up offensively. You’ve got to keep swinging until you get a breakthrough. We have confidence we’re going to get there.”
Lashlee said Redding is “really dependable” and “started doing some good things early in the season [before an injury] slowed down that progression. Same with Jeremiah Payton; first game showed some things [and then he missed two games]. Keyshawn has shown he can really run. He can stretch the field.
“Those guys have length. My hope is all three develop into more of a threat to stretch the field. Hopefully we can keep them in the game rotation. Hopefully the game will start to slow down for them.”
Quarterback D’Eriq King is just 8 for 33 on passes thrown at least 20 yards in the air this year. King and the receivers share accountability for that.
▪ Lashlee said freshman Tyler Van Dyke, the team’s No. 3 quarterback, “has done great. Very attentive to all we’re doing in walk-throughs and meetings. For a freshman, he’s able to stay very focused. He’s very mature. He’s focused knowing if he gets an opportunity this year, he wants to be ready and soak everything up [when] the time comes in the future.”
▪ Diaz was relieved to see UM win a game (against Pittsburgh) that was a noon start and wasn’t on national television, the type of game that has given the Canes some problems in the past.
“We addressed it as the elephant in the room because we knew it was out there,” Diaz said. “We had a good week of practice but we’ve heard that story before. Our guys were excited to play. We’re not the marquee matchup [again on Saturday at 8 p.m. against Virginia on ACC Network]. It doesn’t matter.”
Diaz said not only is the enthusiasm among players on the sideline helping with very few people in the stands, but also key is “avoiding the negative energy. That’s been a problem in the past. Energy vampires on the sidelines. We’ve had really good sidelines. There’s not pouting, guys getting after guys. D’Eriq helps a lot. The way the offense and defense support each other has been a real positive as well.”
▪ Defensive coordinator Blake Baker said he will continue to give a sizable workload to four linebackers: Zach McCloud and Bradley Jennings Jr. (the starters) and Sam Brooks and freshman Corey Flagg Jr.
“It’s been fun to watch Corey and Sam push BJ and Zach,” Baker said. “It’s made them better. Until somebody emerges and becomes the man, we will play with all four of them. They play better when snap counts are closer to 50/50. All four deserve to play and split time.”
Against Pittsburgh, McCloud played 44 snaps, Jennings 40, Brooks 33 and Flagg 23.
Diaz said Flagg “is so instinctively sound; he has a great feel for the position and great feel for playing gaps. He can run and tackle.
“Sam Brooks, we were excited about all offseason. Sam had a foot injury sometime during training camp; for three to four weeks, he wasn’t 100 percent. Sam [raises the level of] speed in our linebacker position; we thought we would be faster this year at the linebacker position and we’re trending in that direction. For the first time in a long time, we have really good competition at inside linebacker.”
▪ Baker said not to read anything into safety Bubba Bolden not starting against Pittsburgh. Amari Carter and Gurvan Hall started.
“Bubba has been one of our best if not the best defensive player [this season],” Baker said. “They are going to rotate in. Who has the hot hand will dictate who plays more. They all have different strengths and weaknesses. We were up front with them at the beginning of the year. It doesn’t matter who starts in my opinion.”
Against Pittsburgh, Bolden played 60 snaps, Carter 55 and Hall 53.
▪ With the emergence of Jared Harrison-Hunte and improvement by Jordan Miller, there’s no longer much of a disparity in defensive tackle snaps between the starters and the backups.
Harrison-Hunte and Miller each played 31 defensive snaps on Saturday, compared with 37 for Nesta Silvera and 33 for Jon Ford. Silvera and Ford continue to start.
Baker said Miller “has done a nice job. It’s good to see him get a half a sack {Saturday]. Practice performance dictates [playing time]. We have six guys inside that can play. If they don’t practice well, it’s hard to put them in a game.”
