Miami Hurricanes Spring Football WEEK TWO: What To Watch For
Spring break felt like an eternity, but the Miami Hurricanes football team is finally ready to resume practice on Tuesday morning at Greentree.
Here are the players and storylines I'll be watching for in the second week.
Another strong week from Emory Williams and Jacurri Brown?
Williams, the early enrollee true freshman quarterback, impressed me immediately. He's already big and chiseled for someone who should still be a high school senior. His footwork and throwing accuracy are on point. He passes the eye test as someone who could become a starting quarterback at Miami down the road. He spent his entire spring break working out and polishing his mechanics.
Brown, meanwhile, looks much more comfortable as a passer than he did a year ago. Tyler Van Dyke told the media last week that Brown's accuracy is improving.
Once Van Dyke moves on to the NFL, Brown and Williams will likely compete to take his spot. That could happen as early as 2024 if TVD has a strong junior season. In the meantime, their development is crucial for Miami's football future.
Will Miami's receivers consistently catch the football?
Since last spring, wide receiver has been a problem spot for the Hurricanes. Nobody on that unit has shown any consistency whatsoever since the Charleston Rambo / Mike Harley tandem in 2021.
There were promising signs in week one of spring ball, specifically from Xavier Restrepo (Miami's top receiver when healthy), Isaiah Horton, and Colbie Young.
Jacolby George is also due for a big year after battling injury and serving a suspension in 2022. Frank Ladson had his moments last season, and his experience as a fifth year senior will be invaluable.
The x-factors in the receiver room will be early enrollees Nathaniel Joseph and Robby Washington, who have both looked solid so far.
Defensive line depth
The Hurricanes have had several potential starting D-linemen out nursing minor injuries. Leonard Taylor, Jared Harrison-Hunte, Akheem Mesidor, Jake Lichtenstein and Jahfari Harvey have all been absent. Most of them will miss the entire spring period as a precaution, but Mesidor is expected to join the practices at some point soon.
Their absences have presented major opportunities for transfer portal arrivals Branson Deen and Thomas Gore along with early enrollees Jayden Wayne and Rueben Bain. All of them have looked solid so far and should get a lot of reps in the spring game on April 14th.
Mauigoa Takeover!
5-star early enrollee offensive tackle Francis Mauigoa and his older brother, transfer linebacker Francisco, have both been turning heads.
At the end of week one, Francisco was taking starters reps at Mike linebacker while Francis was starting at right tackle. Will this trend continue through week two?
Young safeties developing
One of the top standouts on the field during the first week was early enrollee safety Kaleb Spencer. He is physically imposing and flashes great awareness. Redshirt freshman Markeith Williams also had some very good drills.
Development in this position group is especially important since Miami missed most of their targets here (outside of Spencer) in the class of 2023. They also lost a handful of DBs, including Avantae Williams, in the transfer portal. The unit feels thin behind expected starters Kam Kinchens and James Williams.
New Hurricanes defensive coordinator Lance Guidry has a background as a safeties coach and does a lot of hands on work with this group. They should really benefit from his coaching.
Week two will get underway with the first practice expected to start around 8:30am on Tuesday, March 21st.
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