Miami Spring Practice: Day One MVP Could Not Be Guarded

Miami's passing game looks more explosive

Miami football went through Day 1 of spring practice and its best player is a rising sophomore wide receiver from South Florida.

Last season, Miami's passing game was up-and-down. There would be games where Miami did a tremendous job of throwing the football, while other contests would be so-so at best. One of the reasons would be just three of the receivers truly beat tight coverage. 

From the outset of 2024's spring practices, the Canes already look much different at quarterback and that point extends to slot receiver. Nathaniel "Ray Ray" Joseph would be the player who's catapulted into a different stratosphere as a receiver, too.

He is running routes better, mixing up his moves in-and-out of his breaks to keep defensive backs off guard, and he looks better catching the football. There's also the one constant with Joseph that must be mentioned as well.

Speed!

Joseph continuously gets behind the secondary. He is a lightning bolt. Any defensive back who does not get his hands on Joseph near the line of scrimmage, good luck. Even some of Joseph's shorter routes would be huge games if they were truly live plays.

That point stems from his separation; Joseph caught several passes at least a couple of yards away from UM defensive backs and he's going to gain plenty of yards after the catch during those types of situations. 

Give credit to Cam Ward, Emory Williams, and the rest of the Miami quarterbacks. They were on fire today. That's great but the big plays still need Canes receivers to do their jobs as well. Joseph was the best Miami receiver on the day.

In spring practice #1, the MVP goes to Joseph. He was spectacular!