All Hurricanes

Takeaways From Miami's First Day Of Spring Football

From Injury Updates To First Thoughts On The Depth Chart, AllHurricanes Provides Takeaways From Day One Of Spring Football

Liam Willerup

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With Miami's first spring practice wrapped up, there's so much to take in from Cam Ward making his appearance to hearing from all the student-athletes. Therefore, here's a few of the takeaways from the first day:

#1: Miami's First Team Offense Has No Shockers

Based on what was seen from Miami's first practice, the first team offense didn't have any shockers. The three wide receivers were Xavier Restrepo, Jacolby George and Isaiah Horton with the tight end being Elijah Arroyo. Besides Horton taking over for Colbie Young after his departure to the Georgia Bulldogs, it's a first team offense that was what Miami headed into this past season looking to run with (Arroyo battled injuries all season long and was replaced by Cam McCormick).

Henry Parrish also got his looks as well, but the running back room is very much a question mark with the statuses of Ajay Allen and Mark Fletcher who Mario Cristobal shared will both miss the spring practice window entirely.

Regardless, it seems like Miami's first team offense matches up to what many expected it to be. In terms of players that could break out still, keep an eye out on Ray Ray Jospeh to fill the void left by Brashard Smith as he stood out today.

Miami Spring Practice: Day One MVP Could Not Be Guarded

#2: Newcomers Look To Takeover The Vacant Safety Spots

Miami took a hit defensively with the losses of Kamren Kinchens and James Williams to the NFL draft, and one of the top offseason storylines was who would fill the shoes of one of the top safety duos in the country. 

Based on what was seen in the first practice, freshman Zaquan Patterson and transfer Mishael Powell look to fill the void there for the Hurricanes. Patterson, a very talented athlete from Chaminade, looked comfortable out there and has a skillset that resembles Williams from last year. With Powell, he brings veteran experience and played a role in a secondary for Washington that finished as runner-ups in the National Championship.

Unfortunately, the safety room is pretty banged up here in the spring but Patterson and Powell will get a lot of reps because of it.

#3: The Quarterback Room Is Talented And Healthy

With five scholarship quarterbacks, there was no doubt that competition was going to be intense in that room. While Ward is almost a guarantee to be the day one starter, the backup job looks to be a battle between two upperclassmen.

Emory Williams practiced today with no apparent restrictions, but unless he blows the competition out of the water it's assumed he'll redshirt this year after starting two games last season. Additionally, it's assumed that freshman Judd Anderson will redshirt as well.

That leaves the backup battle between Albany transfer Reese Poffenbarger and junior Jacurri Brown. The leading candidate so far looks to be Poffenbarger, as despite his stature to his fellow quarterbacks was making some big time throws. The student-athletes in media availability all shared praise for him, as he was a standout in the FCS last season.

Still with plenty of practice ahead of them, Brown will have plenty of time to make his case for the backup job.

#4: Can't Take Too Much Away From Spring With The Amount Of Injuries At The Moment

As much as it's easy to draw conclusions from what the team can be based on what you see from spring practice, the reality is the team isn't as healthy as they need to be.

Francisco and Francis Mauigoa, Nyjalik Kelly, Akheem Mesidor, Fletcher and Allen are just some of the players that will be missing time during the spring practice period. All players that were either contributors last year or are expected to be contributors next season, Miami has to be patient in this process and allow for the team to get to full health.

Assuming Miami is healthy by the time fall workouts get going, it will give a better idea of what is to come this upcoming season for Coach Cristobal.

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Liam Willerup
LIAM WILLERUP

You can find Liam on Twitter @theleftyliam where he shares news on University of Miami basketball and football as well as opinions

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