Miami Hurricanes Ahmmon Richards Racking Up Preseason Awards
Wide receiver Ahmmon Richards has been racking up the preseason awards as the Miami Hurricanes get ready to begin training camp next week. Richards was a freshmen All-American in 2016 and second-team All-ACC.
The Miami Hurricanes star receiver has been named to several preseason All-ACC teams, in addition, to be named to the Biletnikoff Award Watch list. The award is named in honor pro and college football Hall of Famer Fred Biletnikoff.
The award honors the nation’s best receiver. That is not exclusive to the nation’s best wide receiver. HurricaneSports.Com describes the honor as:
"“The Biletnikoff Award annually recognizes the outstanding receiver in college football. Any player, regardless of position – including wide receiver, tight end, slot back and running back – who catches a pass is eligible for the award”"
Richards had a record setting freshman season. He broke Michael Irvin’s 31-year-old Miami Hurricanes freshmen receiving yardage record. Richards finished the season with 934 yards on 49 receptions and three touchdowns.
Richards, Junior running back Mark Walton and tight end Christopher Herndon IV are likely to have to carry a lot of the load on offense early in the season. There is not much proven depth behind either of them.
There is a lot of talent at wide receiver behind Richards, but the other receivers are largely unproven. Miami lost leading receiver Stacy Coley from 2016. Coley had 63 receptions for 754 yards and nine touchdowns last year.
Tight end David Njoku was also a big loss for Miami. He finished 2016 with 43 receptions for 698 yards and eight touchdowns.
Miami’s next leading receiver among the returnees is Braxton Berrios. Berrios has been mentioned on early season All-ACC teams as a return man. He had just 12 receptions for 178 yards and two touchdowns last season.
He could emerge in his Senior season as a good complement to Richards. Berrios was outstanding returning punts in 2016. He returned 19 punts for 215 yards for 11.3-yard average and one touchdown.
Richards’ 934 yards led all Freshman in receiving yards nationally last season. It was the sixth most ever in Miami history.
Berrios and Junior Lawrence Cager are predicted to start opposite Richards at wide receiver. That would be if Miami uses a three wide receiver set.
Cager missed the 2016 season with a knee injury. As a Freshman in 2015, he caught eight passes for 70 yards and a touchdown. Cager should be one of the players to watch for Miami this season.
Dionte Mullins is another veteran to watch. Mullins had a tough freshman season. He was a four-star recruit in the class of 2016 but did not record a reception last season.
Sophomore receiver Dayall Harris should be given a chance this year. The 6’3 200 receiver had nine receptions for 90 yards and a touchdown last year.
Freshmen Jeff Thomas, Mike Harley and DeeJay Dallas will also get a chance to make an impact this year. Miami’s receiving depth is unproven, but deep and talented.
Richards was a surprise elite receiver last season. He didn’t have to deal with double teams with Coley and Njoku demanding so much attention. The Sophomore receiver will be the main focus of defenses this season.
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He will get a chance to show NFL Scouts how he performs under the pressure having to get open. As a true Sophomore Richards has at least two more seasons remaining at Miami. The likelihood is he leaves following his Junior season in 2018.