Miami Hurricanes Football: News and Notes from Scrimmage #2

The Miami Hurricanes held their second spring scrimmage today on the Greentree Practice Fields. This was the final spring scrimmage prior to the Spring Game at Lockhart Stadium next Saturday. I was able to take in the action from today’s events, here are some of my observations:

• The first thing that stuck out to me and many others in attendance was the play of Malik Rosier. Rosier was very accurate with his passes and brought a whole new dynamic to Miami’s offense. The Canes used many variations of the read-option when he was in. I would not be surprised to see Miami use him in special packages throughout the season.

• Brad Kaaya also had a solid day and made very few mistakes. He threw some nice deep balls and had good timing with the receivers. My only critique of Kaaya today is that it seemed like he tried to put too much touch on a few throws and ended up floating some passes.  Neither Kaaya nor Rosier turned the ball over.

• Artie Burns was impressive today and played a lot of bump and run and press coverage. He had some great battles with Rashawn Scott throughout the scrimmage. Tracy Howard was kept out of the scrimmage with a shoulder injury, but Burns and Corn Elder clearly looked to be Miami’s top 2 corners today.

• This group of receivers may be as talented as any in a long time if they can stay healthy. Rashawn Scott, Herb Waters, Tyre Brady, Malcolm Lewis, and Braxton Berrios all looked very impressive. Stacy Coley looked smooth and had a few short yardage plays, but was unable to break free for any real big gains.

• Malcolm Lewis looked as good as I’ve seen him since his ankle injury. He caught two touchdowns from Rosier and finally appeared to have his quickness back. Lewis showed flashes of being back to himself last season, but appears to finally be back to 100% now.

• The tight-ends didn’t have their best day. Standish Dobard made a few nice catches, but fumbled after making a long catch across the middle. Chris Herndon dropped a pass and Njoku and Washington weren’t too involved in the passing game today.

• Deon Bush was used in a variety of ways at Safety and Corner. He had a solid scrimmage.

• Jamal Carter was on the field more than anyone and seemed to play nearly the whole scrimmage. He was decent in coverage, but really appeared to have cleaned up his tackling. Carter made a few nice tackles and was wrapping up the ball carrier instead of just going for the big hit.

• Gus Edwards had a few nice runs, but Joseph Yearby stole the show. Yearby showed off his quickness and was making defenders miss often. Yearby had some long runs and was very successful in the screen game.

• It was hard to get a read on the defensive line from from the viewing angle, but Terry McCray made a nice play in the backfield and all of the defensive ends were very active. Michael Wyche was more than holding his own and was able to shed blockers and make tackles. He is a completely different player than the one I saw last spring.

• The linebacker play wasn’t too flashy, but it was fairly mistake free. Jermaine Grace, Raphael Kirby, and Juwon Young were three that stuck out to me. Juwon Young looks much more physical this year.

• Braxton Berrios and Jermaine Grace were the only two that got a little nicked up during the scrimmage, but both were able to get up and seemed to be fine.

*Some of the recruits I saw in attendance: 2017 WR Emmanuel Greene, 2016 WR Keyshawn “Pie” Young, 2017 QB Todd Centeio, 2016 WR Dionte Mullins, 2016 DB Cedrick Wright, 2016 DB Jamel Cook, 2016 DE Jaquwan Nelson and many more.