Miami Hurricanes sophomore wide receivers need to play with urgency
The Miami Hurricanes 2018 recruiting class was loaded with wide receivers. Heading into their Sophomore season their position coach Taylor Stubblefield wants to see them play with more urgency.
Except for rising sophomore tight end Brevin Jordan the Miami Hurricanes freshmen did not have much of an impact in the passing game in 2018. Including rising redshirt sophomore Evidence Njoku the Miami freshmen had 15 receptions for 183 yards and one touchdown last season.
Those numbers include Marquez Ezzard who had two receptions for 24 yards and left for Georgia Tech in the offseason. The Hurricanes bring in graduate transfer K.J. Osborn and return rising juniors Jeff Thomas and Mike Harley ahead of the rising sophomore class.
The Miami Hurricanes are going to need contributions from the Sophomore wide receivers in the passing game in 2019. Miami’s passing game was anemic in 2018 and hindered the rest of the Hurricanes offense.
Brian Hightower was exceptional as an early enrollee last spring and caught a spectacular 32-yard touchdown in the season-opening loss to LSU. Hightower had only three receptions for 28 yards the rest of the season as he dealt with injuries
Mark Pope was the highest touted of the receivers in the 2018 Miami recruiting class. Pope was a four-star signee and the 11th ranked receiver in the Class of 2018. New Miami wide receivers coach Taylor Stubblefield discussed Pope’s progress earlier this week.
"“He’s very gifted. He’s fast, he’s quick, catches the ball pretty naturally. The biggest thing is him understanding. Our offense is complex, but it’s very simple once you understand the foundation of it. What’s good with him is he’s up for the challenge, is doing some extra things so that he can learn what he needs to learn.We want him to be confident with what he’s doing. In years past it was a signal; now the quarterback has to speak it, we have to hear it, decipher what it means and act accordingly.”"
Njoku has freakish size for a WR at 6’6 196 pounds. He is entering his third year with the Miami football program after entering as a freshman in 2017. Njoku’s older brother David made a huge leap with the Hurricanes in year three. That eventually led to him being a first-round pick of the Cleveland Browns in the 2018 NFL Draft.
Evidence Njoku has a tremendous amount of talent. Stubblefield says he sometimes needs to be motivated more pic.twitter.com/IzuwoXa4vn
— Susan Miller Degnan (@smillerdegnan) April 9, 2019
Stubblefield wants to see Njoku play with more urgency. If he can be a contributor this season Miami could be one of the best teams in the country in the red zone. The Hurricanes also have 6’4 Will Mallory at tight end, the 6’3 Jordan and three other receivers who are at least 6’3. They would all cause matchup problems.
"“I’m going to continue to challenge Evidence. Evidence has a tremendous amount of talent. We have to make sure that he has a sense of urgency about his development. There are times he wants to be the best and sometimes we have to motivate him to be the best.He’s improving, has been maybe a little banged up, battling back from that. If he comes out with a workmanlike mentality he’ll have a chance.”"
came in as the least celebrated of the Miami receivers that signed in 2018. Wiggins became a skilled blocker and received the most playing time of the freshman wide receivers last season. He had seven receptions for 73 yards last season. Freshman Jeremiah Payton has also been impressive this spring.