Miami football needs to get RBs and TEs involved in passing offense

The running backs for the Miami football team have 10 receptions for 20 yards in 2023. Miami tight ends have five receptions for 77 yards and one touchdown in 2023. Miami RBs have 7.092 percent of the receptions. Miami quarterbacks have completed 141 passes for 1,865 yards and 16 TDs in 2023.

Miami QB Tyler Van Dyke focused too much on his top wide receivers in the 41-31 loss to North Carolina on Saturday night. Wide receiver Xavier Restrepo had 11 receptions for 96 yards and two TDs on 17 targets on Saturday. Jacolby George had six receptions for 125 yards and one TD on eight targets versus North Carolina.

Colbie Young who is the third of the top three Miami WRs had two receptions for 20 yards on eight targets. Six other Miami receivers combined for 15 targets. Van Dyke attempted 49 passes. Over half of the attempted passes by Van Dyke versus North Carolina were to George, Restrepo or Young.

Only four targets went to Miami RBs on Saturday night and none went to the Hurricanes’ TEs. Ajay Allen had two receptions for four yards on two targets. Henry Parrish had two receptions for negative three yards on two targets. George, Restrepo and Young have 70.21 of the Miami receptions this season.

Isaiah Horton and Breshard Smith were productive on a limited number of targets versus North Carolina. Horton had four receptions for 52 yards and Smith had three for 90 with a 54-yard TD in the fourth quarter. Offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson said Miami was going to go deeper into their WR rotation.

On Saturday, Horton and Smith’s production was impressive, but they each had only four targets. The reliance on the WRs by Van Dyke, makes it much easier for opposing defensive coordinators to game plan versus the Miami football team. Tight end Will Mallory led all the Miami receivers with 42 receptions and 538 yards in 2022.

Young led Miami with five TDs. True freshman TE Riley Williams is the only non-WR on the Miami football roster with a receiving TD in 2023. The Miami RBs were barely utilized as receivers in 2022. Parrish led Miami RBs with 17 receptions for 120 yards and two TDs in 2022. The Miami offense needs to become more diversified.

Miami faces the eighth, 10th and 11th worst pass defenses in the ACC over the last half of the season. Tyler Van Dyke has been able to move Miami through the air during the first half of the season. Miami has too often stalled in the red zone. Looking for his RBs and TEs in the red zone could create more scoring opportunities.