Charleston Rambo was the best Hurricane wideout to play in the program since Stacy Coley. The success of Xavier Restrepo was because of the lack of productivity from the wideouts. Also, the ability of the offensive line to protect the quarterback.
Mario Cristobal said the following on the wide receiver group, as reported by Guarnsh Singh Sodhi of Essentially Sports:
"“We got a lot of work to do. No one’s ready to crown any freshman as the guy yet. You see some great ability, and they are awesome young men. Those guys are going to be great players. Are we there yet? Absolutely not. We got a ways to go. We got to get tougher, more resilient, more consistent,”"Mario Cristobal
In researching advanced statistics on Pro Football Focus' website, the key marks for wide receivers are Drop rate, Contested Catches and Contested Catch rate. A google search for a normal drop rate for NFL wide receivers comes up with 5.4%.
Last season, Isaiah Horton had a 6.7% drop rate and Sam Brown had a 10.0% drop rate. Brown's contested catch rate was a dismal 18.2% on 11 possible contested catches. Horton caught seven possible contested catches out of 12 possible.
Diane Taylor, a writer for the Seattle Seahawks fansite, Field Gulls, highlighted that many wide receivers heading to the NFL from college had a high drop rate (over 10.0%.) As a Hurricane fan, it has been a long while from the days of Andre Johnson where the wide receiver (not tight end or slot receiver) was a star.
The visual appears: It is third and seven in the third quarter of a game. Miami is down by four and needs a drive. Carson Beck drops back to pass and throws a tough pass to his wideout. The wideout makes a clutch, contested catch for the first down.
Xavier Restrepo's productivity for the Hurricanes has been unreal. He has a lot of work to do to prepare for the NFL. But, for the last twenty years, the tight end (Brevin Jordan, Will Mallory, Clive Walford, David Njoku) has been the standout star in the passing offense.