The CharMar Brown injury news was very unfortunate, but expected after we saw his reaction on the bench after leaving the field against Wake Forest. But losing wide receiver Joshua Moore for the season was not, and it's putting a lot of stress on the depth that the Miami Hurricanes had.
There are already questions about the Miami wide receivers beyond Malachi Toney. On paper, it's a very talented group with guys who have produced, but the reality has been less exciting. Moore was the second-leading receiver (seven catches, 107 yards), and he is far behind Toney's 26 catches and 444 yards.
The Hurricanes added nearly 150 catches and over 2,100 yards through transfer portal acquisitions, but Cooper Barkate (10 catches, 96 yards) had 1,000 yards last season at Duke, and hasn't gotten out of the gate this season. Vandrevius Jacobs has two catches for 38 yards in three games, and Cam Vaughn didn't even make it out of fall camp.
Mario Cristobal giving an injury update to @JoeRoseShow this morning, and it’s not good. Confirms RB Marty Brown will be out for the season. Also surprising is the news that WR Josh Moore is out for the season. Says he expects Fletcher and Toney to be okay (day-to-day). pic.twitter.com/NFXhwNxj57
— Will Manso (@WillManso) September 21, 2026
Josh Moore injury puts a major stress test on Miami's WR
The expectations for Moore were high. His size (listed as 6-foot-3, 215 pounds) was going to allow him to be a major presence on the outside that would give Toney and presumably Barkate the freedom to work all over the field. Moore certainly had some flashes in the first three games, and there was reason for optimism as he grew into his role, but now the question marks are real.
Barkate is the natural choice to step up as the true No. 2 guy next to Toney, but it hasn't been there yet. Daylyn Upshaw is a nice piece as well and he had a great fall camp. But everything with Upshaw seems to be around the perimeter, and he has yet to establish himself as a downfield threat.
Jacobs has real production as a vertical guy at South Carolina and Florida State. He's probably the first name that should come up as an immediate replacement for Moore. Jacobs doesn't have Moore's size, but he's done it before at a pretty high level, grabbing 32 passes for 548 yards last season for the Gamecocks. He is a guy who should take advantage of additional reps.
Miami might look to a true freshman to replace Josh Moore
The player that might be the ultimate answer is freshman Somourian Wingo. The former four-star recruit from St. Augustine has looked good in limited action, and I expect he'll get a necessary bump in reps against Central Michigan.
Wingo has the size (listed at 6-foot-2, 190 pounds) and the speed that can generate separation. One of the areas where Wake Forest was able to stop Miami's offense in Week 3 was by getting aggressive in man coverage and forcing the Hurricanes' pass catchers to get open. Wingo has the skill set to get past that sort of press coverage and get up and high-point some balls.
Right now, the Miami wide receiver room has a bunch of guys that should be pretty good. That's nice, but with the injuries racking up, one or two of these players have to upgrade from potential to reliable.
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