Miami standouts on offense in early days of fall camp
Freshmen and transfers are stepping up and pushing the veterans in the early days of Miami Hurricanes fall camp. Alex Donno breaks it down on Locked On Canes.
Transcript
00:00 Ray Joseph, the former standout receiver at Miami Edison.
00:04 He is turning heads out there.
00:06 Now, you all know I had high expectations for Ray Ray heading into fall camp because
00:10 I loved him in high school and I really enjoyed what he did in spring football.
00:14 But so far in fall, he is exceeding my expectations.
00:19 You're not going to be able to keep Ray Ray off the field.
00:21 I don't think he's going to be a starter this year because he's playing behind Xavier Restrepo.
00:26 But Ray Ray Joseph is going to get on the field this year.
00:28 And I think he's going to get on the field a lot.
00:31 He's quick.
00:32 He's always open.
00:33 And he's been making some difficult catches, too.
00:35 I saw him make a sliding catch on Tuesday in practice one, which really impressed me.
00:40 But don't just take my word for it on Ray Ray Joseph, OK?
00:43 Because it's one thing, Dono, he's got this Ray Ray obsession.
00:46 I'm not the only one with a Ray Ray obsession, OK?
00:49 Because his veteran teammates are also impressed.
00:54 After Wednesday's practice, we got a chance to speak with Xavier Restrepo and Colby Young,
00:59 who are both more than likely going to be starters on Miami's offense this year, both
01:03 of them vets.
01:04 And both of them went out of their way to sing Ray Ray's praises, right?
01:10 I think Ray Ray Joseph is going to end up being sooner than later a Roscoe Parrish or
01:15 a Santana Moss type in Miami's offense.
01:18 He's got that speed.
01:19 He's got that shiftiness.
01:21 And he's got that football IQ.
01:23 On Wednesday, in fact, Ray Ray, which surprised some people, he was getting reps right behind
01:30 Xavier Restrepo, which means he was ahead, at least on Wednesday.
01:36 This is going to change throughout fall.
01:37 Can't believe me.
01:38 But he was getting reps ahead of Rashard Smith in the second practice session.
01:42 And Ray Ray is one of those guys who's really been popping in practice so far.
01:47 You know, someone else who's not a freshman, but I continue to see some good stuff out
01:51 there from Isaiah Horton, who's heading into his second year, six foot four wide receiver.
01:56 He continues to step up.
01:58 He's building on a good spring that he had so far so good in the fall as well.
02:02 And Horton has been getting his reps right behind Colby Young, which makes sense.
02:06 He and Colby have similar size profile and body types.
02:10 All right.
02:11 Quarterbacks.
02:12 Tyler Van Dyke has been solid so far.
02:16 Clearly, he's quarterback one.
02:18 OK.
02:19 In the second day, he looked even better than he did in the first day.
02:22 Overall, he's been the most accurate.
02:25 He's the guy who's got the most command of that offense.
02:27 Going back on day one, you know, and I talked about this on our episode, I think two days
02:32 ago on day one, Jakari Brown made an excellent throw and drills to Elijah Arroyo, threading
02:37 a needle on that throw.
02:38 So he's not been consistent with his accuracy, as we know, but he is accurate on occasion.
02:44 And Jakari, his arm strength continues to shine.
02:49 That is not his problem.
02:50 That guy can probably throw at 100 yards, 100 plus yards.
02:53 Like the arm strength is not a problem for him.
02:55 He's actually been better on deep balls so far on the short stuff.
02:59 So that's what he's looking to develop a little bit more, the timing and the accuracy on the
03:03 short and intermediate throws.
03:05 And I remember something that Shannon Dawson, the quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator,
03:09 said about Jakari when we were talking with Shannon at Media Day on Monday is as long
03:14 as he can keep his feet in control, his footwork, then he can be a really dangerous passer.
03:20 It's when he gets the happy feet, right, when his footwork is not, you know, not on point
03:25 is when the throws can get away from him a little bit.
03:27 So I know that that's something he's constantly working on.
03:31 There's definitely there's something to Emery Williams, the true freshman.
03:35 It's going to need some seasoning, but I think he's got the makings of a star.
03:39 He's very accurate.
03:41 And he's got the best natural footwork in the quarterback room.
03:44 When those guys do the footwork drills, Emery always looks smoother than the other two,
03:50 like not saying he's the better overall quarterback, but I think he's going to be a great one at
03:54 Miami someday because Emery Williams, who's got also the size, is going to be a great
03:58 one at the U at some point.
03:59 [BLANK_AUDIO]