Spring football is fully in swing in Coral Gables, as Miami looks to take the next step as a program after falling just short of their first-ever College Football Playoff appearance last year.
There are plenty of questions – and concerns – about Miami’s roster after the exodus of a ton of talent, including generational players in Cam Ward, Andres Borregales, and Xavier Restrepo (and yes, I consider the latter two to be in that category with Ward) as well as strong contributors like Jacolby George, Elijah Arroyo, Damien Martinez, and several others.
So, what questions need to be answered this offseason? Here are three that immediately stick out in my mind:
3) Can Miami cover Borregales’ loss adequately?
Miami will have to replace their star kicker on two fronts: field goals and kickoffs. They at least have potential options who appear capable of at least addressing them adequately. Carter Davis from FAU is a kickoff specialist and appears to have the leg to generate touchbacks at a decent rate. Abram Murray didn’t get too many opportunities last year, but he made them.
The kicking game is something we’ve not had to worry about basically at all with the Borregales brothers kicking, but it’s still a very crucial element, particularly with as many close games as Miami gutted out last season. Those don’t go your way, and curtains. As long as things don’t regress to the Bubba Baxa days, I think the Canes will be ok, and Miami appears to have two guys at least who can clear that bar easily. But I still need to see it on the field to believe it fully.
2) Can Jojo Trader or someone else among the young wideouts take a giant leap forward and look like a true WR1?
Aside from the secondary, no area of the roster worries me more than the wide receiver room. With George, Restrepo, Isaiah Horton, and Sam Brown all gone, someone’s got to take that next step and secure the opportunity.
Miami has a ton of young talent who they can call on, and who will surely be battling for this team’s WR1 one spot. Trader, Joshua Moore, Ray Ray Joseph, Ny Carr and others have the upside, but who’s going to translate it to the field? LSU CJ Daniels is obviously a strong candidate to lead the group, but I thought Sam Brown was going to make an impact when he came in last year from Houston, and….well.
Sometimes it takes some time for a breakout to happen, like Arroyo had in 2024 after seasons of doing not much with limited opportunity. Talent wise, I feel like Trader could be the one to take that step. But hey, I’ve thought that about talented guys going back to Aldarius Johnson and beyond, so who knows for sure.
1) Is this secondary at the very least mediocre now?
I mean, what the hell else am I going to put at #1? This unit wrecked the 2024 season, although the pass rush disappearing for long stretches and terrible LB play in coverage at crucial times (looking at you, Kiko) were ingredients in that crap cake as well.
The secondary SHOULD be ready to take a sizable step forward in 2025, with new blood leading them in Zac Etheridge and Will Harris. I’m particularly interested as far as a couple of new faces, and that’s led by coveted Jacksonville State transfer Zechariah Poyser. He has already been getting a lot of love from Mario Cristobal during spring practice, and he could be someone who makes a significant difference on the back end of the defense.
But finding someone across from O.J. Frederique is going to be the key, and there are plenty of candidates. I’m curious to see how those candidates look in the spring game on April 12.
Go Canes!