Miami Football: Hurricanes could be playoff bound in 2018
Offense
Miami’s offense was great for six games, decent for five, and awful for two last year. The two, against Pitt and Clemson, both resulted in losses. The third loss, to Wisconsin, wasn’t as much a result of bad offense, as much as it was just Wisconsin being really good last year. A lot of their offense didn’t really start until the second half of the season though.
With several players, including star wideout Ahmon Richards, running back Mark Walton and tight end Christopher Herndon all suffering injuries as the season went on, the struggles were expected. Quarterback Malik Rosier was a game manager at the beginning of the year, and we had a feeling that the injuries would hurt his game at least a little.
He fell off of a cliff. Rosier was awful at the end of the season, and those late season issues have created far more questions about Miami’s offense this offseason than there were last year when the Canes sat at ten wins and zero losses. The questions are certainly fair. Rosier’s play was very concerning, and with four pretty important starters departing on offense, there could be more struggles.
More: Projecting the 2018 Miami football 2-deep depth chart
The loss of Mark Walton to the NFL is cushioned by the fact that Travis Homer was the starter for almost all of last season. He took over when Walton was lost for the season after just four games, and while Homer wasn’t great, he was at least capable. He was a second team All-ACC selection, and picked up nearly 1000 yards in just nine games. It’s fair to call him good. It’s also fair to expect him to be great this year.
The receiver group is in a pretty similar spot. Despite the loss of Braxton Berrios, a lot of the new faces at receiver are familiar because they filled in for injured starters last year. Ahmon Richards leads the group, and if he’s fully healthy, he could be the best receiver in the ACC. Jeff Thomas seems to be an ideal slot receiver for this offense, and should take a big jump in production after a good freshman year.
The wildcard is Lawrence Cager. He’s got the frame at 6-foot-5 to be a big play receiver, and while he was also struggling with injuries last year, he did manage to look good when he was on the field. He’s still pretty raw, but after a few years in the program, he seems ready to contribute. He could serve as a safety blanket of sorts for Rosier, because he turns 50/50 balls into 70/30 with his size.
Rosier’s safety blanket from last year, tight end Chris Herndon, is gone. In his place is Michael Irvin Jr, who saw very little playing time last year. He’s got talent, but he’s unproven. However, Miami has quite the track record for producing good tight ends, so I’m confident that he’ll be serviceable by the time week one rolls around.
The returning production up front isn’t awful, but it’s not great either. Senior starters Tyler Gauthier (center) and Tyree St. Louis (tackle) are back, as is sophomore Navaughn Donaldson (tackle). That means however that there are two new faces at guard, in senior Jahair Jones and junior Hayden Mahoney. The line was decent last year, so I’m not super confident that they improve this year, but there shouldn’t be much drop off.
Enough help for Rosier?
On paper, this roster has more than enough skill position talent for Malik Rosier to return to his peak form, like what we saw from him early last season, and in the wins over Notre Dame and Virginia Tech. He’s got good receivers, a good running back, and a line that should keep him upright. His legs will still be able to get him out of trouble, and he does have arm talent, he just needs to let it fly.
If Rosier can’t get it done, Miami isn’t without talent behind him. Cade Weldon and N’Kosi Perry are both exciting, young signal callers, and freshman Jarren Williams has a ton of upside. How long is Rosier’s leash? Can he survive a down game without being benched for any of those three?