Miami Hurricanes’ receivers coach dishes on Trader breakout, Joseph-Toney battle, more
In NFL-bound Xavier Restrepo, Jacolby George and Sam Brown and Alabama-bound Isaiah Horton, the Miami Hurricanes lost four receivers who combined for 214 receptions, 3004 yards and 26 touchdowns last season.
The Canes essentially have replaced them with LSU’s No. 4 receiver (CJ Daniels) and young players who combined for 15 receptions last year.
Those realities might suggest a worrisome outlook at receiver.
But UM actually appears to be in pretty good hands at the position, because of the high upside of young players JoJo Trader, Ray Ray Joseph, Malachi Toney, Daylyn Upshaw and Joshua Moore.
Trader has built on his breakout performance in UM’s bowl game and delivered a very strong spring that has left him in position to start at one of the boundary receiver spots.
“JoJo is learning how to play through ‘hard,’” receivers coach Kevin Beard said Tuesday. “He is so talented naturally that he has an advantage against anybody just because of his talent level. What happens is, because he’s so talented, he can wake up in the morning and put cleats on and be really good.
“But what happens if you meet another really good player? Now what? You’ve been able to make it this far in your life just by [talent]. Now, this team is preparing to take you out of the game. The DB is thinking in his mind I’m going to get drafted off of you. How are you going to respond? He’s learning to respond every day, doing a really good job of it.”
Daniels, meanwhile, was spotted on the practice field Tuesday for the first time this spring; he has been recovering from an undisclosed injury.
The 6-2 Daniels had 42 catches for 480 yards in his one year at LSU; he has 148 catches for 2,439 yards and 21 touchdowns over 53 college games, including four years at Liberty.
“He’s a worker,” Beard said. “You don’t have to tell him to catch balls on the jugs machine. He’s the one initiating it. He’s been through it and knows he has a lot of young guys behind him. He’s trying to show them the way. He’s the oldest guy in the room. You need that older guy, the big brother. They lean on him from that perspective.
“From day one, he said, ‘coach, can you make a group thread with just the players, not the coaches?’ They’re on it all the time. They’ll text, ‘we’re going to watch film at 5 o clock.’ You notice there are a lot of guys in the building” at that same time.
That’s a credit to Daniels’ leadership.
On the field, “we think he’s a dynamic guy — big, strong, fast, and his contested catch rate is really, really impressive,” Mario Cristobal said. “He does all the dirty work, too. He’s going to go in there and put his hat on the safety or block a linebacker because he’s big and strong and experienced.”
The battle in the slot between the third-year Joseph and the early enrollee Toney has been particularly spirited.
That competition is “going great,” Beard said. “I hope everyone watching from the side can see it. That’s what the University of Miami is about - good players pushing each other to be the best players and taking advantage of opportunities when they come.”
Beard devilishly will push each of them by telling them what the other is doing: ‘Hey, Ray, he’s going [well]. Hey, Malachi, you saw the plays [Joseph] made today. Come on - let’s go.’”
Beard said: “It’s definitely a competitive vibe right now. No animosity. It’s all positive. Malachi has no fear. He puts the work in outside of the football field to allow himself to come out here fearless. That’s something that you can’t watch a highlight tape and get.”
Joseph waited patiently, for two years, behind Restrepo and now has his chance.
“I always said it’s God’s timing,” Joseph said Saturday, after logging just 135 offensive snaps (with 12 receptions) in his first two seasons at Miami. “I had a great dude in front of me. We battled each other every day. I got him better. He got me better.
“I’m a die-hard ‘Canes fan. I bleed orange and green, and it’s still the same thing. I’m a big team guy first. I’m not with the selfish stuff. I waited my turn... A lot of people just up and run when they feel like they ain’t getting what they’re supposed to [receive]. Me? I’m just loyal — loyal to the program, loyal to the process.”
He has no issue with freshman Toney getting every chance to beat him out.
“There’s a hunger in there,” Joseph said. “I feel like that’s what Miami was built on. You had players sitting behind each other that were first-round draft picks. All of us are hungry. No entitlement.”
Joseph said he became a more physical receiver (he arrived at 163 and now tops 180) and a more technically sound one.
“I’m a fast guy, so I like to do everything fast when everything’s not required to be fast,” Joseph added. “So I had to really learn that. In high school, you’re just taught ‘Run, run, run, run.’ But a lot of stuff is not always just run, run, run, run, run.
“You’ve got to know when to pace it, when to be fast, when not to be fast. Restrepo taught me a lot of that. Restrepo taught me I ain’t got to be the fastest guy to get open.”
As for the three freshmen overall (Upshaw, Moore and Toney), Beard said: “They’re coming along, having moments where they are doing some really good things. I have to keep telling them yesterday is over. Nobody cares about yesterday. What are you doing today? When young people do good and people start praising them, they just relax. That’s a people problem. I get on them .. before they can get comfortable.”
The Canes still could use a proven lead receiver and likely will explore options in the second transfer portal cycle that begins in two weeks.
“We’re taking steps,” Beard said of his group. “It’s day 10. It’s hot out there. A lot of install, a lot of motions, a lot of shifts. A lot of details. Things [can] fall apart. You want to be excited about [the talent]. But we’ve got a lot of work to do.”
This story was originally published April 1, 2025 at 1:04 PM.
