UM’s offensive coordinator sizes up QB situation, WR battle, the tight end situation, more
A six-pack of personnel nuggets from Thursday’s media sessions with the Miami Hurricanes offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson following UM’s final spring practice, in advance of Saturday’s untelevised on-campus spring game at 4 p.m.:
▪ Backup quarterback Emory Williams apparently rebounded well from a shaky performance in UM’s bowl game, when he went 5 for 14 for 26 yards and an interception in the second half of a 42-41 loss to Iowa State in the Pop-Tarts bowl.
Though the play of the three healthy quarterbacks — Williams, Judd Anderson and Luke Nickel — was “spotty a little” at the start of spring, Dawson said “Emory has been consistent. He has taken a lot of reps. He’s played a lot of football in this offense.
“Emory has a strong mentality. He didn’t play overly great in the bowl, but he didn’t play that bad, either. He missed probably a couple of throws he could make. Ultimately his mentality, he has high confidence in himself.”
It appears Williams remains the clear front-runner for the No. 2 job.
As for Nickel and Anderson, “you can see the learning curve from the beginning of spring to now,” Dawson said.
“Their last three practices have been really, really on point. There has been some time between them that were hit or miss. I’ve been pleased with those guys over the past week and a half, two weeks. Their sense of urgency has gotten really high, and we’re doing a good job of putting the ball in play, understanding where the trouble is on specific plays and staying out of negative plays.”
Dawson said the freshman Nickel “has the ability to throw the ball at an elite level” and “that helps the learning curve. When you first get somewhere and you’re a quarterback it’s like learning a new language. …
“As time goes on you see how those instincts start clicking, the plays run a little smoother as far as communication. Communication is the hardest part to get over as a young quarterback – the last week-and-a-half of that has been smooth” with that.
▪ Starter Carson Beck won’t throw this week because of elbow surgery but has been very involved all spring and should be ready long before the Aug. 31 opener at home against Notre Dame.
“His football IQ is really high,” Dawson said. “When you talk to him about plays, the regurgitation of plays in the meeting room you can tell he’s played a lot of football. Also his personality comes out over time. He’s a guy that once you spend a lot of time around him and get to know him he’s a funny guy to be around, his personality comes out.”
▪ Dawson said the battle for the slot job — between Ray Ray Joseph and freshman Malachi Toney — is very competitive.
“I feel comfortable with both those guys,” Dawson said. “They’re more similar than different. They move around alike. Ray Ray has been here a long time, two years taking reps.”
▪ Does Dawson believe he has enough receivers on the boundary besides Jojo Trader and LSU transfer CJ Daniels that are ready to contribute big to a winning team?
“We’ve got a long way to go before we get on the field but watching guys play, I mean all those guys have made plays in practice,” Dawson said. “Making plays in practice is a little different than making plays in the game. Ny Carr has been here a while; he made a couple of plays today.
Josh Moore has been pretty consistent through camp. Daylyn Upshaw has been consistent. Hopefully when we get to that point where we have to play with the lights on, we have four or five guys that can make plays out there.”
▪ Trader has had a very good spring. He has “taken ownership of `Hey, it’s my time,’” Dawson said.
“Now he’s taken that ownership of that role, so you see a different level of energy from him on a day to day basis,” Dawson said. “When it’s your time, it’s your time. There’s a big difference between being a backup and role guy and being the dude.”
▪ Dawson feels good about the situation at tight end, though it’s uncretain who will be the top inline blocking tight end off the bench, behind starter Elija Lofton and Tulane transfer Alex Bauman, who’s more of a receiving tight end. (Transfer Jack Nickel, Luke’s brother, is a strong possibility).
“With [Lofton] I don’t even think about `Hey, these are the plays that get him the ball,’” Dawson said. “Obviously I have a couple of ways he’s going to get the ball. But with him the quarterback typically finds the better players, that’s just the way it happens in our offense.
“So the ball finds him pretty routinely. He’s a guy that makes plays every day. You put him in the backfield, he ran in a 30-yard touchdown. The kid is a very unusual kid. He can do a lot of things. His capacity is really high. Lucky to have him, and we’re going to utilize him in every way possible.”
Dawson seemed pleased with the progress of freshmen tight ends Brock Schott and Luka Gilbert.
“We have the ability to go a number of personnel groupings — we can get in 12 and 13, any set we want to get into,” Dawson said. “We have the ability to do that. It’s a very deep position. We have some talented young guys that show spurts, but the consistency [questions] pop up now and again.”
