Many college football programmes faced significant offseason questions. While spring practice didn’t resolve all of them, some insights emerged.
Miami’s Offensive Line Overhaul
Miami’s new quarterback, Darian Mensah, will have access to several weapons, including Cooper Barkate and Malachi Toney.
The biggest question for Miami’s offence is how to replace four offensive line starters, including three NFL draft picks. Matthew McCoy, who was at right guard, moved to right tackle this spring.
The other four starters in Miami’s spring game were Jackson Cantwell at left tackle, SJ Alofaituli at left guard, Ryan Rodriguez at centre, and Max Buchanan at right guard.
Samson Okunlola, who played 493 snaps last season, will likely replace Alofaituli as the starter at left guard in the autumn, after missing most of the spring. Outside of McCoy, the group is inexperienced, with only three career starts among them.
Mario Cristobal has confidence in the players he’s recruited. Cristobal won’t be reluctant to play Cantwell and Ben Congdon together.
One talent evaluator said that Congdon could be a two- or three-year starter, and a two-time All-ACC-type talent. They added that Cantwell has the talent to be a first-round pick and looked better the second time they saw him. According to the evaluator, Miami are going to have the best offensive line in the ACC again.
Texas Bolsters Receiving Corps
Texas reportedly spent close to $3 million to bring in Cam Coleman from Auburn and provide quarterback Arch Manning with a strong receiver group.
One Power 4 personnel staffer sees flaws. The staffer said that Coleman is their best receiver with a great catch radius, but doesn’t think he’s a burner. They added that Ryan Wingo is the best athlete, but not a good receiver, and that Emmett Mosley is the best overall receiver, but doesn’t have long speed.
The staffer believes these flaws could be exposed by really good corners. Week 2 versus Ohio State will be the test.
Texas’ portal haul was ranked third-best in the country.
The staffer thinks Texas are lacking depth in the secondary.
Here’s a summary of the Texas receivers:
- Cam Coleman: Best receiver with a great catch radius, but not a burner.
- Ryan Wingo: Best athlete, but not a real good receiver.
- Emmett Mosley: Best overall receiver, but doesn’t have long speed.
Many big offseason questions facing college football programmes across the country weren’t resolved during spring practice, but that doesn’t mean we didn’t learn anything in the past few months.