CORAL GABLES — Hurricanes rising redshirt freshman Robby Washington was a two-way star in high school, and the Hurricanes are going to give him a look at cornerback as well as wide receiver this spring.
Washington, who played at Miami Killian and Miami Palmetto in high school, worked at cornerback during UM’s practice on Tuesday, and Miami coach Mario Cristobal said it was an “experiment” that will continue through spring camp.
“Robby’s had a really good spring at wide receiver, and for us, this is a really good time to take certain guys and experiment and see if there is maybe opportunities for them,” Cristobal said. “Maybe we can use your skillset to help the team in a certain way, and he’s a team guy first. So it’s something we’ll experiment throughout the course of spring football. … Any time we can buy a guy a rep — you saw guys, today, at different positions, at tight end, at running back, at defensive end — we’re going to keep doing that.”
The Hurricanes recruited Washington, who was rated a four-star wide receiver in the 2023 class in 247Sports’ composite rankings, as a wide receiver. In his final year in high school, Washington had 17 runs for 106 yards and two touchdowns as well as 43 catches for 560 yards and six touchdowns. On defense, he had three tackles.
Last year, Washington played nine snaps on offense and six on special teams, making two catches for 27 yards.
“He’s just really good,” Cristobal said. “He’s a natural athlete. He does a lot of things.”
Washington, who played all nine offensive snaps last year as a slot receiver, could have a hard time breaking into the starting lineup at the position. The Hurricanes return 1,000-yard receiver Xavier Restrepo, who stars at slot receiver, and fellow rising sophomore Ray Ray Joseph played more snaps last season.
Rueben Bain Jr. dealing with minor injury
A key player was missing from practice Tuesday: star defensive lineman Rueben Bain Jr.
Fortunately for UM, Bain is merely dealing with a minor injury.
“He’s good,” Cristobal said. “He’s a little bit banged up, so we held him from practice.”
Bain had a breakout freshman season, racking up 44 tackles, 12.5 tackles for loss, 7.5 sacks and three forced fumbles in his first season in college. For his efforts, Bain was named the ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year and a freshman All-American by multiple media outlets.
Miami’s scrimmage plans
The Hurricanes have their first Saturday practice this week but will not hold a scrimmage, Cristobal said.
“We won’t scrimmage on Saturday,” Cristobal said. “We will have some live tackling on Saturday, but it won’t be a full scrimmage.”
Cristobal said Miami will have its full pads on Thursday and have one period of live tackling followed by about 30 plays of practice with live tackling this Saturday. He said the Hurricanes will scrimmage the following Saturday.
Cristobal said playing in full pads with live tackling can help separate players in position battles.
“We told our players we’re not going to ease into spring,” Cristobal said. “We’ve got to use spring to gain an edge and create an identity for ourselves, and practicing hard and practicing fast and practicing smart will translate into playing hard, smart and fast. It’s got to become second nature to us.”
