Film Study: Why WR Xavier Restrepo is going to be on the mind of every defensive coordinator the Miami Hurricanes face
For two years, Miami Hurricanes WR Xavier Restrepo waited his turn as the slot backup to Mike Harley. He played in seven games as a freshman in 2020 with one catch, and was a backup in 2021 as well and had 24 receptions for 373 yards.
Then 2022 hit. Harley had graduated. The preseason expectation was that Restrepo would be a top target as a first-time starter for Tyler Van Dyke in Miami’s new offense under Josh Gattis. But that Gattis attack never clicked, Restrepo went down in Game 2 with injury, and when he returned later in the year he was a backup for five games. His final stats: 21 catches, 240 yards.
Not what he envisioned.
The 2023 season? Well, this is more like it.
Restrepo has emerged as a top weapon for new coordinator Shannon Dawson, and he’s a guy that defenses are going to have to account for moving forward. While last Thursday night’s game wasn’t against real good competition, the Miami (Ohio) defense and Texas A&M defenses certainly had solid enough DBs … and Restrepo had five catches for 68 yards in the opener and a career-high 126 yards on six catches in the win over Texas A&M. Oh, and 86 of those yards vs. the Aggies were after the catch – he shows a tremendous knack with balance and keeping a low center of gravity (more on that later). He added six catches for 120 yards last Thursday night vs. Bethune-Cookman … all in the first half, with backups in the final two quarter.
The way Restrepo sees it, his emergence was just a matter of time. His belief is good things come to those that work hardest. And boy, does he work. Film study, extra time with the JUGS, practice habits that are 100 percent full effort on all reps, giving great effort blocking downfield in games, etc., etc.
As he put it in the preseason, “Every single time I step on the field, I feel like I can’t lose. I’ve always felt that. I have literally zero doubt when I step on the football field.
“If someone lines up in front of me, I’m going to destroy them. … Whoever you put in front of me I’m going to try to embarrass somebody else’s child.”
He’s done a pretty good job of embarrassing a lot of DBs so far this season.
It probably helps that his roommate and best friend is the guy throwing the ball. But it also helps that he has a knack for getting open quickly, and that he’s a guy that loves to get in the film room. Restrepo says he’s tirelessly studied film of Tank Dell, who was the top receiver for Dawson at Houston – Dell had over 1,300 yards each of the last two years.
“I watch Tank (Dell) every single day,” Restrepo said at one point this off-season. “Half of our installs are plays of him. Another great athlete – every single day we go to film, just watch him.”
As you can see from the above, Restrepo graded out as the No. 1 receiver in the nation this past weekend against overmatched Bethune-Cookman. For the full season to this point? Restrepo is No. 2 in the nation among WRs with 10 or more targets (trailing only Ole Miss’s Tre Harris). Restrepo’s season grade is 91.2 percent on offense; Harris is at 92.9 percent. Restrepo has lined up 98.6 percent of the time in the slot, per PFF, and his 148 yards after catch ranks 15th in the nation … and four of the players ranked ahead of him have played in four games to his three.
So now, with all the above in mind, let’s take a look at some of what has turned Restrepo from an afterthought in his first three years at Miami into a guy that is clearly a difference-maker:
This clip from the Miami-Ohio game shows the effort Restrepo plays with. This is a run designed to go up the middle, which is where Mark Fletcher takes it. But then he’s at the second level, and lucky for him Restrepo is giving all-out effort despite the play not even expected to go to where Restrepo was motioning (and you can see that Restrepo will go in motion numerous times in games to try and create misdirection confusion/space/mismatches for him and others). As Fletcher gets to the second level and has tacklers attacking him from his right, he darts left. Restrepo has now made the turn upfield after his motioning and has his head up looking for guys to block. He speeds forward ahead of Fletcher (note how quickly he explodes to full speed) and avoids a block in the back penalty by dipping his shoulder in to the DB’s chest, slowing him down. This is an example of just the little things Restrepo does when he’s not even getting the ball. An effort leader, for sure.
The above play against Miami (Ohio) is a typical dig route that Restrepo runs, and often he comes free on it. In particular of note on this is that Van Dyke and Restrepo are so in tune with each other – Van Dyke knows after Restrepo plants and breaks he’ll be coming open and is simply waiting to release the ball on time … even with a blown assignment from Francis Mauigoa that leaves a defender bearing down on Van Dyke as he’s getting ready to throw. A well run dig against this kind of zone coverage … this is going to be open all day, every day.
This is an example of how when Van Dyke gets in trouble he knows the guy he can look for … his roommate. Restrepo will never give up on a play. So this is a busted play and now Van Dyke is scrambling away from pressure vs. Miami (Ohio) with his eyes downfield. Restrepo does a great job coming back to him and finding a spot … and Van Dyke flips it to him to turn a potential no gain or negative play into 20 yards. You also get a sense of Restrepo’s wiggle from this play – when he catches the ball there’s a defender closing on him and a safety six yards away and closing. They have him blanketed from two sides. But Restrepo runs away from the cornerback, then dips his shoulder and feints left (losing the safety) before speeding to the right and picking up a block from Javion Cohen, who has shown great effort running downfield (you can also see Jalen River, Matt Lee and Anez Cooper hustling to help block). After Cohen’s block, Restrepo turns back inside him to pick up a few more yards. It eventually takes two other defenders getting him down. This is simply a case of Restrepo showing his acute field awareness and knack for evading tackles.
On this play vs. Miami (Ohio) Restrepo is well covered and Cam McCormick comes wide open underneath, but Van Dyke simply trusts his guy to make the play. He lays it up there to Restrepo knowing it’s one on one coverage on the wheel route up the right sideline. Restrepo rewards him by using good body leverage to hold off the DB by half a step while making a one-handed catch into his body. So now you’re also seeing the great hands and body position from Restrepo.
This is an example of how difficult it is for bigger defenders to stick with Restrepo off the line. Restrepo is the first read here with a mismatch against Texas A&M safety Demani Richardson, and Van Dyke is quick to get the ball out so the DL has almost no time to get pressure. All it takes is two steps from Restrepo, a hesitation as he approaches Richardson, and then an explosion to the inside. Now he’s thrown the defender off balance and is wide open for the over the top throw that Van Dyke delivers perfectly for a gain of 44. You can’t get open much quicker than that, right?
This quick pass to Restrepo was almost blown up when Texas A&M’s Shemar Turner blasted right past Francis Mauigoa, who was hustling to get in front of Restrepo and never chipped the defensive lineman. It’s a great job by Van Dyke of literally side-arming the throw to a waiting Restrepo, who now has Mauigoa and Cam McCormick blocking in front of him and the entire rest of the offensive line hustling over to help as well. Texas A&M is out-manned with three defenders all picked up by blockers. Restrepo hesitates for a split-second as he catches the ball but quickly sees the hole between Mauigoa and McCormick and bursts through it. He uses a patented move as he’s running downfield with a defender approaching, dipping his shoulder to the inside before exploding the opposite direction. He evades that tackler, then bounces off a shoulder tackle by CB Tyreek Chappell using his aforementioned great balance and low center of gravity. Anticipating the hit, you can see how Restrepo absorbs it by lowering his body and turning his back as Chappell is closing in. Picture trying to tackle a really big turtle – hard to wrap up the legs, right? By making himself smaller and lower to the ground Restrepo is keeping his leverage and making it tough to grab either of his legs. So Chappell harmlessly bounces off his back and Restrepo keeps chugging down the sideline for more yards. A recurring theme here: It almost always takes more than one defender to get Restrepo down once he’s in the open field.
Van Dyke appears to initially be looking at the deep shot option on the left side, but when the safety comes over to help he opts for his safety net – Restrepo one-on-one down the left side. The receiver is well covered, but as we’ve seen before he has that third gear he can turn on as the ball gets close to him. And in this case, remarkably, he hits that gear while essentially running backward. He turns around and backpedals to high point the ball with the taller safety Demani Richardson covering him. Restrepo shows great hands and body control, catching the pass and getting a foot down before falling out of bounds. This is a catch that few players can make at this level in the fashion Restrepo did – it’s a very high degree of difficulty.
This is a simple out route that Restrepo runs perfectly and then turns into a big gain by making safety Jacoby Mathews miss the tackle. You can see again that Restrepo loves to turn his back to the defender once he’s caught the ball and lower himself to make it tough to wrap up his legs. In this case the defender is trying to punch out the ball and push Restrepo at the same time, so Restrepo does a great job staying low and using his right arm to push off the ground in order to regain his balance. Remarkably the 0-to-100 miles per hour from the time he puts his hand on the ground is virtually unnoticeable. He has a remarkable ability to get the jets going, which helps make up for him not having the greatest straight line speed.
If you want more examples of all the above? Just look at his highlights against overmatched Betune-Cookman below. It showcases, again, his knack for getting open, making tough catches and making moves in space.
The bottom line?
While Restrepo isn’t going to wow you with his pure size, 40 time or strength numbers, what you see is a pure desire to be great. He has a knack for understanding the physics of how to stay upright plus great body control, route running and hands. And his ability to reach his personal top speed quickly is outstanding.
Put it all together, and you can see why this is a guy that is going to have every defensive coordinator Miami faces from here on out very, very nervous.
Oh, and if you are also into seeing Restrepo’s special teams impact and all-out effort, well check out his block on the kicker on Brashard Smith’s 98-yard KOR vs. the Aggies below:
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