ANALYSIS: Joshisa Trader brings bigtime playmaking to Miami Hurricanes offense

Hollywood (Fla.) Chaminade-Madonna four-star receiver Joshisa Trader, Miami’s latest commit, isn’t just the Hurricanes’ highest-ranked recruit to pledge himself to the Canes in this year’s recruiting cycle. He may also be the most impactful receiver to commit to Miami since head coach Mario Cristobal took over the program at the end of the 2021 season.

Trader, the No. 34 prospect in the On3 Industry Ranking and No. 9 receiver in this class, was arguably the most talented uncommitted South Florida receiver left in the 2024 class before making his announcement Thursday evening, and he’s poised to be an instant-impact player when he ultimately arrives in Coral Gables.

To put it simply, Trader catches everything. And we mean everything. His catch radius and ability to high point the football is truly elite and as good as nearly any prospect in the country. He tracks the ball extremely well and almost always gives himself a chance to make a play regardless of the coverage or the quality of the throw. He’s strong and physical enough to out-muscle smaller defenders and hold his own against stronger, longer cornerbacks, but perhaps equally impressive, his hand strength gives him the ability to rip away balls in contested catch situations.

Miami should be able to use Trader any way offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson can envision. We’ve seen Trader play outside, inside and even throw touchdown passes. He can catch the ball short and create yards after the catch, but he’s most effective when simply used as a deep threat and given the chance to make one-on-one plays against cornerbacks.

Chaminade-Madonna frequently isolated him on the single-receiver side in four-receiver formations and gave him opportunities to either make contested catches or draw two defenders and create opportunities for other receivers, and he dominated against other elite competition. He had 47 receptions for 743 yards and seven touchdowns in his junior season, which included a state championship run and a touchdown catch in a loss to Las Vegas (Nev.) Bishop Gorman, the only school to beat Chaminade last year.

Trader has elite knowledge of how to adjust to his quarterback when protection breaks down and should be talented enough to compete for a starting spot by the time he arrives at Miami in 2024. We would like to see him continue to improve his route running, however, and gain better separation from defensive backs before he makes the catch. His pass-catching skills are exceptional, yes, but he’ll face substantially longer, more physical and smarter defensive backs at the college level, and Trader isn’t built to simply “out-athlete” college defensive backs for three to four years.

We also want to see Trader continue to improve his jump, speed and run-after-catch ability, even though they’re already exceptional. And if he takes another jump his senior year as he did after his sophomore year, Miami could have landed even more of a potential star than it already has.

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