Miami Hurricanes 50-1 Countdown: Ranking the top 50 post-spring players … No. 12 Colbie Young

No. 50 Miami DT Thomas Gore … No. 49 Malik Curtis … No. 48 Kaleb Spencer … No. 47 Ahmad Moten … No. 46 Jaden Harris … No. 45 Logan Sagapolu … No. 44 Markeith Williams … No. 43 Frank Ladson … No. 42 Chris Graves … No. 41 Keontra Smith … No. 40 Robby Washington … No. 39 Emory Williams … No. 38 Jacurri Brown … No. 37 Brashard Smith … No. 36 Terry Roberts … No. 35 Samson Okunlola … No. 34 Dylan Joyce … No. 33 Jared Harrison-Hunte … No. 32 Jaleel Skinner … No. 31 Corey Flagg … No. 30 Ray Ray Joseph … No. 29 Don Chaney … No. 28 Anez Cooper … No. 27 Branson Deen … No. 26 Zion Nelson … No. 25 Isaiah Horton … No. 24 Rueben Bain … No. 23 Daryl Porter, Jr. … No. 22 Te’Cory Couch … No. 21 Davonte Brown … No. 20 Andy Borregales … No. 19 Nyjalik Kelly … No. 18 Jahfari Harvey … No. 17 Francis Mauigoa … No. 16 Jacolby George … No. 15 Cam McCormick … No. 14 Henry Parrish … No. 13 Jalen Rivers

CaneSport is breaking down the top 50 post-spring players on the roster, a list that doesn’t include any post-spring roster additions. Today we break down No. 12, Colbie Young.

NO. 12 MIAMI WR COLBIE YOUNG

Why he’s No. 12

While Young is Miami’s top returning wide receiver and was a first-teamer this spring, perhaps that’s not saying a whole lot considering he had all of 367 yards in his first year at Miami last season after arriving from Lackawanna (Pa.) Junior College. Young actually began last season on the bench before earning the starting role in Game 6 and never relinquishing it. He ended with 32 catches and the aforementioned 367 yards along with five TDs. But the majority of his damage was done in back-to-back games – against Virginia Tech he had nine receptions for 101 yards and a TD, and the next weekend against Duke he had six for 127 yards and two scores. He never surpassed 46 receiving yards in any other game. Pro Football Focus graded him out at 63.0 percent overall (70 is considered a good grade). He played 395 reps and had a 67.8 receiving grade and 32.1 run blocking grade. Young’s background story? The 6-5, 215-pounder had no scholarship offers out of high school and spent just one year at JUCO – he had 24 catches for 472 yards and nine TDs in nine games there. He showed enough to pique Miami’s interest, and no other major programs were chasing him out of JUCO. So he certainly has a unique back story, and he showed enough last year against the Hokies and Blue Devils to make you think that with some consistency he can push past the 800-yard receiving mark. A caveat to that: Miami’s added two new portal receivers since the spring in Tyler Harrell and Shemar Kirk. So Young has to show he’s better than that duo along with others that hope to earn reps like Isaiah Horton, Frank Ladson, and Mike Redding (with Jacolby George working on the opposite side of Young as a first teamer in the spring).

What he needs to do to move up this list

Young needs to channel the dominance he showed in the games against Virginia Tech and Duke. He has the physicality to outmuscle smaller corners and make catches over them, and he also has some nice downfield speed. You can make the argument that Tyler Van Dyke being healthy again will also help since Van Dyke had a great connection with Young in the game vs. the Hokies before going down injured after 16 pass attempts against the Blue Devils. The backup QBs had issues finding Young down the field, so perhaps a full season with Van Dyke behind center will yield some big numbers for Young.

Realistic season objective

There are still some questions about Young’s consistency, since really he only flashed bigtime in two full games last season (in the final four games of the season he compiled just 50 receiving yards, an average of 12.5 yards per game over those final four game). And Young also struggled with his overall understanding of the offense. Given that we would not be shocked if Young passes the 800-yard mark if he is a full-time starter … or winds up on the bench. He has to prove that he is the best playmaking option on the outside for Miami this fall. In Shannon Dawson’s new offense there will be a lot of opportunities down the field, and it will be really interesting to see how reps are split up in fall drills between Young and the new transfers.

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