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CORAL GABLES — The Hurricanes have a void at wide receiver, and they have young players looking to fill it.
Rising junior Ray Ray Joseph, rising sophomores JoJo Trader and Ny Carr and freshmen Josh Moore, Malachi Toney and Daylyn Upshaw are part of the group looking to break into the UM receiver rotation. They have talent, but there are still things they can work on, coach Mario Cristobal said.
“I see a lot of ability and I see flashes, and I see guys that need a ton of work,” Cristobal said. “That’s what I see. I see guys that need to get pushed, and we’re going to push them. They don’t have a problem getting pushed, but when you have to be the guy, it’s different. So we have a ways to go. We’re not consistent enough. We make some spectacular, splash plays, and then other times it’s a little bit head-scratching. And that’s OK. That’s part of growing up and that’s part of maturing, but we’re going to pour on them.”
Carr and Trader agree with their coach. They said they need to keep working on all aspects of their game.
“I’m not where I want to be right now,” Carr said. “Really, I wouldn’t say I’ve got to focus on just pounding on one thing. I’d say it’s really everything. Just really taking my game to the next level: in the film room and on the field, catching, hand-eye coordination, route-running, everything. It’s not one detailed thing that I can just focus on by myself. I’m trying to get better at everything I do.”
The returning wide receivers did not have many opportunities to play last year. The departed receiver corps of Sam Brown Jr., Jacolby George, Isaiah Horton and Xavier Restrepo were on the field for the vast majority of offensive snaps last season. Those four receivers combined for 2,222 snaps. Carr, Joseph and Trader combined for 127. But getting a chance to watch several likely pro receivers work had its perks, as well.
“I actually took away a lot from Restrepo, JG, Sam Brown and all those receivers,” Trader said. “Definitely. Just getting comfortable with the offense. Like Cam (Ward) calling out a signal during the game, I’m on the sideline, ‘Oh, that’s this play. That’s that play.’ Just being a student of the game on the sideline while not even playing.”
The freshmen, of course, were still in high school. Moore was a standout at West Broward High, earning Sun Sentinel All-County first-team honors. Toney, who was the Sentinel’s co-offensive player of the year and reclassified from the 2026 class to 2025, helped lead American Heritage to a state title. Upshaw had 1,137 receiving yards and 16 touchdown catches for Central High in Phenix City, Alabama.
“No one’s ready to crown any freshmen as the guy yet,” Cristobal said. “You see some great ability, and they are awesome young men. They really are. Those guys are going to be great players. Are we there now yet? Absolutely not. We’ve got a ways to go. We’ve got to get tougher, more resilient, and more consistent. We’ve got to understand exactly what to do, how to do it and why we’re doing it that way. And then we’ve got to understand here at Miami, you’re going to get coached hard, you’re going to get pushed because it’s all relative to making you the best you can be. I’m proud of them for their effort. In terms of how they’re doing, they’re progressing.”
Cristobal said he and his staff are tough on the young receivers, hoping to mold them into players who can step into the vacant roles and produce.
“I, myself, am on them really, really hard,” Cristobal said. “That’s ball. There’s no kind and cuddly way to prepare for this stuff, and sometimes it’s important that you choose the right words when coaching players. So many times, they get on Twitter and they read about how great they are or how great people think they are, and that’s not it. They have to earn everything that they get to display on the field on a daily basis, and that’s going to be hammered home.”
Even though the group of young receivers is not ready now, Trader is confident they will put the work in and be ready by the time Notre Dame comes to South Florida in August.
“Everybody’s here to come to work,” Trader said. “Nobody has an ego. … I feel like it’s going to be a great year from the receiver standpoint.”
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Rising junior Ray Ray Joseph, rising sophomores JoJo Trader and Ny Carr and freshmen Josh Moore, Malachi Toney and Daylyn Upshaw are part of the group looking to break into the UM receiver rotation. They have talent, but there are still things they can work on, coach Mario Cristobal said.
“I see a lot of ability and I see flashes, and I see guys that need a ton of work,” Cristobal said. “That’s what I see. I see guys that need to get pushed, and we’re going to push them. They don’t have a problem getting pushed, but when you have to be the guy, it’s different. So we have a ways to go. We’re not consistent enough. We make some spectacular, splash plays, and then other times it’s a little bit head-scratching. And that’s OK. That’s part of growing up and that’s part of maturing, but we’re going to pour on them.”
Carr and Trader agree with their coach. They said they need to keep working on all aspects of their game.
“I’m not where I want to be right now,” Carr said. “Really, I wouldn’t say I’ve got to focus on just pounding on one thing. I’d say it’s really everything. Just really taking my game to the next level: in the film room and on the field, catching, hand-eye coordination, route-running, everything. It’s not one detailed thing that I can just focus on by myself. I’m trying to get better at everything I do.”
The returning wide receivers did not have many opportunities to play last year. The departed receiver corps of Sam Brown Jr., Jacolby George, Isaiah Horton and Xavier Restrepo were on the field for the vast majority of offensive snaps last season. Those four receivers combined for 2,222 snaps. Carr, Joseph and Trader combined for 127. But getting a chance to watch several likely pro receivers work had its perks, as well.
“I actually took away a lot from Restrepo, JG, Sam Brown and all those receivers,” Trader said. “Definitely. Just getting comfortable with the offense. Like Cam (Ward) calling out a signal during the game, I’m on the sideline, ‘Oh, that’s this play. That’s that play.’ Just being a student of the game on the sideline while not even playing.”
The freshmen, of course, were still in high school. Moore was a standout at West Broward High, earning Sun Sentinel All-County first-team honors. Toney, who was the Sentinel’s co-offensive player of the year and reclassified from the 2026 class to 2025, helped lead American Heritage to a state title. Upshaw had 1,137 receiving yards and 16 touchdown catches for Central High in Phenix City, Alabama.
“No one’s ready to crown any freshmen as the guy yet,” Cristobal said. “You see some great ability, and they are awesome young men. They really are. Those guys are going to be great players. Are we there now yet? Absolutely not. We’ve got a ways to go. We’ve got to get tougher, more resilient, and more consistent. We’ve got to understand exactly what to do, how to do it and why we’re doing it that way. And then we’ve got to understand here at Miami, you’re going to get coached hard, you’re going to get pushed because it’s all relative to making you the best you can be. I’m proud of them for their effort. In terms of how they’re doing, they’re progressing.”
Cristobal said he and his staff are tough on the young receivers, hoping to mold them into players who can step into the vacant roles and produce.
“I, myself, am on them really, really hard,” Cristobal said. “That’s ball. There’s no kind and cuddly way to prepare for this stuff, and sometimes it’s important that you choose the right words when coaching players. So many times, they get on Twitter and they read about how great they are or how great people think they are, and that’s not it. They have to earn everything that they get to display on the field on a daily basis, and that’s going to be hammered home.”
Even though the group of young receivers is not ready now, Trader is confident they will put the work in and be ready by the time Notre Dame comes to South Florida in August.
“Everybody’s here to come to work,” Trader said. “Nobody has an ego. … I feel like it’s going to be a great year from the receiver standpoint.”
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