Dee Wiggins Is Ready To Take The Next Step In 2020

Looking ahead to the 2020 season, one of the most intriguing, sometimes concerning units for the Hurricanes is the wide receivers. Miami will be without K.J. Osborn and Jeff Thomas, and they also lost Brian Hightower in October to the transfer portal, which drops experience for the current Canes WR’s down considerably.

While they have talented WR’s on the roster, such as Mark Pope and Mike Harley, I believe the go-to guy, and someone who is going to have a breakout year will be junior Dee Wiggins.

In 2019, we saw Wiggins make a big leap from his freshman campaign the year before, and become one of the Hurricanes biggest threats in the passing game. The Miami native finished his sophomore season with 20 catches, 335 yards and 4 touchdowns. For the stretch of two games, Wiggins was a deep-ball weapon, hauling in a pair of long scores from Jarren Williams, against FSU and Louisville.

While he flashed some plays in 2019, he definitely wasn’t used and utilized in the right way, or targeted nearly enough. Thankfully, new offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee has been a big fan of stretching the field vertically, as his SMU offense lsat year was 3rd in the country with 50 plays going over 30-yards.

What makes Wiggins a potential star is two things, his 6-3 height, and his blazing 4.4 40 speed. I’ve been telling people for awhile, we sometimes forget just how fast Wiggins is. Sadly, Enos really only liked to use Wiggins speed in the end-around. Look for Lashlee to use it instead in the deep-ball passing game.

Though it’s not just the deep game where Wiggins has proven to be effective, with his considerable size, he’s also a valuable option in the redzone.

With Lashlee, I expect Wiggins to become an integral part of the Miami offense, whether it’s sending him on a go-route, on a slant, or using his quickness in the screen game. If the Hurricanes system and quarterback can use Wiggins the right way, look for him to be UM’s next star receiver.