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Miami Hurricanes 2021 Player Profile: WR Dee Wiggins

The Miami Hurricanes have dipped into the transfer portal to help bolster the wide receiver room. The inconsistencies from the year before were the biggest reasons why.

NCAA Football: Miami at Florida State Glenn Beil-USA TODAY Sports

Dee Wiggins is a 6’3” Junior from Miami Southridge. The hometown product was still among the team’s offensive leaders after starting in all of the teams eleven games last year. Wiggins ranked fourth in both receptions (31) and receiving yards (358).

Wiggins has the ability to play vertically down the field. His first touchdown of the season came over rival Florida State when Wiggins caught a beautiful 40 yard post from D’Eriq King in the lop sided 52-10 win.

Wiggins however has been plagued with inconsistency especially in terms of drops. He finished with one catch in the 2020 Cheez-It Bowl vs. the Cowboys of Oklahoma State. This costly drop could have led to six points. This was not a random occurrence.

The wide receiver room is crowded. The emergence of Oklahoma transfer Charleston Rambo this spring has even further shifted the microscopic view onto Wiggins. Number eight simply does not have the time to navigate a season trying to find the confidence in his hands.

The Clemson Tigers showed an early blueprint when they beat the Miami Hurricanes 42-17 in Death Valley. Dabo Swinney and defensive coordinator Brent Venables dared you to throw outside. Miami simply could not do it. Against one of the elites of college football, the Clemson cornerbacks owned the Hurricane pass catchers including Wiggins.

If the Miami Hurricanes are going to hit the next level in terms of an offense and productivity standpoint, it will need more from its X receiver. That is the role that Wiggins assumed in 2020. The X wide receiver is the guy who typically will get the one on ones. The X can take over a game.

That simply didn’t happen last year and I fully anticipate a new face in that starting capacity in 2021. Wiggins still has a plethora of talent and has flashed here and there but the light eventually must stay on.

Manny Diaz has had this unfortunate knack for favoring upperclassmen in lieu of more talented younger options. The Hurricanes cannot do so any longer. In a put or shut up year for the Hurricane head coach you need to come out swinging. That requires you to have surgical sure hands when you do so.