What decisions by Miami Hurricanes coaches tell us about the roster. And Canes notes

The Miami Hurricanes coaches don’t need to say what players they most value. Their playing time decisions generally reveal that.

A look at where the Canes stand at most every position beyond safety, where the big story has been Avantae Williams not playing a single defensive snap in Week 2 after playing him just 14 defensive snaps in Week 1, and then reacting on social media:

▪ At linebacker, Corey Flagg (27 snaps this past Saturday) remains ahead of UCLA transfer Caleb Johnson (10), which has been one of the mild surprises since early August.

Snaps were fairly comparable between Waynmon Steed (21) and Keontra Smith (15), with Wesley Bissainthe at 9 and Chase Smith at 8.

UM wants to see Bissainthe and Chase Smith improve in the communication and identification aspects of playing linebacker - such as making checks - and defensive coordinator Kevin Steele said he has seen improvement with both.

Their snaps should continue to increase if they show more growth in that area.

That group - and the defensive line - will be tested Saturday against speedy running back Devon Achane and a physical Texas A&M offensive line.

This is the type of game that will reveal whether UM’s linebackers really have improved, or whether the unit is still deficient against highly skilled opponents.

▪ We all knew that Miami considered Xavier Restrepo its top receiver and that has been obvious in the first two games.

His snaps were limited last weekend (29) because he was working his way back from an injury. But he still caught six passes for 72 yards against Southern Mississippi.

With Jacolby George suspended the first two games, UM believes Key’Shawn Smith (58 snaps against Southern Mississippi) and Michael Redding (55) are most deserving of playing time beyond Restrepo.

Redding’s rise up the depth chart this season has been a mild surprise, but coaches trust him. Smith excelled as a returner in the opener and as a receiver in the second game.

In terms of playing time, there was a dropoff after that to Frank Ladson (26 snaps), Romello Brinson (24) and Brashard Smith (22).

Colbie Young, the summer junior college addition, didn’t play an offensive snap; Ladson has held him off in their direct competition.

George has been reinstated this week, but it would be a surprise if he plays a lot on Saturday at Texas A&M.

UM offensive coordinator Josh Gattis has been using Brashard Smith much like predecessor Rhett Lashlee deployed him, as a multi-purpose weapon, both running and receiving. He caught four passes for 53 yards on Saturday and I would expect his role to continue to grow.

▪ With Jaylan Knighton coming off injury, there’s not a full read yet on who the Canes most trust at running back. But it likely will be - and should be - Henry Parrish, who has a 5.9 rushing average on 35 carries after averaging 5.1 in two years at Mississippi.

Knighton averaged 3.4 yards on five carries in his first game back on Saturday, after averaging just 3.9 in his first two college seasons.

Parrish, throughout his career, has been consistently better than Knighton in generating yards after contact.

Parrish played 49 snaps, Thad Franklin 22 and Knighton 12.

Saturday’s allocation of running back snaps against Texas A&M should be interesting, with Knighton getting to heal an additional week.

▪ As for the No. 2 tight end job, Elijah Arroyo (44 snaps on Saturday) is well ahead of freshman Jaleel Skinner, who had no offensive snaps on Saturday (per PFF) and must continue to develop physically and improve his blocking.

Starter Will Mallory played 56 snaps; backup tight end Dominic Mammarelli played five. Mallory caught none of the four passes thrown to him; he must be more productive on Saturday.

▪ With top defensive end Akheem Mesidor out with a foot injury on Saturday (UM expects to have him back against A&M), UM gave 36 snaps to Jafhari Harvey, 31 to Mitchell Agude, 27 to Elijah Roberts and 12 to Chantz Williams.

Roberts has risen up the depth chart with Mesidor out, earning more time than Nyjalik Kelly (10 snaps) and Thomas Davis (one). Roberts is a former defensive tackle who - like Mesidor - can play inside and outside, and he had four quarterback pressures on Saturday.

▪ Former cornerback Al Blades Jr. (14 snaps against Southern Mississippi) is getting some of the safety snaps that went last year to Avantae Williams. James Williams and Kamren Kinchens each played 50 snaps this past Saturday.

James Williams had UM’s best coverage grade on Saturday (per PFF) and continues to impress. Where did he most want to improve this season?

“I wanted to improve everything; be a better student of the game,” he said Tuesday. “I want to help this Miami Hurricanes defense, team to be the greatest.”

▪ At cornerback, DJ Ivey (50 snaps this past Saturday) and Te’Cory Couch (44) have - at least for now - beaten out West Virginia transfer Daryl Porter Jr. and Malik Curtis (who both had four snaps apiece) and Isaiah Dunson (3 snaps).

Curtis started at corner alongside Ivey and Tyrique Stevenson (who logged 43 snaps) but was beaten on a 33-yard TD pass and wasn’t seen much in the game after that. Mario Cristobal spoke Monday of Curtis needing to work on technique.

Porter, meanwhile, gave up a long catch in limited playing time. Credit Ivey for beating him out, though Ivey yielded four receptions on Saturday.

▪ UM started Jared Harrison-Hunte (19 snaps) and Maryland transfer Darrell Jackson (20 snaps) at defensive tackle, but Leonard Taylor (20 snaps) also played a lot.

Jacob Lichtenstein (13 snaps), Jordan Miller (11) and Antonio Moultrie (9 snaps) also are in the defensive tackle rotation.

Moultrie forced a fumble and PFF graded him as Miami’s best player on Saturday. And Lichtenstein had a sack and three pressures.

This is UM’s best depth at the position in several years, but they will be tested Saturday against a stout A&M offensive line.

▪ With Zion Nelson back from knee surgery and ready to assume his starting role at left tackle, the big offensive line decision Saturday is whether to insert John Campbell at right tackle (which would shift DJ Scaife to right guard) or stick with Justice Olawaseun at right guard. A person who has watched UM practice said that’s a tough call.

Olawaseun allowed a sack on Saturday but did good work as a run blocker, and PFF has praised his work.

The offensive line didn’t grade out particularly well against Southern Mississippi, and that unit remains a concern.

Anez Cooper, the impressive freshman, could earn more playing time as the season progresses; he’s getting work in a pseudo-tight end role.

THIS AND THAT

▪ Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit will call UM-Texas A&M at 9 p.m. Saturday on ESPN.

They usually work the Saturday night ABC game, but network officials opted to have Fowler and Herbstreit (their lead announcing team) call the UM game and assigned Mark Jones and Robert Griffin III to work the Michigan State-Washington prime time ABC game.

ESPN planned to originate College Gameday from College Station on Saturday but canceled that after Texas A&M lost to Appalachian State on Saturday. Instead, ESPN will send its popular Saturday morning show to Boone, N.C. for Troy-Appalachian State.

▪ Does UM need to start winning these types of games - on the road against Top 25 teams - to prove that Miami is back?

“We don’t really need to prove anything,” Xavier Restrepo said. “We’re just proving ourselves week by week. It’s just another college football game. They’re a great team. great d-line, great secondary and we have to respect them.”

▪ UM quarterback Tyler Van Dyke was very hard on himself after Saturday’s game against Southern Mississippi, when he completed 21 of 30 for 255 yards, one touchdown and one interception.

Asked if he lost sleep or watched film late at night after that game, he said: “You can either forget about what happened or fix mistakes. Watch film and see what I have to do fundamentally. I’m always going to be competitive and try to be better than I was the week before. I obviously have to be better this week.”

Is he making reads as quickly he would like? “I think I’m processing it pretty well. If one and two is not there, I’m getting it to three. Last game was just missed throws. My progressions have been perfectly fine.”