The Miami Hurricanes may have found the clearest answer to a short-term problem: get Cooper Barkate more involved.
With Malachi Toney dealing with an upper-body injury after Miami’s 33-20 win over Wake Forest on Friday, the Hurricanes have reason to spread the ball around and lighten the load on their breakout star. That doesn’t mean Toney disappears from the offense. It just means Shannon Dawson has a strong case to lean harder on another proven target while Miami waits on a fuller injury update, which could come as early as this week.
Toney’s start has been electric. Through three games, the 19-year-old has hauled in 28 passes on 29 targets for 444 yards and five touchdowns.
He’s already being talked about as an early Heisman Trophy candidate, and Miami obviously wants that production to keep rolling. But after Friday, the smarter play is obvious: preserve him now so he’s available when ACC games begin.
That’s where Barkate enters the picture.
The 23-year-old arrived in Coral Gables with real production on his résumé. Last season at Duke, he posted 72 catches for 1,106 yards and seven touchdowns, serving as Darian Mensah’s go-to option and helping the Blue Devils win the Atlantic Coast Conference. That kind of experience matters, especially when Miami has younger receivers in Joshua Moore, Daylyn Upshaw, Somourian Wingo, and Vance Spafford in the mix.
So far, the Barkate-Mensah connection hasn’t been used to full effect, but the pieces are there. Barkate has 10 catches on 11 targets for 96 yards and two touchdowns. He also got the clearest reminder of what that pairing can look like in Miami’s season opener against Stanford, when Mensah hit him for a 34-yard touchdown.
He has started all three games and played 124 total snaps, while earning a 60.3 Pro Football Focus offensive grade, which ranks 37th among ACC wide receivers. The numbers point to a player who is already steady and can clearly do more.
Barkate’s game fits the job Miami may need him to do right now. He’s a precise route runner, he can win contested catches, and he brings four years of college football experience. In a stretch where the Hurricanes need to keep the offense dangerous without overworking Toney, that profile matters.
If Toney is cleared for Saturday’s game against Central Michigan at Hard Rock Stadium, he’ll still get his share of work. But Miami’s priority should be to keep the field spread and avoid putting extra wear on the Liberty City, Fla., native. That gives the Hurricanes a chance to test a slightly different version of the offense and see how far Barkate can push it.
Barkate may not be focused on target counts, but Miami should be. More production from him would help the team, keep the offense explosive, and buy Toney time to heal before the ACC schedule begins.
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