The Miami Hurricanes have officially set their roster numbers, and the all-important No. 1 for the Canes has been placed on sophomore Joshisa Trader and transfer linebacker Mohomd Toure.
Last season, the Hurricanes' Cam Ward and Francisco Mauigoa wore the coveted No. 1. Now, the new legacy of the Hurricanes will be built.
"I'll monitor it and if a guy doesn't deserve it, I'll take (the number) off," Cristobal said. He noted that Stephen Field, Miami's executive director of recruiting, is now handling jersey numbers. "Jersey numbers are really important to the players, and I respect that. We've got to find a way to make it work for them."
Trader has been dealing with an injury all offseason, but now he is ready to push to another level ahead of the season.
"He was waiting his turn, he's worked hard, he earned everything he is going to get," offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson said about Trader. "He's a very talented guy, but I will say that unlike last year a little bit, I think that you're gonna see a lot of different people out there and we're going to have the ability to rotate. I feel very comfortable in a handful of guys to play.
I do think that the identity of our offense will be a little bit different last year in the sense there will be more guys out there playing. Last year, that wasn't the case that we were so top-heavy, but our depth right now is much better than it's been since I've been here. Obviously it's all about trust when putting people on the field and I do trust more guys to play right now than I have since I've been here. So I'm excited about that too."
Toure is also coming off a season-ending injury. He looks to be a better player this season after his last healthy season, being an All-Big Ten level player. During that season, he totaled 93 tackles, 4.5 sacks, one interception, and forced fumble, and 9.5 tackles for loss.
With defensive coordinator Corey Heatherman, those stats could be replicated in this new and free defense.
Justice Sandle is a graduate of Mississippi State University and is the site lead for the Miami Hurricanes on SI. He can be reached at Twitter @Justice_News5.
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