Injuries have plagued the Miami offensive line all season. This has caused the Hurricanes to play freshmen and one particular player is exceeding expectations. In the last media appearance of the week, Head Coach Mario Cristobal had some glowing things to say about first-year offensive lineman Anez Cooper, who almost chose to play a different position.

With so many injuries on the offensive line - Miami is down to just six or seven linemen according to offensive coordinator Josh Gattis - freshman Anez Cooper has received a prime opportunity to kick start his tenure as one of the key cogs of the offensive trenches:

"It's incredibly important. Obviously, I know how bad he wants to play, Zion, but that's a big one. A guy like Justice was arguably our most physical player on your team, not only on your offensive line. Jalen Rivers was, as a performer, as good as it gets, in my opinion, in the conference, arguably the country. Jonathan Denis was playing at a really, really high level. Those are big losses, it's not like you're losing a reserve here and there, those are guys that were starters for ya. So for a guy like Anez, as a freshman, to go in there and step in and produce at the level he's produced, it's monstrous, it's huge."

Cristobal is one of the premier developers of offensive line talent, so it is notable that he is stamping Cooper so early in his time at Miami.

"He's a big guy that has really adapted to the speed of the college game really well. He's physical, he's extremely smart, he's a one correction guy," said Mario Cristobal of his freshman starter. "Once you tell him "hey we gotta do this a certain way", he fixes it technically and fundamentally....He's everything you want in an offensive lineman."

One of the biggest parts of Cooper's growth has been the shrinking of his body. The freshman was 400 pounds as a high school senior and is now down to the 340-350 pounds range. Cooper said getting his body right has only made him a better player:

"When I first trimmed down, started eating the right stuff and putting the right stuff in my body, working hard and just losing weight, getting a whole lot of conditioning in, it helped me a lot because I couldn't move the way I wanted to, like pass block how I wanted to. A big struggle I had was in the pass game, but now I move faster, my kick step is faster and everything. Losing that weight just developed me into a better player, to be quicker and faster on my feet."

Rivers is expected to be week to week with the potential to return. Zion Nelson, Justice Oluwaseun, and Jonathan Denis are all expected to be out for the remainder of the season. Therefore e will see more development from one of the brightest spots of the offense over the final stretch of the season.

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