Indiana Hoosiers Football: Miles Marshall Enjoying Breakout Spring
When offensive coordinator Kalen DeBoer arrived at IU in January, early film sessions gave him a good idea of what he had in his experienced wide receivers.
The younger guys? Not so much, partly because of limited experience due to redshirt years.
Finally getting the chance to work with them at the start of spring ball earlier this month, one of his biggest surprises has been redshirt freshman wide receiver Miles Marshall.
"You watch the one on ones, you watch some of the routes he caught in seven on seven you are like, wow, he's got some range, he's long. Goes ups and gets it," DeBoer said. "He really played fearless the first couple of practices."
Marshall is in position to contribute to a more aggressive passing attack for IU in the fall thanks to his size and skillset.
The Lilburn (Ga.) Parkview product and former 3-star recruit is one of the Hoosiers' taller and bigger receivers at 6-foot-4 and 210 pounds and can play outside or in the slot. No matter where he's lined up, he has excelled at making catches in traffic and connecting on deep throws from Indiana's quarterbacks.
"(I’m) just getting more comfortable,” Marshall said. "Last year as a freshman, my head was kind of everywhere. I think I’m just more comfortable now, so that’s helping me out."
Part of Marshall being at ease almost 10 months after arriving on campus can be attributed to the work he put in last fall.
Although he appeared in just one game - IU's Sept. 29 win over Rutgers - Marshall still was on the travel roster and remained heavily involved in the regular season routine of IU's wide receivers.
"He got to travel," Heard said. "He got to see (and) be in those game environments, so hopefully in the fall when he gets there it’s not a big shock to him to be in those stadiums and he understands how we prepare on Friday nights for games. Hopefully, as he keeps progressing, that stuff will come in handy for him."
IU junior wide receiver Whop Philyor is still recovering from an unspecified injury from the 2018 season, limiting his spring reps as a result. Those circumstances have afforded Marshall the opportunity to spend time focusing on playing slot receiver instead of out wide, but the position isn't entirely unfamiliar to him.
"No, not really. Half my senior year I played the slot, so I actually like it better than the outside," Marshall said. "Inside, I get the ball more. It's just different routes and stuff. Outside, you pretty much go against press man (coverage) and stuff. I spent probably about half the time on the inside, so it's easier to me."
According to DeBoer, it's simply a matter of grasping the concepts, the verbiage and the system and understanding what he's seeing in front of him for Marshall to take the next step.
Once Marshall gets there, DeBoer is very optimistic about his potential.
"There's a lot of things that are happening right now so he's not playing quite as fast, but the potential he has is exciting," DeBoer said. "The last couple practices, he's used every day as a teaching moment in getting better, no doubt about it."
----
• Talk about it inside The Hoops Forum or The Football Forum
• Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes
• Follow us on Twitter: @IndianaRivals
• Like us on Facebook.