ANALYSIS: Vanderbilt transfer Ja’Dais Richard will look to compete to start from Day 1 with Hurricanes
Inside Ja’Dais Richard’s commitment to Miami: “My goal is to come in and dominate”
Well, that didn’t take long. Vanderbilt cornerback transfer Ja’Dais Richard was won over by Miami on his weekend visit and last night announced his decision to play for the Hurricanes this season. Richard was wowed by his time on campus, the plan coaches have for him and simply felt at home.
So what does he add to the program?
Well, let’s start with he was a four-star prospect in the Class of 2022 (at one point he was a TCU commit, and Louisville and Baylor were his other finalists) and was a Vanderbilt starting cornerback this spring. His 6-2, 200-pound frame is big for a corner, yet he ran 11-flat 100 meter races in high school.
Richard has three years of eligibility remaining and the expectation on his part is to come in and compete to start for a unit that is replacing starters Tyrique Stevenson and DJ Ivey. It helped Miami that DB coach Jahmile Addae developed both into NFL Draft picks this year (and that Addae also coached two other DB draftees from Georgia that were taken).
“Coach Addae is a great coach, and he has the resume to prove it,” Richard said. “This last draft, he put four corners in the league, and that stood out to me.”
Richard will join a crowded but relatively unproven cornerbacks room with fellow transfers Davonte Brown (UCF, transferred in January), Terry Roberts (Purdue, transferred in January), Jaden Davis (Oklahoma, recent commit) and Daryl Porter Jr. (West Virginia, transferred last year) along with Malik Curtis, redshirt freshman Chris Graves and incoming freshmen Damari Brown and Robert Stafford.
Te’Cory Couch and Jaden Davis are projected to play STAR/nickel, and Richard is versatile enough to work there as a physical STAR as well.
The 6-2, 197-pounder out of West Monroe, La. played in 11 games in 2022 and had six tackles, a TFL and two pass breakups.
His Pro Football Focus grades?
In 203 reps he had a 62.4 overall grade with a 60.3 tackle grade and 60.3 cover grade as well. Per PFF he was targeted 13 times and allowed nine receptions (69.2 percent) for 211 yards with two TDs.
CaneSport’s take
This is an acknowledgement to what we already knew from spring practice: Miami needs help at cornerback. The DBs didn’t have great results last year (No. 54 in nation in passing defense and No. 101 in team passing efficiency defense) even with top talent like Stevenson, Ivey along with safeties James Williams and All-American Kam Kinchens. While Richard didn’t have great results in his one year playing at Vandy, he had a great spring and this is a long, speedy corner who can work to start or at least contribute from the get-go. He’s also is versatile enough to play three spots (either CB, STAR), which gives Miami much-needed depth across the board.
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