STATE OF THE U 2024: 2022 Miami Hurricanes recruiting class analysis

Over the last two days, CaneSport broke down the 2020 and 2021 recruiting classes that each failed on numerous levels. By comparison, we also posted what it looks like when a championship program recruits, with a look at the Alabama 2020 recruiting class.

So today it’s on to our analysis of the 2022 class, which was recruited for the most part by Manny Diaz … but with Mario Cristobal getting hired in early December and helping hold it together and put on the finishing touches. It was a class that ranked No. 13 in the nation, and 2024 will be the third year in Miami’s system for these players. So they should be ready to help out on the two-deep, as starters and competing to start, right?

Well, let’s take a look at if that’s actually the case:

Gary Ferman’s series introduction overview as Miami looks to turn around program … 2020 recruiting class analysis …. 2021 recruiting class analysis

GRADUATED MIAMI / LEFT FOR NFL (4)

* A 2022 arrival from UCLA, DE Mitchell Agude came in as a Pac-12 second team All-Conference pick. He wound up having a part-time starting role at Miami and ended with 39 tackles, seven for losses, with four sacks in his lone season. He was signed as a free agent by the Miami Dolphins and is now with the Lions.

* UCLA MLB transfer Caleb Johnson arrived for the 2022 season with the idea he would supplant returning starter Corey Flagg. But Johnson faltered, and Flagg remained the starter – in all Johnson had 48 tackles and four TFL in his one season. He went undrafted but signed with the New York Jets as a free agent and is now with the Browns.

* DL Jacob Lichtenstein came in from USC but never made much of an impact. He was buried down the depth chart in his time at Miami.

* DT Antonio Moultrie came in from UAB after earning honorable mention All-Conference USA honors. But he wasn’t able to get into the rotation regularly at Miami and ended 2022 with 14 tackles and 2.5 sacks. He went undrafted but was signed by the Green Bay Packers and his current football status is unknown.

TRANSFERS OUT FROM MIAMI / DEPARTED (NOT FOR NFL) WITH ELIGIBILITY REMAINING (13)

* QB Jacurri Brown wound up starting two of the final three games as a true freshman in 2022 after starter Tyler Van Dyke was hurt and backup Jake Garcia faltered. While Brown made plays with his legs he had accuracy issues passing the ball, throwing for 230 yards with three TDs and three INTs. Then he redshirted this past season but started the bowl game when Tyler Van Dyke opted out – Brown completed 20 of 31 passes for 181 yards in that game with a TD and INT, adding 57 rush yards and two more scores. He was the fourth team QB this spring and transferred to UCF.

* Hopes were high that RB TreVonte’ Citizen could emerge as that combo power/speed back Miami was seeking as a highly touted four-star signee. But he suffered a devastating preseason knee injury before he could play a down and never made it fully back to his prior form. Following this spring he transferred to McNeese State.

* Interior OL Jon Denis transferred in from Oregon in 2022, following Alex Mirabal and Mario Cristobal. He was a backup with the Ducks and was pretty much the same at Miami, although he did start two games in the middle of 2022 when it was necessitated by injury. He entered the transfer portal following the spring and is still seeking a new home.

* CB Chris Graves came into Miami as a true freshman with hopes of earning an immediate role, but injury ended that. And he wound up transferring to Ole Miss before last season – he had 13 tackles and a forced fumble off the bench in 2023.

* Maryland DT transfer Darrell Jackson was a great portal addition for the 2022 season. He came to Miami after playing in every game at Maryland as a freshman, starting one. He wound up starting next to Leonard Taylor and fared well with 27 tackles, 4 TFL and 3 sacks. But he transferred to Florida State in the offseason, citing an ailing family member and wanting to be closer to home. He had to redshirt per NCAA rules and will be eligible to play for FSU this year.

* DE Nyjalik Kelly had 4 sacks off the bench as a true freshman, and hopes were high he’d have a breakout 2023 season after winning the starting job in fall camp. But an early season injury ended his season, and after Kelly missed spring still dealing with injury he transferred to UCF.

* WR Frank Ladson transferred in from Clemson, and the former top recruit’s best year with the Tigers was in 2020 when he had 18 receptions for 281 yards while starting four games. Ladson got his chance at Miami with nine starts but just never emerged as a reliable playmaker – he had 27 catches for 298 yards. He wound up transferring to UMass this year.

* DE Cyrus Moss arrived as a highly touted true freshman and worked hard to overcome a big size deficiency. But he struggled to pack on more muscle and is now seeking a new home in the transfer portal.

* RB Henry Parrish arrived from Ole Miss in 2022, and wound up running for 616 yards and averaging 4.7 yards per carry while starting five games. Then this past season he ran for 625 yards and six TDs (6.3 YPC), but Mark Fletcher wound up starting over him by the end of the season. With Miami seeking a portal addition (and eventually landing Damien Martinez), Fletcher saw the writing on the wall and transferred back to Ole Miss.

* CB Khamauri Rogers was an early enrollee in 2022 and worked hard to come off a torn ACL suffered in high school but never made movement up the depth chart. He transferred to Mississippi State after the 2022 season bit didn’t play in any games there last year.

* OG Logan Sagapolu was a backup at Oregon who followed Mario Cristobal and Alex Mirabal to Miami. He played in five games off the bench in 2022 with one start (necessitated by injury), then was down the depth chart last year. He has now transferred to Washington, where he’s expected to transition to playing nose tackle.

* TE Jaleel Skinner was a big recruiting win over Alabama for Miami, but he never panned out. Skinner ended his freshman season with nine catches for 129 yards and a TD, then last year was mired down the depth chart as he struggled to hold onto passes. He’s now transferred to Louisville.

* WR Colbie Young was a JUCO arrival out of Lackawanna (Pa.) Junior College who had a couple of back-to-back 100-yard games at the midway point of the 2022 season – he ended with 32 catches for 367 yards (starting six of the final seven games). Then last year he was a starter alongside Xavier Restrepo and Jacolby George but didn’t match their production, ending with 47 catches for 563 yards and five TDs. He has now transferred to Georgia, and Miami’s taken Houston’s Sam Brown out of the portal to help replace him.

ANTICIPATED STARTERS (3)

* OLB Wesley Bissainthe started three games as a true freshman, ending with 30 tackles. He has some flashes, but then last season was beaten out in fall drills by Louisville transfer KJ Cloyd. Bissainthe quickly won the job back, but it was an up-and-down season for him with 44 tackles, 6.5 for losses, with two sacks.

* Anez Cooper started four of the final five games as a true freshman and held his own at guard, then was a full-time starter at right guard last year and enjoyed a strong year (65.9 overall grade and 78.4 pass block grade per Pro Football Focus, with one sack and eight QB hurries allowed). He is one of three returning starters on a line that should be very solid this coming season.

* CB Daryl Porter Jr. transferred in from West Virginia prior to the 2022 season with the expectation he would start opposite Tyrique Stevenson. But DJ Ivey wound up beating out Porter, who when he did get reps didn’t play particularly well. Last season Porter showed out as a full-time starter, though, finishing with 23 tackles and four pass breakups, with PFF noting him allowing only 12 completions on 26 attempts when targeted (for 114 yards with no TDs allowed). He is the only full-time returning starter in the secondary.

BATTLING TO START (5)

* CB Jaden Harris played STAR/nickel behind Te’Cory Couch in 2022, then moved to safety and got a couple of starts last year with Kam Kinchens banged up – he was up-and-down, with seven tackles and sharing a tackle for loss. With Kinchens and James Williams gone the safety jobs are up for grabs, and Harris and Markeith Williams are the likely options … although Washington transfer Mishael Powell could move from nickel to safety and take one of the starting spots (which is why both Harris and Williams are listed under this “Battling To Start” header).

* WR Isaiah Horton hasn’t gotten a lot of opportunities yet to prove himself, mainly working in as a backup the last two years. He had 13 catches for 168 yards last season, including a 52-yard highlight TD vs. Texas A&M. The expectation was this would be his year to break out with Colbie Young gone, but Miami added Houston’s top receiver, Sam Brown (had 815 yards last season). So Horton has his work cut out if he doesn’t want limited reps once again.

* OL Matthew McCoy redshirted in 2022 and then last year got some work in jumbo packages and also in the bowl game when Javion Cohen opted out. He’s in a battle to start this year with the left guard spot open, but others in the mix are Samson Okunlola and Markel Bell. This fall will determine where the chips fall, and Okunlola may have a leg up right now to be the fifth starter (starters Anez Cooper, Jalen Rivers and Francis Mauigoa return, and UM added Indiana veteran center transfer Zach Carpenter to take over the departing Matt Lee’s spot).

* West Virginia DL transfer Akheem Mesidor arrived from West Virginia, and he had a standout 2022 season with the Canes, ending with 38 tackles, 10.5 TFL and seven sacks. It was expected he’d build on that last season, but torn tendons in both feet ended his season in the first few weeks. He also missed spring ball due to the injury and will require special cleats to play. Miami added Tennessee DE  transfer Tyler Baron as a likely starter with Rueben Bain … unless Mesidor can show he’s 100 percent back. While he primarily played DE at Miami, Mesidor could also could wind up working inside if he’s lost a step.

* Safety Markeith Williams worked in on a limited basis last year behind Kam Kinchens and James Williams, but got a chance to start in the bowl game vs. Rutgers with both safeties opting out. He responded with a strong performance, ending with eight tackles. Now he’s battling to start in 2024, and he and Jaden Harris appear most likely to be the guys back there … but the team could also move Washington transfer Mishael Powell from nickel to safety, which would shake things up.

ANTICIPATED BACKUPS (1)

* Ahmad Moten redshirted in 2022 and was down the depth chart last season, ending with two tackles. Even though the depth chart is very thin on the defensive interior it’s going to be a battle for Moten to make the two-deep.

SOUTH FLORIDA TOP-RATED PLAYERS THAT GOT AWAY (5)

* DE Marvin Jones, Jr. American Heritage. Miami was never high in his picture and he signed with Georgia. In 2022 he was a reserve linebacker and had one sack and a QB hurry, then last season he ended with 12 tackles and a sack working off the bench. He’s now transferred to Florida State, where he is likely to start.

* DL Shemar Stewart, Monsignor Pace. The Canes pushed hard down the stretch with Mario Cristobal trying to make up for lost ground, but he signed with Texas A&M. Stewart wound up starting six games and made the SEC All-Freshman team in 2022, ending with 23 tackles, 3.5 TFL and 1.5 sacks. This past season he had 11 tackles and 1.5 sacks, starting one game, and he’ll be in the mix to start this year.

* DE Kenyatta Jackson, Hollywood Chaminade-Madonna. Signed with Ohio State, and Miami was never high in his picture down the stretch. He played in three games in 2022, redshirting, and had two tackles. Then last season he played in three games off the bench and had two tackles. He’s expected to be in the two-deep but not start this coming season.

* OL Julian Armella, Ft. Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas. Signed with FSU after Miami made up a lot of ground with Mario Cristobal pushing in a very small timeframe between being hired and signing day. Armella slightly delayed his signing as he weighed his UM option, but ultimately signed with the Seminoles. He played in four games off the bench in 2022, redshirting, then last year played off the bench in six games. He’s projected as the second team right tackle this coming season.

* CB Earl Little II, American Heritage. Little, whose father played for the Canes, signed with Alabama. Cristobal pushed hard after being hired, but ‘Bama already had its hooks into Little. He missed the first half of 2022 injured, then played in three games off the bench and redshirted. This past season he played in eight games off the bench, totaling two tackles, before a season-ending injury. He’s now transferred to Florida State, where he’s very much in the mix to start.

ANALYSIS

Miami only signed 14 in this recruiting class, but then added 11 out of the portal plus a JUCO addition. And it’s somewhat surprising the way this played out, and not in a good way. Of the high school signees, eight of the 14 remain on the roster and only three are likely starters – Wesley Bissainthe (we will give him the benefit of the doubt over Jaylin Alderman), Anez Cooper and Daryl Porter, Jr. Five more are battling to start, and the likelihood is maybe one or two of them will wind up on the field for rep 1 vs. Florida – perhaps Jaden Harris and/or Markeith Williams, depending if Mishael Powell moves from nickel to safety.

All three top 100 rated players from the class are gone without ever making a real impact: Nyjalik Kelly, Cyrus Moss and Jaleel Skinner.

Then you have 13 other players who either signed out of high school or transferred in that wound up transferring out with eligibility remaining. Think about that for a minute – after two playing seasons, 50 percent of the guys who arrived for the 2022 season transferred out.

Another four ran out of eligibility without making much of an impact –  DE Mitchell Agude, LB Caleb Johnson, DL Jacob Lichtenstein and DT Antonio Moultrie.

If you had to assign a “hit” rate out of the 26 in this class so far (guys that started a decent amount of games and had some level of production), it would be 30.8 percent … the hits would be Mitchell Agude, Darrell Jackson, Henry Parrish, Colbie Young, Wesley Bissainthe, Anez Cooper, Akheem Mesidor and Daryl Porter, Jr. So the “hit” rate of the recruits signed in the class at this point (taking out the transfers) is two out of 14, or 14.3 percent. Others like Jaden Harris, Isaiah Horton, Matthew McCoy, Markeith Williams and Ahmad Moten could, of course, still become “hits” in the future. So we will revisit this again next year.

When you add up the misses from Manny Diaz’s final two classes with the fact that this class already has seen more than half of its additions gone … well, that’s how you have a program that HAD to load up even more in the portal in 2023 and 2024. It’s not a long term sustainable answer for roster building, but the misses in this class to some extent forced it.

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