Miami Hurricanes 50-1 Countdown: Ranking the top 50 post-spring players … No. 15 Cam McCormick

No. 50 Miami DT Thomas Gore … No. 49 Malik Curtis … No. 48 Kaleb Spencer … No. 47 Ahmad Moten … No. 46 Jaden Harris … No. 45 Logan Sagapolu … No. 44 Markeith Williams … No. 43 Frank Ladson … No. 42 Chris Graves … No. 41 Keontra Smith … No. 40 Robby Washington … No. 39 Emory Williams … No. 38 Jacurri Brown … No. 37 Brashard Smith … No. 36 Terry Roberts … No. 35 Samson Okunlola … No. 34 Dylan Joyce … No. 33 Jared Harrison-Hunte … No. 32 Jaleel Skinner … No. 31 Corey Flagg … No. 30 Ray Ray Joseph … No. 29 Don Chaney … No. 28 Anez Cooper … No. 27 Branson Deen … No. 26 Zion Nelson … No. 25 Isaiah Horton … No. 24 Rueben Bain … No. 23 Daryl Porter, Jr. … No. 22 Te’Cory Couch … No. 21 Davonte Brown … No. 20 Andy Borregales … No. 19 Nyjalik Kelly … No. 18 Jahfari Harvey … No. 17 Francis Mauigoa … No. 16 Jacolby George

CaneSport is breaking down the top 50 post-spring players on the roster, a list that doesn’t include any post-spring roster additions. Today we break down No. 15, Cam McCormick.

NO. 15 MIAMI TE CAM MCCORMICK

Why he’s No. 15

Maybe you are a bit surprised that a journeyman eighth-year tight end who transferred in from Oregon is cracking the top 15 on our list. But it really does show some of the talent gap issues on the roster. As you look at this list later, you’ll see that outside of the top 8 players, there really aren’t any sure-fired guys you know for sure are going to be playmakers. So why is McCormick this high up? Well, he certainly looked the part when he was healthy this spring when he was the first-teamer ahead of Jaleel Skinner (with Elijah Arroyo out injured). He’s got that physicality that Mario Cristobal wants while also having good enough receiving skills to be an outlet for the quarterback. McCormick has an interesting history. He was a backup at Oregon in 2016 and 2017, then had four straight years with numerous season-ending leg injuries and an Achilles’ tear – between 2018 and 2021. Last year he was back in action for the Ducks. McCormick had eight catches for 60 yards with two TDs. At 6-5 and 260 pounds, he is a physical, veteran presence on Miami’s team, and UM could utilize his blocking ability (he graded out at 71.4 percent as a pass blocker and 66.6 as a run blocker last year in 366 reps per Pro Football Focus). Prior to last year he played one rep in 2016, 319 in 2017 (57.5 grade), 11 reps in 2018, 0 reps in 2019 or 2020 and 10 reps in 2021. So really he hasn’t had a lot of opportunities due to his injury history. But when healthy he looks like he can really help this team.

What he needs to do to move up this list

First of all, stay healthy. He was out the tail end of spring drills when he was banged up, and given his injury history that’s always going to be a concern. We see McCormick as more of an every-down tight end option compared with Jaleel Skinner (who still needs to add more weight/strength) and the true freshmen arrivals Riley Williams and Jackson Carver. So really it’s going to be a situation where depending on how Elijah Arroyo looks coming off injury … and how Shannon Dawson wants to utilize the tight ends … that will determine the number of reps McCormick plays. But coaches are high on his ability in the run game and also as a once-in-a-while receiving target. So we expect he will be on the field quite a bit at least helping with run blocking.

Realistic season objective

McCormick is a veteran presence with great physicality, and assuming he can stay healthy we think he’ll be used in conjunction with Elijah Arroyo and will get more overall reps than Jaleel Skinner (who continues to have issues holding onto the ball and needs to play with more physicality). So look for McCormick to be a difference-maker helping out as a run blocker, and especially in short yardage situations he’s going to be a valuable asset. In the receiving game? We think he’ll be an outlet option at times and probably won’t have a big impact in that area. Maybe a few red zone TDs could come his way, but we wouldn’t expect him to have more than 10 or 20 receptions on the year. His forte is physicality and winning at the point of attack, and also helping in pass protection.

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