ANALYSIS: Miami Hurricanes portal hunt ongoing at several positions, with visits getting lined up

In Miami coach Mario Cristobal’s first full transfer portal cycle he gobbled up 11 players, then last year took 15 more. The double-digit trend is continuing, with the team grabbing eight transfers in the first window and now looking for more help this second portal window.

A lot more.

CaneSport’s portal transfer tracker is constantly being updated, and as of now it appears the team is well on its way to adding another running back, a receiver, one or two defensive linemen, one or two defensive backs and perhaps even an offensive lineman and linebacker.

The team’s biggest position of need is arguably running back, where Mark Fletcher’s status is uncertain coming off a major foot injury and there isn’t much proven returning talent. Miami is targeting Oregon State star RB Damien Martinez, who would become an every down featured back and compliment Cam Ward and this offense perfectly given his skillset. Martinez is visiting Miami this coming weekend, and he visited Arizona and Mississippi State already with a Kentucky visit starting today.

Miami is also looking to get more receiver talent on campus with visit dates getting set up – Arizona State WR Elijhah Badger and Houston’s Sam Brown are being targeted. Both were very productive at their respective schools, and Miami is looking for a possible starting outside receiver to compete with unproven Isaiah Horton and also compliment Xavier Restrepo and Jacolby George. Texas A&M and LSU appear to be the main competition for Brown, and Arizona, Michigan, Texas A&M and Alabama are competition for Badger.

On the offensive line Miami is chasing USC’s Jason Zandamela, who enrolled early there and would be a true freshman. He could be the answer at center in the future for the Canes with Zach Carpenter a one-year fix. Zandamela wanted to return closer to his Clearwater home, and Florida, Florida State and Georgia are the competition there.

Also keep in mind that more names could still emerge on offense as well as defense, as the portal remains open for another week.

On the other side of the ball this is a Canes team that returns proven ends Rueben Bain and Akheem Mesidor (who can also play tackle) and has relied heavily on the portal at tackle (CJ Clark, Thomas Gore, Marley Cook are all seniors who were from the portal). The Canes just don’t really have a lot of top end talent/depth across the board along the line.

At defensive tackle Miami is heavily involved with Michigan State DT Simeon Barrow and Kent State’s CJ West and had had conversations with UCLA’s Jay Toia. The team is intent on landing help on the interior. Barrow might be the best fit as a guy from a major program with starting experience (10.5 sacks in his career). But he visited LSU over the weekend and a big battle for him lies ahead. LSU is also on the radar with West, as is Texas A&M, Michigan, Colorado, Wisconsin and Arkansas. Toia visited Texas over the weekend and Auburn is also involved. So again, it will be a battle there.

A new name at linebacker to monitor is Louisville’s Jaylin Alderman, who is said to be entering the portal this week. Miami needs a quality proven LB with two starters returning but no experience behind them. Arkansas is also a program to watch there, and more options could develop once Alderman is officially in the portal.

In the back end Miami only has back one full-time returning starter, cornerback Daryl Porter, Jr. The team already added S Savion Riley and nickel Mishael Powell in the first portal window, but the top end talent and depth at corner and safety both need more addressing. The team was chasing FSU nickel Greedy Vance with the idea that by landing him Powell could return to safety, where he played at Washington last year. But Vance committed to USC last night after visiting there. A corner to keep an eye on we think Miami’s in a good spot with? That’s Marshall CB D’yoni Hill, who will visit UM this weekend and is coming off an Indiana visit. He played under coordinator Lance Guidry and CB coach Chevis Jackson at Marshall. And more DBs could still emerge on the radar.

The bottom line?

Miami will start to bring visitors on campus this weekend, and certainly the team has holes to fill as you can see from all the positions Mario Cristobal is chasing.

Now the question is who Miami will land, and if they can be difference-makers.

In the meantime, the Hurricanes are presently two scholarships over the 86 scholarship limit and would have to lose additional players for every transfer that is brought in. So there will be more outgoing transfer portal movement this week as well.

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