ANALYSIS: Power ranking the Miami Hurricanes position groups

The Miami Hurricanes hope to have a quick turnaround off Mario Cristobal’s opening season as head coach in which both the offense and defense faltered – the Canes ranked No. 85 in the nation in total offense, No. 96 in scoring offense, No. 64 in total defense and No. 66 in scoring defense.

This year it’s a new-look team in many ways with a revamped coaching staff including two new coordinators as well as a roster that saw 22 scholarship players leave in the transfer portal and 40 new faces arrive (26 signees, 14 transfers in).

So how will it shake out? We’ll find out soon enough.

Today we take a look at how some of the different position groups have changed, several for the better. We are ranking each position by its perceived strengths or weaknesses in terms of starting talent and guys that can make an impact:

9. CORNERBACK

We rate this the weakest position on the team coming off a spring where no one really stood out. That’s a reason why coaches went out and nabbed three more guys in the second portal window – Oklahoma’s Jaden Davis, Vanderbilt’s Ja’Dais Richard and JUCO pickup Demetrius Freeney. They join UCF transfer Davonte Brown and last year’s West Virginia transfer Daryl Porter, Jr., as a group of five that needs two guys to step up and show they can be shutdown guys (Te’Cory Couch is a solid returning starter at nickel, although Richard could also push him for that spot). Davis and Brown are most likely to start at boundary corner, but Davis struggled as a starter at Oklahoma while Brown has good enough downfield speed to hang with guys but struggles sometimes covering some of the shorter routes. In a defensive system that likes to leave its corners on an island in order to get to the QB quickly with blitzes, this probably isn’t ideal as a weak position. But it is what it is and Miami hopes it can find some answers here in fall drills.

8. WIDE RECEIVER

Everyone returns to the WR room, but that’s not saying much when the top guy (Colbie Young) had all of 367 yards in 2022. Miami’s added some playmakers to the mix in freshmen Ray Ray Joseph, who looks like an explosive future star, and Robby Washington along with 4.24-second speedster Tyler Harrell from Alabama and JUCO arrival Shemar Kirk. Harrell is a likely starter but only had one good season at Louisville a couple of years ago where he broke 500 yards receiving while mainly running deep routes. Slot receiver Xavier Restrepo might be poised to finally break out, but he hasn’t had a big year to this point. Others in the mix are Jacolby George, Isaiah Horton, Brashard Smith, Frank Ladson and Mike Redding. From the outside looking in it looks like a bunch of good players but perhaps not great ones. And this Miami program is chasing greatness.

Francisco Mauigoa (photo by Neil Gershman)

7. LINEBACKER

The addition of Francisco Mauigoa as the starting MLB is an upgrade over Corey Flagg, but while he was solid at Washington State he wasn’t a top guy in the conference. And he has to transition to a different program and responsibilities. While we think he’ll be just fine and could be one of the defense’s better players, who else will step up here? OLB Wesley Bissainthe had some bright moments as a true freshman and started the last 3 games of 2022, but he didn’t show a lot of improved play in the spring. The fact that Miami brought in Louisville career backup KJ Cloyd out of the portal in the second window tells you a lot about how the Canes see the depth and top end competition here. While there are four talented true freshmen linebackers, the production Miami will get here remains very much a question mark off a not-real-good 2022 for the linebackers.

6. RUNNING BACK

There were two healthy running backs in the spring, with returning starter Henry Parrish remaining the first-teamer ahead of Don Chaney. And Parrish was so-so as the main guy last year with 616 yards and 4.7 yards per carry. Then there are four other running backs who all qualify as freshmen – TreVonte’ Citizen is unlikely to be ready for the start of the season off injury, Ajay Allen is a powerful back who arrives as a transfer from Nebraska, and the team signed Mark Fletcher and Christopher Johnson as true freshmen. There is some thought that Fletcher is the best of the bunch with the ball in his hands, but he just arrived this summer. So there are a lot of question marks that need to be answered here, and we can see the team going with a committee approach or the hot hand as the season goes along.

5. DEFENSIVE LINE

Leonard Taylor (photo by Ron Bailey)

As with the offensive line, we aren’t going to separate out the different spots here (ends vs. tackles) on this list. But the defensive tackle situation is pretty dire and would probably rank right with cornerback in terms of where it stands. Yes, Leonard Taylor has the makings of a potential first-round NFL pick, but he has to show a consistency of play we have not seen to this point. And who starts next to him? Right now signs point to Branson Deen, who was decent at Purdue but isn’t going to wow you. The depth? There just isn’t much, and don’t be surprised if true freshman Joshua Horton lands on the two-deep. The quality depth question is why the team brought in transfers Thomas Gore and Anthony Campbell. But both those guys were playing at a much lower level (Gore at Georgia State, Campbell was a backup at Louisiana-Monroe). So you get a sense of the challenges here. The end situation is much better. Akheem Mesidor is one of the ACC’s top returners, and Nyjalik Kelly appears on the verge of busting out after enjoying a strong true freshman season with four sacks. Plus Jahfari Harvey is a veteran who has started double-digit games and true freshman Rueben Bain had offers from top programs around the nation and very much appears to be the real deal as a true freshman (as you could see from his three sacks in the spring game). So that’s a solid four, and it also helps that Bain and Mesidor can work inside to help the depth issues there.

4. TIGHT END

Tight End U is turning the chapter on the Brevin Jordan/Will Mallory era with the latter graduating after previously serving as Jordan’s understudy. The next man up here is probably Elijah Arroyo, who is the best suited to fulfill the role of run blocker and pass catcher. He has the skills to be a multi-purpose tool, but just has to put together a full season of work as a starter for the first time. Then there’s Cam McCormick, an eighth-year veteran who is a physical blocker, as well as Jaleel Skinner who can make plays down the field but needs to show more consistency catching the ball. Add in true freshmen Riley Williams (who has drawn raves this offseason) and Jackson Carver and the future is pretty good here starting with this coming season.

3. OFFENSIVE LINE

At the end of last season this position would have ranked dead last on this list. But the team replaced essentially all but one starter, Jalen Rivers. Center Jakai Clark transferred to SMU when Miami brought in Matt Lee to replace him, OT John Campbell was off to Tennessee with the writing on the wall for him, too, as Miami signed 5-star tackles Francis Mauigoa and Samson Okunlola. Mauigoa will start at RT; Okunlola has a very good shot at starting at LT. Also gone is DJ Scaife, who graduated, with Alabama starter and transfer Javion Cohen set to start at left guard this season. The depth here isn’t great, with Anez Cooper probably a guy who can either start at guard or be a solid backup, and perhaps LT Zion Nelson will be able to stay  healthy off recurrent knee issues. So Miami has to hope injuries don’t crop up or the team might have to rely on some other true freshmen like Tommy Kinsler, Antonio Tripp or Frankie Tinilau. The other returners have not inspired confidence from what we’ve seen.

2. QUARTERBACK

Tyler Van Dyke

There’s every reason to think Tyler Van Dyke will regain the form that made him the ACC’s Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2021, when he threw for 25 TDs in 10 games. Josh Gattis’ plodding offense wasn’t a good fit for Van Dyke or this team a year ago, and it compounded matters that the offensive line was a sieve. That should be shored up this season with four anticipated new starters. The receivers also get a boost from not just returning everyone but adding a playmaking freshman in Ray Ray Joseph plus a legit 4.24-second speedster in Alabama transfer Tyler Harrell. The new system under Shannon Dawson is also very quarterback-friendly, so a 30+ TD passing season from Van Dyke is certainly in the cards. There’s every reason to be optimistic here, which is why we are ranking QBs No. 2. The depth here is the question mark with Jacurri Brown struggling with accuracy last year before showing some improvement this spring. The only other scholarship QB is true freshman Emory Williams, who showed good poise and accuracy in the spring but is, after all, just learning in Year 1.

1. SAFETY

All-American Kam Kinchens and James Williams, enough said. Kinchens is getting some preseason mention as a potential first-round NFL pick, and Williams has perhaps even more athletic upside than Kinchens if he can stay healthy and really “get” it in a new defense. Both these guys should be bigtime playmakers and we can see 60+ tackles for each and over 6 interceptions combined. This is one of the nation’s top safety tandems. The only caveat here is depth issues, with untested Markeith Williams and Brian Balom working behind them plus true freshman Kaleb Spencer.

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