DE Jahfari Harvey excited for Miami Hurricanes to show what they’ve got in opener: “Everybody is ready to roll”

With 13 starts in his Miami career that dates back to 2019, DE/JACK Jahfari Harvey is an older guy in the defensive line room. He also knows what it should look like when this Hurricanes defense is doing things right.

Harvey is optimistic that what fans will see come gametime against Miami (Ohio) will make them happy in UM’s new, more complex defense.

“I think everybody is pretty comfortable with the defense we’ve got,” Harvey said. “It’s more movement, but everybody was locked in in camp. I think everybody knows what they are doing. Everybody is pretty comfortable with the playbook.”

Miami hasn’t announced a depth chart, but Harvey was locked in a fall battle with Nyjalik Kelly, and regardless both should get plenty of opportunities.

Akheem Mesidor will start on the opposite side, and freshman Rueben Bain will also get plenty of reps.

“He’s going to be great, already is a great player,” Harvey said of Bain. “Every day he comes in eager to learn, works hard. If you didn’t know him you can’t tell he’s a freshman. He’s going to make a big impact for us this year playing the defensive line.”

It’s a solid DE corps, and at tackle the team has back a top talent in Leonard Taylor, who is joined by Purdue transfer Branson Deen as the anticipated starters.

It should be a solid line under Lance Guidry, which is good news considering his defense is predicated on quickly pressuring the quarterback and force an offense to make mistakes.

“Miami-Ohio – we have to do a good job containing the quarterback (Brett Gabbert),” Harvey said. “Pretty good O line, everybody knows what they are doing.”

Harvey is looking to do his part this season, and he did grade out last year as the ACC’s seventh-leading edge rusher (at 76.2 with Mesidor first) per Pro Football Focus. He has 19.5 career TFL and 9.5 sacks.

His background? After playing four games off the bench in 2019 as a true freshman he started one game in 2020 and ended with 18 tackles and 1.5 sacks, then in 2021 started five times and had 26 tackles with 7 TFL and 2.5 sacks. This past season he was part of a heavy end rotation in Kevin Steele’s system and started seven times, ending with 31 tackles, 7.5 TFL and 5.5 sacks.

Now he’s looking for a big 2023 season for himself and the team.

“Everybody is ready to roll,” Harvey said. “Ready to get this season rolling. We’ve been playing against each other the whole camp. We’re ready to go play somebody in different colors.”

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