Miami Hurricanes 50-1 Countdown: Ranking the top 50 post-spring players … No. 21 Davonte Brown

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

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. 21, Davonte Brown.

NO. 21 MIAMI CB DAVONTE BROWN

Why he’s No. 21

Brown arrived at Miami in January as a UCF transfer and was a first-teamer during the spring (the team lost last year’s starters Tyrique Stevenson and DJ Ivey) … and arguably was the best performer of the Miami cornerbacks. With that said, there is no guarantee he’ll start in the fall. The team’s since added Jaden Davis from Oklahoma and Ja’Dais Richard from Vanderbilt. The competition to start at the boundary corner spots in fall camp will be fierce and also includes fellow January transfer arrival Terry Roberts from Iowa plus returning players Daryl Porter, Jr. (the other spring main starter), Jaden Harris and Chris Graves (both redshirted last year), junior Malik Curtis as well as true freshmen Damari Brown and Robert Stafford. The 6-2, 185-pounder comes in with 36 games of playing experience, and in his time at UCF he had 91 total tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, a sack, 21 pass deflections and a forced fumble. He had 30 tackles, two INTs and four PBU this past season, and he also started every game as a sophomore in 2021 and ended with 13 PBU and an interception. In 2020 as a freshman backup he had 23 tackles while starting five games. His Pro Football Focus grades? Last year in 711 reps he graded out at 65.5 percent (70 is considered good) with a 63.6 cover grade and 46.7 tackle grade. In 2021 he had 763 reps at UCF and graded out at an elite 82.3 percent overall (84.0 cover grade, 55.7 tackling). In 2020 he played 411 reps and graded out at 66.5 (63.2 cover grade, 81.8 tackle grade). In 116 career targets he’s allowed 64 receptions for 838 yards and four TDs per PFF.

What he needs to do to move up this list

First prove he’s good enough to win the starting job after a decent but not great spring. And then make some plays. The cornerbacks will be left on an island quite a bit in a blitzing, aggressive Lance Guidry defense, so whoever starts will be tested a lot one-on-one. Brown is good enough to be a solid playmaker, but he has to show he can do it on a consistent basis. You saw two years ago with 13 PBU how he can really be aggressive on routes and break up passes. That’s what Miami needs out of him.

Realistic season objective

Last year the Miami DBs performed just so-so (allowed 20 TD passes and 233.1 yards per game with 14 INTs). So perhaps it’s not surprising with Stevenson and Ivey gone that Miami’s added a starting basketball team worth of transfers to the roster over the last two years. We have Brown as the highest rated cornerback on this 50-strong list at No. 21, which shows that perhaps there isn’t really that top end talent you want at this spot. We do think Brown emerges as one of the boundary starters, and we could see him succeeding with a few interceptions and maintaining solid coverage down the field.

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