OPINION: Pro Football Focus returning roster analysis shows why Miami’s offense had portal need … and a path forward

The Miami Hurricanes have added plenty of portal talent since the end of last season, but developing players … and getting guys to return that have done it at a high level at UM the year before … are going to be a key moving forward. Today we are taking a look at the amount of returning talent on offense the Canes have that the portal guys will mesh in with. That can help give an idea of the baseline of this program as Mario Cristobal & Co. look to not just supplement from the portal but also develop returning players.

Miami’s returning offensive player analysis with an assist from Pro Football Focus:

Miami’s departures (100 or more reps played):

OL Matt Lee (792 reps): Full-time starting center graded out at stellar 79.0 percent. Left early for NFL. Former transfer arrival.

OL Javion Cohen (792 reps). Full-time starting left guard graded out at 59.4 percent. Left early for NFL. Former transfer arrival.

QB Tyler Van Dyke (660 reps). Starting QB for all but three games graded out at 85.9 percent but struggled with turnovers (19 TD passes, 12 INTs) and transferred to Wisconsin.

WR Colbie Young (599 reps): Starting WR and No. 3 target behind Xavier Restrepo and Jacolby George (Young ended last year with 47 catches for 563 yards and five TDs). Graded out at 70.2 percent. Transferred to Georgia in January.

RB Henry Parrish (283 reps): Part-time starting RB graded out at 78.1 percent (led team with 625 rush yards and six TDs, 6.3 YPC). Left early in spring practice and transferring back to Ole Miss.

RB Don Chaney (169 reps): Graded out at 79.9 percent as third/Fourth team RB (478 rush yards, 2 TDs, 5.1 YPC). Transferring to Louisville.

WR/RB/KR Brashard Smith (212 reps): Graded out at 68.2 percent (132 rush yards, TD; 22 catches, 263 yards, 2 TDs). Speedy all-purpose back/returner transferred to SMU.

Returners (100 or more reps played):

OL Anez Cooper (878 reps): Starting RG graded out at 65.9 percent.

OL Jalen Rivers (878 reps): Starting LT graded out at 74.1 percent.

OL Francis Mauigoa (866 reps): Starting RT graded out at 68.1 percent.

WR Xavier Restrepo (678 reps): Starting slot graded out at 87.4 percent. 85 catches, 1,092 yards, 6 TDs.

WR Jacolby George (638 reps). Starting WR graded out at 73.4 percent. 57 receptions, 864 yards, 8 TDs.

TE Cam McCormick (564 reps). Starting TE graded out at 42.8 percent. 8 catches, 62 yards.

TE Riley Williams (316 reps): Second team TE graded out at 54.9 percent. 8 catches, 72 yards.

WR Isaiah Horton (292 reps): Backup WR graded out at 60.4 percent. Had 13 catches, 168 yards, long TD vs. Texas A&M.

RB Mark Fletcher (254 reps). Started toward latter half of season, graded out at 84.2 percent. Ran for 534 yards and five TDs, averaging 4.9 YPC.

QB Emory Williams (181 reps). Started two games vs. Clemson and FSU, went 1-1 and graded out at 66.8 percent.

RB Ajay Allen (169 reps). Graded out at 77.1 percent. Was third/fourth team with Don Chaney and ran for 361 yards and five TDs, averaging 5.2 YPC.

OL Matthew McCoy (141 reps). Backup OL worked as extra blocking TE as well at times and graded out at 57.7 percent.

OL Ryan Rodriguez (123 reps). Backup center got on this list after starting in bowl game when Matt Lee opted out – graded out at 77.2 percent overall.

ANALYSIS

Five offensive starters are gone from last year’s team (Lee, Cohen, Van Dyke, Young and part-time starter Parrish), and you can see that the offensive group is very well stacked with some returners. There are three high performing starters back on the O line (Cooper, Rivers and Mauigoa) and two top receivers (Restrepo and George). While Fletcher is questionable for the start of the season with a foot injury, you also can see some of the depth being developed with decent reps last year given to guys like Riley Williams, Horton, Allen and McCoy. All four of those guys are in line for significant action this season depending on how the fall battles shake out. Further down the road the reps can pay off with guys like Emory Williams and McCoy.

You also can see the holes in the returning roster that made Miami go out and add a Cam Ward, Damien Martinez, Sam Brown and Zach Carpenter, right?

But the focus of this analysis is the returning guys since Miami is working to stack its roster classes and eventually wants a lot more returners to be ready to factor in. You can’t replace game experience and the knowledge/confidence gleaned off that. So while there is some good offensive talent off last year’s roster, as you add up the numbers you see there are really maybe eight to 10 guys returning on offense that are good enough and expected to contribute a lot this year. And you need 22 for a solid two-deep, right?

That’s why you saw Miami’s need to chase portal help at every position other than tight end this offseason. Moving forward what you really want is more guys that are ready to step up and earn valuable reps as backups the prior year … while returning several multiple year starters as well.

That’s the formula for a top, championship-ready roster that is sustainable year after year.

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