The ringtone that plays 24-7 for Miami Hurricane and the ‘weird’ NFL Draft each faces
Some folks have their favorite song as a cellphone ringtone.
K.J. Osborn has his dream.
Since Osborn transferred to the University of Miami from Buffalo last year, every time the Hurricanes’ 2019 leading receiver gets a text message, he is reminded of that dream.
“It’s the tune they play when someone gets picked in the NFL Draft,’’ Osborn, 22, told the Miami Herald this week during a phone interview. “It goes like ‘doo-doo-doo dooo-dooo doo-doo.’ It never gets old. You know how people silence their phones during long group texts? I don’t because I love hearing it.”
That Osborn sang the tune in almost perfect pitch was impressive. That he ends up on an NFL roster would be, for him, spectacular. Osborn is one of eight Hurricanes who were invited to the NFL Scouting Combine. All eight have a decent chance to be drafted, but the widely held projections have them selected in the third and final day of the draft on Saturday — rounds four through seven.
The questions now: Who among those eight — Osborn and former fellow seniors Trevon Hill (defensive end), Shaquille Quarterman (linebacker), Michael Pinckney (linebacker); and former juniors DeeJay Dallas (running back), Jonathan Garvin (defensive end), Trajan Bandy (cornerback) and Jeff Thomas (receiver) —will actually get the coveted call? And exactly when?
“Will I be nervous? Of course,’’ Quarterman, who dominated with 356 career tackles and 46 1/2 tackles for loss in a UM-record 52 collegiate starts, told the Herald by phone this week, just moments after he hung up from a call with a Buffalo Bills scout telling him he’s on their radar and to keep communicating with FaceTime. “This is the biggest moment of my career.’’
And this, from Pinckney, Quarterman’s former partner in on-field mayhem who is recuperating from recent surgery to repair a tear in the labrum of his left hip: “The draft is a crazy process, but I’m not a guy that worries too much. Whatever is thrown at me, I’m ready to take it. It’s something I’ve been thinking about all my life.’’’
The Hurricanes, for years a dominant force in the draft, haven’t had a first-round pick since tight end David Njoku went No. 29 overall in 2017 to the Cleveland Browns. Since then, their highest pick has been defensive end Chad Thomas in the third round — 67th overall— in 2018 to the Browns.
With the world in crisis and sports coming to a halt in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, not to mention UM’s 6-7 record last season, the draft-eligible Hurricanes just want to hear their names called. Get them to a training camp, if and when football resumes, and they promise to do the rest.
In no specific order:
Jonathan Garvin
Many believe that Garvin, who could play as a rush linebacker or defensive end, will be the first Hurricane taken, though his production waned this year while redshirt freshman end Greg Rousseau became a national phenom. NFL.com analyst Lance Zierlein wrote before the combine in February that Garvin had “Day 2 talent,’’ but could drop to the third round because, like other analysts, Zierlein views him as an underachiever.
Garvin, once a potential first-round pick after his 60 tackles and 17 tackles for loss as a sophomore, could possibly sneak into the third round Friday, ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. said last month, but “I don’t think that’s going to happen, though.’’
Garvin started all 12 games this past season, finishing with 37 tackles, nine tackles for loss, five sacks, four quarterback hurries and two forced fumbles. Pro Football Focus reported that Garvin “pressured quarterbacks on 14.8 percent of pass rushes in 2019,’’ the fifth-best percentage in the Atlantic Coast Conference (minimum of 200 pass rushes).
At the Combine, his vertical leap was 36 inches, No. 1 among 32 edge rushers/defensive linemen. He measured in at 6-4 and 263 pounds and ran the eighth-fastest 40-yard dash time of 4.82 seconds of 38 players listed as D-linemen and edge rushers who ran the 40.
Bleacher Report’s Matt Miller had Garvin as his “biggest sleeper’’ among edge rushers in the draft.
Shaquille Quarterman
Quarterman could also be the first Hurricane taken. On Wednesday, Kiper said the Orange Park native could go in the “fourth or fifth” round. If the first UM player gets drafted in the fifth round, you would have to go back to 2013 for the last time that happened (cornerback Brandon McGee to the St. Louis Rams).
Quarterman measured at 6-0 and 234 pounds at the combine and had a prolific career at UM. He ended his senior season with a team-high 107 tackles and 15.5 tackles for loss, earning All-ACC first-team honors from the Associated Press and the Atlantic Coast Conference. His 356 career tackles are ninth best in Miami history. He also had 13 sacks, 14 pass deflections, five fumble recoveries, two forced fumbles and a touchdown.
“My football tape is immaculate — four years of it,’’ he said, dispelling the analysts who critiqued Quarterman’s open-field tackling. “I have played sideline-to-sideline making crushing tackles. I polished my game, I graduated, I represented the brand at a high level and was a standup guy on and off the field. I’m a guy who pushes toward greatness and I solidifed my legacy: Shaquille Quarterman is a household name in Miami.
“Add me to a team to levitate it, not just patch it up.’’
K.J. Osborn
Osborn is the Hurricane who turned heads at the Combine. The thickly built 5-11 1/2, 203-pound graduate transfer impressed NFL personnel by running a 4.48-second 40 and bench-pressing 18 reps, sixth most among the 33 wide receivers who chose to lift.
AT UM, Osborn started all 13 games last season and led the Canes in receptions (50), receiving yards (547), punt returns (16), punt-return yardage (225) and all-purpose yards (1,018). He likely would have had more receiving yardage had UM’s quarterback position not fallen apart the last half of the season. He finished his career, including Buffalo, with 96 catches for 1,490 yards and 12 touchdowns.
“Stellar,’’ is how CBSsports.com draft analyst Chris Trapasso described Osborn’s Combine. “He can now be considered one of he best all-around athletes at the receiver position in this class.’’
Osborn was scheduled to fly home Saturday to be with his mother and sister in Ypsilanti, Michigan, for the draft. “With this virus thing, we’re looking at Zoom options,’’ Osborn said of the video conferencing app. “Some of my family can’t be physically with me, but they’ll be able to see my reaction live. Thinking about it now I get chills.’’
DeeJay Dallas
Those in need of a versatile, physical runner could opt for Dallas, who ran for 693 yards and eight touchdowns with a strong 6-yards-per-carry average last season in his first as the featured back. He ranked second behind Osborn with 846 all-purpose yards in only 10 games before he dislocated his left elbow, which is completely healed now, he said.
Dallas, 5-10 and 217 pounds, ran a 4.58 40 at the Combine.
“The best pass-protecting back in the draft class,’’ NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah said. “His game is about vision, balance and power between the tackles...This dude is a bulldog in short yardage.’’
Dallas will be with his family, including his fiancé Yasmin Dugans and 9-month-old son DeeJay Nova, at his mom’s home in Brunswick, Georgia, “watching and waiting on the call.”
“I’ve been an underdog my whole life,’’ Dallas said. “I’m ready for anything.’’
Michael Pinckney
Pinckney, 5-11 and 235 pounds, returned for his senior season to give it one last go with coach Manny Diaz, whom he adores, and teammate Quarterman. Turns out that despite having a consistently productive career (267 tackles, 42 tackles for loss, 14 1/2 sacks, three interceptions), he played much of 2018 and all of 2019 with a hip injury and eventually, a sports hernia. After compiling a team-best five tackles in the East-West Shrine Bowl in January, he knew he needed surgery and got it done March 20.
“I’m doing a whole lot better,’’ said Pinckney, who will be with his family in Jacksonville for the draft. “I’m a blessed individual, me being able to get the surgery with this virus going on. This whole draft process has been weird. I’ve been wearing my gloves and my mask, just rehabbing, reading lots of books, supporting a lot of Uber Eats.”
Pinckney went to Indianapolis for the Combine solely to interview “with the majority of teams.’’ His rehab will stretch into next season, if there is one. “I’m tenacious, aggressive and a guy that’ll do whatever it takes to win,’’ he said. “So much speculation. I don’t think anybody knows for sure what will happen.’’
The others
UM’s other NFL-caliber talents are defensive end Trevon Hill, cornerback Trajan Bandy and receiver Jeff Thomas. Each of them could go early to late on Day 3, though Thomas, who has astounding athletic gifts, could go undrafted because of character issues that have haunted him for years.
Hill, 6-3 and 248 pounds, was UM’s graduate transfer out of Virginia Tech. He was dismissed by the Hokies program following a sideline argument with a football staff member at halftime of an early-season game in 2018. He stayed at Tech to get his degree (and threw up the U when he walked across the stage) and signed with UM in February 2020.
At UM, Hill was the third defensive end in the rotation and had 27 tackles, 9 1/2 tackles for loss and 4 1/2 sacks in 12 games. At Virginia Tech, he amassed 94 tackles, 20 tackles for loss, 11 1/2 sacks, 14 quarterback hurries, a forced fumble and interception. He is an “early to mid-Day 3’’ pick, Kiper said.
Bandy, out of Miami Columbus High, was measured at 5-7 6/8 and 180 pounds, the shortest cornerback at the Combine. His motor never stops running, though he had his best season in 2018 as a sophomore, with 36 tackles 4 1/2 tackles for loss, two fumble recoveries, eight pass breakups and three interceptions.
And finally, Thomas, 5-8 7/8 and a wiry 170 pounds, is the gifted receiver who made your jaw drop watching his speed and talent— when he wasn’t suspended or dealing with off-the-field issues. He was dismissed by former coach Mark Richt in November 2018, despite leading the team with 35 catches for 563 yards and three touchdowns. He returned to UM in 2019 after Diaz was named coach, but tallied only 379 yards with three receiving touchdowns in 10 games.
Don’t be surprised if an NFL team takes a shot at Thomas earlier than expected — or not at all.
For the Miami Hurricanes, this year’s draft could be maddening, exhilarating, or both.
Said Quarterman: “You’ve got to enjoy it. That’s what I told myself. I’ve done everything right along the way. I’ve reached every goal I’ve set. Now it’s time to reap what I’ve sowed.”
This story was originally published April 17, 2020 at 12:32 PM.
