With Brevin Jordan in NFL, Miami’s Will Mallory on center stage: ‘It’s my shot, my turn’
The always charismatic, always outspoken, mostly upbeat Brevin Jordan was the Hurricanes tight end you couldn’t help noticing, whether on the field making NFL-type moves, on the sideline injured or in a Zoom teleconference prompting hearty laughs.
Now, it’s Will Mallory’s stage, and Jordan’s 6-5, 245-pound talented close friend and former roommate, who missed the spring recovering from shoulder surgery, is back at full strength and determined to make a grand entrance.
“It’s definitely different,’’ Mallory, a 22-year-old fourth-year junior, told reporters last weekend at fall camp, when asked about the void left by Jordan, drafted in the fifth round by the Houston Texans. “Been living with Brevin — I’ve been with him since I got here. But being the main guy is exactly why I wanted to come here.
“It’s my shot, my turn, I’m ready for it. I’ve got a great group of guys behind me, too, that can contribute. I’m excited for the opportunity to step up for this team.”
Last season, while Jordan was catching 38 passes for 576 yards and seven touchdowns and dragging defenders along with him in eight games, Mallory was catching 22 passes for 329 yards and four touchdowns in 11 games.
Jordan: ‘All business’
“I talked to him probably a couple weeks ago,’’ Mallory said of Jordan, one of three 2019 finalists for the Mackey Award that goes to the nation’s finest tight end. “He’s doing great. Same energy, same personality over there. From everything I’ve heard from the coaches and read online about him he’s doing extremely well, which isn’t a surprise. He said it was a real-life job — we laughed about that.
“He said ‘It’s no joke’ there, it’s all business.’ He’s doing well and he’s enjoying the opportunity he’s getting and he’s going to show everybody why he should have been one of the first tight ends taken.”
Mallory, also considered a force but often overshadowed by Jordan, was a top national prospect out of Jacksonville Providence School and ESPN’s No. 3 prep tight end when he signed with UM . His father Mike is a former Michigan football star and served as the Jacksonville Jaguars’ assistant special teams coordinator from 2017 through 2020. Will succeeds the tight end (Jordan) with the most yards after catch in 2020 (353), according to Pro Football Focus, and recently was named to the John Mackey Award preseason watch list.
Mallory ‘stronger’
Mallory has worked on strengthening his legs and lower body since he got to UM and said he’s feeling stronger than he was last year. He said he had to shake off “some rust” this past weekend, but believes this year’s offense with coordinator Rhett Lashlee and quarterback D’Eriq King back, the gifted younger receivers making inroads and elite true freshman tight end Elijah Arroyo already turning heads, will be a force.
The other tight ends include 6-2, 220-pound third-year redshirt freshman Larry Hodges, 6-4, 248-pound second-year freshman Dominic Mammarelli and 6-2, 225-pound true freshman Kahlil Brantley out of Miami Northwestern. Hodges, a former four-star talent out of Tampa Jesuit, is back after being arrested in the spring for a concealed firearm and marijuana in the car he was driving. But formal charges were never filed and Hodges, who caught only one pass last season for negative yardage, is back.
Mammarelli, listed as 6-4 and 248, didn’t compete in the spring while rehabbing his shoulder.
“The guys are really connecting well,’’ Mallory said. “We’re getting back into that groove. Obviously having D’Eriq, myself and a couple guys out in the spring, we’re getting back into it and the offense is starting to roll. I guess you guys can see how dangerous we can be when we start rolling.”
Arroyo emerging
As for consensus four-star newcomer Arroyo, listed as 6-4 and 235 pounds out of Frisco, Texas Independence High as the nation’s No. 4 incoming tight end, he is drawing raves — including from head coach Manny Diaz.
“He already has the size, so with that comes confidence,’’ Mallory said of Arroyo, whom he described as “a freak’’ and “ginormous already as a freshman.
“I was always undersized from the beginning. Him being so big already, he seems confident, seems smooth. He’s already way farther ahead than I was. He’s going to contribute early if he keeps the course.’’
This story was originally published August 10, 2021 at 12:03 PM.
