A ‘dynamic’ receiver, ‘tough’ d-lineman, DB depth: Cristobal talks key Miami transfer adds
The Miami Hurricanes so far have added 13 players via transfer since their 2024 season came to an end.
The highlight of the group, of course, is quarterback Carson Beck but there are a slew of others who come in highly touted and should provide immediate help for the Hurricanes as they attempt to build on a 10-3 season.
Overall, seven of Miami’s transfer additions are ranked among the top 100 transfers available by 247Sports: Beck (No. 1), cornerback Xavier Lucas (No. 25), defensive lineman David Blay (No. 28), wide receiver CJ Daniels (No. 67), cornerback Emmanuel Karnley (No. 82), safety Zechariah Poyser (No. 85) and cornerback Charles Brantley (No. 100).
Hurricanes coach Mario Cristobal last week spoke about a few of the team’s transfer additions. Here’s what he had to say.
Wide receiver CJ Daniels
While Miami finished last season with the nation’s top offense in terms of points per game (43.9), yards per game (537.2) and yards per play (7.57), they have a lot of talent to replace.
Every skill-position player who had more than 10 catches and 200 receiving yards is gone and Miami’s receiver room, while talented, is extremely young.
Enter Daniels, who has caught 148 passes for 2,439 yards and 21 touchdowns over 53 games. He played four seasons at Liberty, earning a redshirt in 2023, before playing last season at LSU.
Daniels, who Miami pursued in the transfer portal last offseason before he chose LSU, has size at 6-2 and 205 pounds and provides a needed veteran presence in the passing game.
“When I first started coaching, there was always a saying that there’s no prize for second place in recruiting. And now in college football, there is, because there’s a transfer portal,” Cristobal said. “If you come in second place, you’re probably first place when they get in the portal. So it’s proven to be true in his case. We think he’s a dynamic guy — big, strong, fast, and his contested catch rate is really, really impressive. He does all the dirty work, too. He’s going to go in there and put his hat on the safety or block a linebacker because he’s big and strong and experienced.”
Defensive lineman David Blay
Blay, at 6-4 and 303 pounds, will be a massive presence in the interior of Miami’s defensive line. He had a breakout season in 2024 with Louisiana Tech, leading the Bulldogs with 10.5 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks en route to earning first-team All-Conference USA honors.
He will help the Hurricanes replace the loss of Simeon Barrow, who finished tied for the team lead with 5.5 sacks and fourth on Miami last season with eight tackles for loss in his lone season at UM.
“He’s what you look for in an interior defensive lineman: Tough, tough, tough,” Cristobal said. “Explosive. strong. I mean, his block destruction, his ability to tear off and make plays hard. A guy that really disrupts the pocket in the passing game and makes it really difficult to move in the running game. ... He’s a guy we’re extremely excited about.”
All the additions in the secondary
It’s no secret that Miami’s secondary struggled last season.
And heading into 2025, the Hurricanes are practically completely overhauling the unit.
UM returns four players who should play key roles in cornerbacks OJ Frederique Jr., Damari Brown and Jadais Richard along with safeties Zaquan Patterson and Markeith Williams.
But Miami dipped heavily into the transfer portal to get a combination of experience and players with multiple years of eligibility remaining.
UM has added four cornerbacks in Lucas, Brantley, Karnley and Ethan O’Connor as well as Poyser at safety.
Miami also signed four defensive backs in its 2025 recruiting class.
“Certainly better,” Cristobal said of the Hurricanes’ depth in the secondary. “I mean, by the end of last year, we were in a tough situation — and again I blame myself. I should have done a better job just getting more guys here that were healthy and or could sustain better health because at the end, we’re down really two corners and have a nickel standing in there as a boundary corner. That’s tough. You’ve gotta make it work. You’ve gotta do whatever you can to make it work. We’re getting to normal depth. We’re not there yet. ... You’ve got to play a lot of DB’s throughout the course of the season. If you think about it, if go nickel times two, that’s 10 guys right there. We have to be versatile enough to play different spots, and learning those positions requires a lot of reps, and those reps cannot be done without having enough bodies out there, so we’re getting closer.”
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