Hurricanes add another receiver in portal, pursuing more veteran defensive backs
The Hurricanes landed their second veteran receiver in four days on Tuesday when they reached a deal with Cincinnati’s Tony Johnson.
The 5-11 Johnson had 48 catches for 449 yards and six touchdowns last season. He played 77.4 percent of his snaps in the slot.
Before that, he played three years for FAU, where he caught 60 passes for 669 yards and seven touchdowns.
Before Johnson announced his commitment, UM had scheduled a visit with former California receiver Jonathan Brady, who’s also interested in Virginia Tech. He had 36 catches for 383 yards and six touchdowns last season.
Johnson and BYU transfer Keelan Marion are the recent additions to the wide receiver room, joining Jojo Trader, CJ Daniels, Ny Carr, Ray Ray Joseph and freshmen Malachi Toney, Daylyn Upshaw and Joshua Moore.
Defensive back update
The Hurricanes regretted not having more defensive backs on the roster last season.
That shouldn’t be an issue now.
Having added six defensive backs in the transfer portal (five of whom remain), the Canes remain in the mix for a handful of safeties and now are a top contender for veteran Auburn and Colorado cornerbacks.
At safety, All Big 12 standout AJ Haulcy (from the Houston Cougars) visited UM early this week and remains a top target, while Tennessee safety Jakobe Thomas booked a Wednesday UM visit.
After adding cornerbacks Xavier Lucas, Ethan O’Connor, Charles Brantley and Emmanuel Karnley (who subsequently left UM) in the first portal cycle, UM has been pursuing additional cornerbacks this week.
Cornerback Colton Hood, who played last season at Colorado, will visit UM on Wednesday. He had two interceptions and 24 tackles last season and quarterbacks had a sterling 49.0 passer rating in his coverage area, in part because he didn’t allow a TD. He played a limited role as a freshman for Auburn in 2023. He’s also visiting Tennessee.
According to a source, UM feels good about landing former Auburn cornerback Keionte Scott, who originally transferred to Houston four months ago but is once again the portal.
Scott, a San Diego native, can play outside cornerback at 6-0 but does his best work as a nickel, where Brantley and Damari Brown are UM’s top players. (Brown and Brantley also can play on the boundary.)
There’s history with Scott and new UM defensive backs coach Zac Etheridge; they were together at Auburn.
Scott was a junior college All-American for two years before moving onto Auburn, where he played 33 games and started 23 over three seasons. He had 115 tackles, a sack and an interception.
Scott has had a good career, but last year wasn’t great: Playing primarily outside cornerback, he allowed 16 of 22 passes in his coverage area to be caught for 317 yards (a 19.8 average) and two touchdowns, equaling a dismal 145.1 passer rating in his coverage area.
He was much more effective as a slot cornerback earlier in his career. One concern is missed tackles; he has missed 25 in his career, per PFF.
UM already added one top returner in recent days (BYU transfer receiver Keelan Marion) and Scott would be another.
Scott has averaged 10.3 yards on 43 career punt returns, with a touchdown, and led the SEC in that category (14.8 on 15 returns) in 2023.
Marion averaged a Big 12-leading-26.2 yards on 18 kickoff returns last season, with two touchdowns.
So a Scott/Marion tag-team returning duo would be explosive.
As for Thomas, he’s the latest safety to book a visit to Miami, joining Haulcy, Kansas State’s Noah King and UF’s Gregory Smith III. Haulcy -- UM’s top safety target -- also is being pursued by LSU, Mississippi, Texas A&M and others.
If Haulcy joins UM, he assuredly would start opposite Jacksonville State transfer Zechariah Poyser, who impressed UM in the spring.
Markeith Williams, Dylan Day, Amari Wallace, Bryce Fitzgerald and Isaiah Taylor also are competing at the position. Zaquan Patterson left UM earlier this month.
Thomas, 6-2, had 22 tackles, a sack, three tackles for loss and two passes defended in 263 defensive snaps last season, allowing six completions in eight targets for 103 yards, a 116.7 passer rating against.
He spent three previous seasons playing for Middle Tennessee State, where he started 13 games. He had four interceptions in 2022, his only picks in four college seasons.
UM also is in the mix for UCF cornerback Brent Austin, who visited Monday.
The Canes’ four April portal additions so far are Johnson, Marion, former Texas kicker Bert Auburn and ex-North Carolina State linebacker Kamal Bonner.
The window to enter the portal has closed, but teams can continue signing players who already have entered.
Early mocking
The Athletic’s Dane Brugler has UM’s Rueben Bain going 17th and Francis Mauigoa going 26th in his early 2026 mock draft.
This story was originally published April 29, 2025 at 12:10 PM.
