What we’re hearing on Miami Hurricanes defense and who has stood out in camp
Part 2 of a two-part series
As Sunday’s Notre Dame-at-UM opener nears, here’s what we’re hearing on the Hurricanes defense and how various players have looked in closed practices, while keeping in mind that reporters are prohibited from revealing injuries:
DEFENSIVE LINE
Rueben Bain Jr. and Akheem Mesidor have had excellent camps, and a UM official (who doesn’t sugarcoat) said Bain’s dropoff last year has nothing to do with desire or work ethic. He’s determined to be dominant, and he’s in very good shape at 275 pounds.
UM believes he can return to his elite freshman form after he was slowed last season by a soft-tissue injury in the opener.
We hear the No. 3 edge rusher job has been neck-and-neck between Marquise Lightfoot and Armondo Blount. Both figure to play a lot.
Lightfoot has had a great camp; he consistently generates pressure on the quarterback, according to one practice observer. Blount is extremely strong, can rush the passer, and the coaches love his talent and work ethic.
Malik Bryant (who was effective in modest snaps last season) and freshman Hayden Lowe also have made a strong case to be rotation players. Lowe has the look of a future standout.
Look for UM to use Mesidor again some at defensive tackle on passing downs. Bain also can play inside on third down. Defensive line coach Jason Taylor said UM is using Blount only at defensive end.
Booker Pickett, Colin McConathy and Herbert Scroggins will keep pushing for snaps off the bench, but UM is loaded at the position.
DEFENSIVE TACKLE
This position will be tested immediately. No team might have a better running back combo than Notre Dame’s duo of Jeremiyah Love (1,125 rushing yards last season, on 6.9 per carry, with, 17 touchdowns) and Jadarian Price (746 yards, on 6.2 yards per carry, with seven touchdowns).
The Canes have three tackles who should be reliable, including two with particularly high ceilings. But they don’t have an elite veteran at the position.
David Blay Jr., the Louisiana Tech transfer, has had a strong camp and will play a lot.
But this group’s ceiling hinges largely on former five-star prospect Justin Scott and Ahmad Moten; Taylor raves about Scott’s upside and said Moten has the ability to be the best defensive lineman in the country.
Moten has been productive in camp, and he seems to have achieved the consistency level where coaches have come to trust him. Meanwhile, we hear new co-defensive line coach Damione Lewis has been pushing Scott to try to extract every bit of talent from him.
“It’s their time, and we feel confident that those two are going to have a great year,” Cristobal told WQAM, adding that Blay also has had a good camp.
“Those guys are explosive, strong,” Cristobal said. “Those guys all have experience with, obviously, Moten and Blay having more, but Scott played really well last year when he got in there, and certainly has had gains in the weight room, making him an even better player.”
The word on Blay is he’s smart, coachable and reliable. How he handles the step-up in competition from Louisiana Tech will be interesting. The starting battle among Blay, Scott and Moten remained unresolved as of early this week, but all three will play a lot.
“We’re still going through who are the two guys that run out there the first series,” defensive coordinator Corey Heatherman said Monday. “We have guys that are really stout. In practice, we’ve knocked the line of scrimmage back a little bit. We have a good group of guys that can rotate in there.”
Occasional fourth defensive tackle snaps (on early downs) could go to Artavius Jones, Daylen Russell or freshman Donta Simpson. All have flashed; Cristobal noted that Russell “changed his body, and he’s making a dent in the line of scrimmage on a day-by-day basis.”
But on passing downs, UM figures to move Bain and/or Mesidor inside.
LINEBACKER
Rutgers transfer Mohamed Toure, back from last year’s ACL injury, and Wesley Bissainthe are the expected starters.
UM has coached Toure hard, hoping he gets back to the dynamo he was at Rutgers in 2023, which followed and preceded ACL injuries that forced him to miss the 2022 and 2024 seasons. He said he’s fully healthy and describes himself as “fast, violent and physical.”
Hetherman coached Toure at Rutgers, and Toure’s knowledge of the system gives Hetherman peace of mind.
“He’s a special guy, a 235-, 240-pound guy that just brings it,” Cristobal said on Rose’s show. “Tremendous intensity, great leader. Our linebacker corps has certainly taken a step up.”
UM hopes Bissainthe takes the step from good player to an exceptional one. He has the size and strength and football IQ to become more impactful. Toure fills the need at middle linebacker, but Hetherman has given Bissainthe snaps there as well.
We hear UM coaches have been impressed by Chase Smith, North Carolina State transfer Kamal Bonner and Raul Aguirre; all are in the mix for playing time.
Smith, who has battled injuries throughout his UM career, has good length and is around the ball a lot. Hetherman harps on takeaways, and Smith is adept at punching the ball out of the hands of running backs and receivers.
And UM has explored carving out a role for Bobby Pruitt, who might be UM’s best linebacker in pass coverage. He’s also able to play the STAR position.
The fact that Jaylin Alderman, a former Louisville starter, might end up lower on the depth chart than past years is a testament to how the Canes have improved the linebacker room.
Canes coaches are bullish on the upside of freshman Kellen Wiley Jr., who looks the part at 6-4 and 235 pounds.
“Our linebacker core certainly has taken a step up,” Cristobal said.
SAFETY
UM believes newcomer Jeremiah Poyser will be a very good starter; he’s considered a ball hawk (three interceptions last season) and isn’t a liability in run support.
He’s also an excellent communicator, which is critical at safety. Keep in mind that communication, takeaways and tackling have been Hetherman’s top points of emphasis, in the wake of Miami’s myriad defensive breakdowns last season.
One UM person marveled at how none of the major Florida schools pursued Poyser before he enrolled at Jacksonville State last year. It’s telling that Georgia and several other top schools pursued him in the portal.
Jakobe Thomas, the Tennessee transfer, has been the front-runner to start alongside Poyser, but the question is whether Thomas will hold up well enough in pass coverage, where he was shaky in the past. He’s strong against the run, a solid tackler, smart and very physical.
UM hopes Hetherman’s defense will protect Thomas more in pass coverage than Tennessee’s defense did; Hetherman’s scheme is designed to make the windows tighter for quarterbacks to throw into.
Dylan Day has pushed Thomas throughout camp, showing a knack for making plays; he’s also an asset on special teams. And Isaiah Taylor, the former Arizona player and son of Jason Taylor, had a strong second scrimmage and has made a case for a rotation spot after multiple shoulder surgeries sidelined him last season. Markeith Williams also remains in the mix.
Freshman Bryce Fitzgerald, who enrolled in May (later than every other scholarship freshman), made multiple interceptions in camp, and a UM person said because of his playmaking skills, it will be difficult to keep him off the field eventually. For now, he’s behind several far more experienced players on the depth chart. But he looks like he has the potential to be a major contributor at some point.
CORNERBACK
Health permitting, the top four boundary cornerbacks likely would be OJ Frederique, Xavier Lucas, Damari Brown and Ethan O’Connor, with Keionte Scott in the slot at times.
Lucas, the Wisconsin transfer, has displayed above-average range and length and the ability to smother receivers. O’Connor also has had a solid camp. Brown has tried to work his way back from last year’s foot injury, an ongoing process.
Scott agrees, as his Auburn metrics suggest, that he is better suited for the slot than the boundary; he’s a physical player and he’s around the ball a lot, UM people say.
Charles Brantley, beaten several times by Malachi Toney in the spring game, had a very good body of work at Michigan State (when healthy) and is pushing for a role off the bench, likely more in the slot than on the boundary.
Freshmen Chris Ewald and Jaboree Antoine have high upsides and likely can be brought along slowly, barring injuries.
At cornerback, “we have improved ourselves significantly,” Cristobal said. “They are bigger, longer and faster athletes. Guys that can play in man coverage.”
Here is part 1 of the series about what we are hearing about UM’s offense.
This story was originally published August 28, 2025 at 12:28 PM.
