How UM’s football depth chart stands heading into spring practice next week
The Miami Hurricanes are so loaded at wide receiver and running back that there isn’t enough room on a three-deep depth chart to list all the players who likely could make big impacts on most FBS teams this season.
They also boast one of the nation’s most accomplished quarterbacks, a deep and talented group of cornerbacks and edge rushers, and a skilled group of young tight ends and safeties.
But there also are questions as UM prepares for the start of spring practice on Tuesday. At the top of the list: AN offensive line that loses four starters and didn’t add an established starter in the transfer portal.
A look at where the Canes stand heading into the start of spring practice next week:
QUARTERBACK
Starter: Darian Mensah
Backup: Luke Nickel is the front-runner, in the wake of the departure of Emory Williams to East Carolina.
Also competing: Freshman Dereon Coleman, Judd Anderson.
Key question: Will Nickel play well enough in the spring to hold off a potential run by Coleman, the uber-talented freshman?
Though there were some natural growing pains during spring practice last year, Nickel was very impressive in last April’s spring game, attacking downfield (more than Williams did) and showing nice touch on intermediate and deep routes.
“He keeps his eyes down the field; he’s very natural,” UM coach Mario Cristobal said last year of Nickel. “I don’t think he’s phased in any way, shape or form. He understands protections and can therefore slide in and out of stuff. He feels it well, and he’s not afraid to let it go.
“He understands where the holes are. He understands where he can go with the ball. Good player. You can coach him hard. Tough son of a gun.”
RUNNING BACK
Starter: Mark Fletcher Jr.
Backup: CharMar Brown or Girard Pringle Jr.
Also competing: Jordan Lyle, Chris Wheatley-Humphrey and freshman Javion Mallory.
Key question: Can Lyle, who dealt with an ankle injury and finished with just 35 carries for 108 yards (3.1 per carry), recapture his freshman form, when he averaged 7.4 yards on 54 carries? If he can, UM could have one of the best running back rooms in the nation. And can UM find enough carries to keep Brown, Pringle and Lyle happy?
WIDE RECEIVER
Starters: Malachi Toney, Cooper Barkate and either Joshua Moore or West Virginia transfer Cam Vaughn or South Carolina transfer Vandrevius Jacobs
Backups: The loser of the battle for the third starting job and Daylyn Upshaw.
Also competing: Freshmen four-star prospects Somourian Wingo, Milan Parris and Vance Spafford and three-star prospect Tyran Evans.
Key questions: Will any of the freshmen crack the rotation in a very crowded room? Will Moore break out as many expect? Can Barkate and Mensah carry over their chemistry at Duke? (I don’t see why they wouldn’t.) And can Jacobs -- who has electric speed --give UM the type of deep threat he gave South Carolina, where he averaged 17.1 yards on 32 catches last season?
TIGHT END
Starter: Elija Lofton
Backup: Luka Gilbert.
Also competing: Freshmen Gavin Mueller and Israel Briggs, Cole McConathy (who has moved over from the defensive side) and potentially Jackson Carver (coming off last spring’s season ending injury) and Jack Nickel.
Key question: Can Lofton, who had a slow start last season, build on his late season momentum (three touchdowns in the final four regular season games) before missing the championship game with an injury? And will Gilbert quickly become the high-performance stud that UM believes he can?
OFFENSIVE LINE
Starters: Samson Okunlola at one guard spot; five-star freshman Jackson Cantwell likely at right tackle; and Matthew McCoy at either left tackle or the other guard spot opposite Okunlola.
Too close to call: That would leave two openings, with Ryan Rodriguez a favorite over SJ Alifatuli at center, and several others (Max Buchanan, Juan Minaya, Georgia transfer Jamal Meriweather) competing for the other spot.
Buchanan has impressed everyone as he begins his second full calendar year at UM; it wouldn’t be surprising if he starts at guard and McCoy moves over to tackle.
Top backups: Buchanan and Alifatuli and Meriweather if they don’t win starting jobs.
Also competing, besides the aforementioned: Returning players Jaden Wilkerson and Demetrius Campbell, Eastern Tennessee transfer Jonathan Cline (an interior lineman) and the five other freshmen besides Cantwell: tackle Ben Congdon and interior linemen Joel Ervin, Canon Pickett (the younger brother of UM edge rusher Booker Pickett), JJ Sparks and Rhys Woodrow.
Key question: Does McCoy prove the best option at left tackle, or could Miami pull a left tackle rabbit out of its hat in the months ahead? (While players can no longer enter the portal, there is no legal precedent to prevent them from leaving a school and enrolling elsewhere, as UM cornerback Xavier Lucas did last January).
DEFENSIVE END
Starters: Two among Missouri transfer Damon Wilson, Armondo Blount (who can play end and tackle) and Marquise Lightfoot. All will play a lot.
Top backups: Whoever doesn’t start among those three, plus Hayden Lowe.
Also competing: Booker Pickett, Herbert Scroggins and freshmen DeAntony Lafayette and Asharri Charles.
Key question: Who emerges as the No. 4 edge player? The Lowe/Pickett/Scroggins competition should be fierce, and don’t discount the freshmen, especially Lafayette.
DEFENSIVE TACKLE
Starters: Ahmad Moten and Justin Scott (or Blount, if he starts at tackle).
Top backups: Blount, Nebraska transfer Keona Davis, Ohio State transfer Jarquez Carter, potentially top freshman Keshawn Stancil.
Also competing: Mykah Newton and freshmen Tyson Bacon, Logan Nagle, Isaac Chukwarah, Frederic Sainteus.
Key question: Will Davis and Carter take jumps in their games just as several Canes transfer additions did last season?
LINEBACKERS
Starters: Mo Toure and either Kamal Bonner or Chase Smith or Cam Pruitt or Kellen Wiley Jr. (If you missed it, Raul Aguirre surprisingly left for NC State.)
Top backups: The three who didn’t win starting jobs and Ezekiel Marcellin.
Also competing: Freshmen Justin Edwards, Karsten Busch, Jordan Campbell. Every freshman is enrolled and eligible for spring practice except Busch.
Key question: Will Bonner, who was a decent starter for NC State, seize NFL-bound Wesley Bissainthe’s job after logging just 48 defensive snaps last season? Or will Chase Smith, in his sixth season, give UM two starters (Toure and Smith) with a combined 14 years of college experience? Smith, physical and skilled in pass coverage, is very much valued inside the program.
SAFETY
Starters: Zechariah Poyser and either Omar Thornton or Bryce Fitzgerald (one likely will play nickel and one will play safety, with Fitzgerald probably the better option at nickel because of his ball-hawking skills).
Top backups: Dylan Day, Oregon State transfer (and former FSU rotation player) Conrad Hussey.
Also competing: Freshmen JJ Dunigan, Cortez Redding.
Key question: Will Thornton (at safety or corner) improve as dramatically as Jakobe Thomas and Keionte Scott did when they transferred from SEC schools to Miami? Thornton was very productive at Boston College last year (82 tackles, four forced fumbles, two sacks, a pick), but his pass metric numbers were poor. Scott and Thomas became better pass defenders at UM.
CORNERBACK
Starters: Two among OJ Frederique, Ethan O’Connor, Xavier Lucas and Damari Brown. And likely Fitzgerald in the nickel. Frederique and Lucas seem like the front-runners, but it’s too close to call.
Top backups: The two corners who don’t win starting boundary jobs and Ja’Boree Antoine.
Also competing: Chris Ewald Jr., Takai Azziz (a transfer from a Santa Rosa, Cal., community college) and four well-regarded freshmen -- four-star prospects Jaelan Waters, Camdin Portis, Brody Jennings and Jontavious Wyman.
Key question: Could Brown end up in the nickel, allowing UM to keep both Fitzgerald and Thornton at safety? Will Antoine push the four veterans?
Who departed
To refresh, here were the 18 who transferred out of UM:
Quarterback Emory Williams (left for East Carolina); Aguirre (NC State); wide receiver Joshisa Trader (NC State); edge rusher/linebacker Malik Bryant (Missouri); reserve linebacker Bobby Washington (Missouri); backup offensive linemen Deryc Plazz (Auburn), Nino Francavilla (Buffalo) and Tommy Kinsler IV (committed to Ole Miss); backup defensive lineman Artavius Jones (UCF); reserve cornerback Jadais Richard (Tennessee); and freshman defensive back Amari Wallace (Sacramento State).
Also: defensive linemen Donta Simpson (committed to Missouri) and Daylen Russell (Louisville); wide receivers Ny Carr (Wake Forest), Chance Robinson (NC State) and Ray Ray Joseph (East Carolina); tight end Brock Schott (Indiana); and defensive back Charles Brantley (returned to Michigan State).
This is part 3 of my 5-part series previewing UM spring practice.
Here’s part 1 with Larry Blustein’s assessment of UM’s freshmen on offense.
Here’s part 2 with Blustein’s assessment of UM’s freshmen on defense.
This story was originally published March 20, 2026 at 11:02 AM.
