Veteran scout weighs in on Hurricanes, and a word from Highsmith
A six-pack of Miami Hurricanes notes on a Tuesday:
▪ The Canes must hope that they will eventually win enough to be able not only to lure more projected first- or second-day NFL draft picks but also to persuade some of them to return to school for their senior season, as Alabama did this month with left tackle Alex Leatherwood and Clemson did with running back Travis Etienne.
One NFL scout was mystified why four UM juniors turned pro, saying he doubts any will be selected before day 3.
In fairness, there were family health and financial issues in play for cornerback Trajan Bandy. DeeJay Dallas, Jeff Thomas and Jon Garvin haven’t fully explained their decisions. In Dallas’ situation, you can make the case that wear and tear has a corrosive effect on running backs, and you can understand the desire to begin your pro career sooner than later.
Here’s what the veteran scout said on the four:
On running back Dallas: “I gave him a late fourth-, early fifth-round grade. Unless you’re a stud horse who can carry 20-to-30 times a game, running backs are a dime a dozen. He’s an undersized college running back who showed good run skills. His hands are good. Has straight-line speed, but I don’t think he’s a swivel-hip type of guy. Has instincts, vision and awareness in both phases — passing game and running game.”
On defensive end Garvin: “Third-day guy, maybe sixth round. Tall and athletic and good size. He may have a chance as an outside linebacker, but that is really difficult to do to go from a hand-on-the-ground [player] to try to play linebacker if you haven’t done it. I think he’s more of a practice squad guy.”
On receiver Thomas: He said he won’t be surprised if he goes undrafted because of off-field issues. But he said Thomas, at his best, is “a third-round guy. Obviously he can run, good quickness, tough enough, can track the deep ball. But he’s undersized and with the off-field stuff, he could easily drop out of the draft.”
The scout said Bandy projects as an undrafted free agent because he’s undersized and coming off a pedestrian no-interception season.
▪ That scout said he hasn’t yet studied new UM quarterback D’Eriq King as an NFL prospect but this much is clear: “These quarterbacks they had last year are not FBS [Power 5] quarterbacks on that roster. They didn’t show anything that resembled a D-1 quarterback in that FIU game or another game I watched. Accuracy was awful. The FIU game was an embarrassment.”
That scout said he has never seen a worse collection of draft picks among UM, UF and FSU in a single draft than this upcoming one.
The best prospect among the three schools? He said he has a third-round grade on UF defensive end Jabari Zuniga: “A competitive kid and can rush.”
▪ Alonzo Highsmith, who parted ways with the Cleveland Browns last week, commended UM’s hiring of Ed Reed for the chief of staff position, the same job that he was considered for but, according to Highsmith, never offered.
“Ed Reed coming back to Miami is like Jordan going back to North Carolina,” Highsmith said. “Cane Legend, HOF [Hall of Famer] and anything else that describes great... Great hire. Pulling for him.”
▪ After Herm Edwards fired him as Arizona State’s offensive coordinator in December, new UM receivers coach Rob Likens got text messages or calls from many of his players, which is an indication of their respect for him. He told The Arizona Republic he hopes to be a head coach one day.
“I can say this; I am an extremely passionate football coach,” he said after his dismissal. “I’m fiercely loyal. At the end of the day you want me in your foxhole, because I’ll be there fighting for you.”
One player said UM shouldn’t have dumped receivers coach Ron Dugans when Manny Diaz took over, saying he was a better teacher than Taylor Stubblefield, who left for Penn State with UM’s blessing.
▪ UM basketball, now 3-8 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, needs a strong close to be a serious contender for an NIT bid, with North Carolina State visiting Wednesday. And the Canes remain without two of their top players — Chris Lykes and Kameron McGusty.
“[McGusty] had back spasms for now about two weeks,” coach Jim Larranaga said Monday. “It started before we played Duke, it was against Florida State, he was gutting it out against Florida State. He wanted to play on the road against Duke, tried to fight it then. He hasn’t been the same for a couple of weeks now so our trainers have really kept a close eye on him. He played against Virginia Tech but after the game he clearly was hobbled. So they shut him down and I don’t know when we’ll get him or Chris back.”
▪ The early word from UM players is they’re impressed with offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee and how he interacts with players. According to multiple players, UM players had issues with [former offensive cooardinator Dan] Enos’ prickly personality and how he interacted with players. Lashlee and King will be among several UM people introduced to the media in a Wednesday press conference.
This story was originally published February 4, 2020 at 3:28 PM.
