Where Mel Kiper Jr. ranks Miami Hurricanes players. And the player UM wishes it could clone
A six-pack of Miami Hurricanes notes on a Monday, as we await the Hurricanes’ next scheduled game Dec. 5 at Wake Forest (time, TV TBD):
▪ ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. has defensive end Greg Rousseau (who opted out of playing this season) as the only Miami Hurricane likely to be selected in the first round of April’s NFL Draft. And it seems a stretch to assume that any UM player will go in the second round, though tight end Brevin Jordan has a chance.
But Kiper has a handful of draft-eligible Canes ranked among the top 10 at their positions.
Rousseau is his No. 1 defensive end.
Jordan is his No. 4 tight end, but he must prove to NFL teams that he can stay healthy after two injury-interrupted seasons at Miami.
Senior Quincy Roche is Kiper’s No. 4 outside linebacker, though he plays defensive end for UM.
Senior Jose Borregales is Kiper’s No. 2 kicker, behind UF’s Evan McPherson.
And junior Bubba Bolden is his No. 6 safety.
But Bolden — whose play has run the gamut from excellent at times to inadequate at others — clearly could use another year in college.
“The biggest thing with Bubba is just consistency,” defensive coordinator Blake Baker said. “He’s such an instinctive player; he presses too much sometimes to make a play. It’s about relaxing, getting back into his groove and letting the plays come to him.”
Bolden particularly struggled in UM’s most recent game against Virginia Tech.
“Junior safety Bubba Bolden has had a nice season for Miami and he is definitely an NFL prospect, but he’s going to hope NFL scouts skip this VT tape,” said The Athletic’s Dane Brugler, a longtime NFL Draft analyst.
Bolden must do a better job taking proper angles. His tackling ranges from deficient to very good, depending on the play.
And in pass coverage, Bolden has allowed 18 of 29 passes thrown in his coverage area to be caught for 329 yards, three touchdowns and one interception, per Miami Herald metrics correspondent Daniel Gould. That computes to a bloated 121.2 passer rating in his coverage area.
▪ UM sophomore cornerback Te’Cory Couch — now a starter — remains something of a revelation, a player who thrives on the blitz and in coverage. Against Virginia Tech, only one of four passes in his coverage areas was caught, for 7 yards. He had an interception and a sack.
“The problem with Te’Cory Couch is we don’t have enough of him,” UM coach Manny Diaz told WQAM’s Joe Zagacki and Don Bailey Jr. “You would love to have him three places at once every play. Great in coverage. He really has a knack at blitzing. When he gets in there, he finds a way to get to the quarterback. It’s always been in critical situations.”
▪ If UM had been forced to play Saturday, at least 17 players would have been required to sit while in quarantine, according to a source. And Diaz also would have missed the game; he announced last week that he has contracted the virus.
Asked if the virus is coming from outside the football team and not from players spreading it to each other, athletic director Blake James said: “The first thing I would say, I don’t think it has come from football activity. I do think it has come from outside. I’m guessing there’s been some transmission from one [player] to another. We’re reflective of society; where the numbers are at on campus, I’m not completely surprised.”
What about COVID fatigue?
“Eight months in, it’s hard for all of us,” James said. “Maybe they have gotten a little more lax than what they were back in March, April, May, June, July when we saw our numbers stay down low. We’re part of society, the community and we’re seeing a lot of community transmission right now.”
▪ Quick stuff: Offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee said guard Navaughn Donaldson is not only available for “the rest of the year” but also is “good enough to play center, right tackle.” It will be interesting to see if he can unseat Jakai Clark or disappointing DJ Scaife at guard...
Kudos to defensive tackle Jon Ford for responding well after losing his starting job to Jared Harrison-Hunte, who missed the Virginia Tech game. Ford’s work against the Hokies was his “best game of the season, maybe best ever,” Baker said. “A week before he had his job taken from him. You can mope or roll up your sleeves and go to work, and that’s what Jon did.”...
Diaz said freshman running back Jaylon Knighton “has done a really nice job” in pass protection. “Jaylon and Don Chaney, for being young guys, take a lot of pride in pass protection.”
▪ A couple of 2022 recruiting notes: UM is one of nine finalists for five-star Jacksonville based Jaheim Singletary, Rivals’ No. 1 cornerback and No. 5 overall prospect in the 2022 class.
“I was in eighth grade when I first visited Miami. It has everything on and off the field,” he told Rivals’ Chad Simmons. “You can turn it up off the field, it has great football, the coaches set you up for life after football, and it has all that you need. There are a lot of reasons why it is one of my top schools.”...
And Rivals’ Mike Farrell makes UM the favorite for four-star Miami Monsignor Pace standout Shemar Stewart, rated the No. 3 defensive end and No. 31 overall prospect in the 2022 class.
