Sizing up where Miami Hurricanes stand at every position on offense heading into 2021
The most encouraging part of this recently completed Miami Hurricanes football season?
It’s not debatable: The vastly improved offense, spearheaded by D’Eriq King and offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee.
UM jumped from 90th in scoring in 2019 (25.7 points per game) to 27th at 34 points per game.
UM was 33rd in yards per game at 439.8, up from 98th the previous season (367.2).
But work remains, even beyond the priority of D’Eriq King needing a speedy recovery to meet the internal expectation that he will be back for the start of fall drills in August, off ACL surgery.
The Canes need better receiver and offensive line play to have a realistic shot to win the Coastal.
But having Lashlee and King are a good start.
“We’re really fortunate to have him,” tight end Will Mallory said of Lashlee, during a chat with Hurricanes voices Joe Zagacki and Don Bailey Jr. “Coach Lashlee has done a phenomenal job of getting this offense back to where we know we can be.
“To see the huge jump we’ve made, it speaks a lot about him as a coach and a play-caller. [He gives] the playmakers on this team an opportunity to make plays. Week in and week out, we had nothing but confidence in his ability to prepare us and put us in opportunities to succeed. Being able to have a year under our belt in this offense, really understand it and how it works, that only helps us even more. All guys are bought in to take our offense to another level, even more than we did this year.”
Where the Hurricanes stand at each position heading into 2021 and a daunting opener against Alabama in Atlanta:
QUARTERBACK
Advances in medicine — combined with the fact that King’s knee tear was limited to a torn ACL (as opposed to a torn ACL and MCL) — have made Miami optimistic he will be back on the field weeks before the Alabama opener.
Many players now can recover from ligament tears in seven to eight months. That’s an improvement over 2010, when the average recovery time for NFL players was 10.8 months, according to a study by the Richmond Bone and Joint Clinic. In 2014, the average recovery time was 10 months, according to a Bleacher Report study of 24 NFL players.
N’Kosi Perry’s decision to enter the transfer portal and look for a starting job elsewhere leaves UM with an inexperienced backup in 2021.
Redshirt freshman Tyler Van Dyke will enter spring as the front-runner for the No. 2 job, but will eventually face competition from freshman Jake Garcia and perhaps Peyton Matocha. UM has no clarity about whether Tate Martell will return to the team.
One UM player says Van Dyke is the real deal, the best quarterback the Canes have had in a while, aside from King.
Garcia is hoping to enroll in the upcoming spring semester (which starts Jan. 25) but that’s in question because of a high-school class he must first complete.
RUNNING BACK
Junior Cam’Ron Harris decided to return, giving UM four talented backs in 2021.
Though he was unhappy a few times last season about his role, Harris (396 offensive snaps in the regular season) ended up playing a lot more than freshman running backs Jaylan Knighton (164) and Don Chaney Jr. (157), with Robert Burns logging 31 plays on offense.
Harris closed 2020 with 631 yards rushing on 5.0 per carry and 18 catches for 131 yards and scored 11 touchdowns.
He’s a solid lead back, though his midseason slump was worrisome (28 carries for 35 yards against Clemson, Pittsburgh and Virginia) before a strong finish (6 carries, 52 yards) against Oklahoma State.
UM has two players who will push Harris with Knighton (4.0 yards per carry and 11 catches for 135 yards; missed the bowl because of injury) and Chaney (4.7 per carry).
There’s also incoming four-star freshman Thad Franklin and redshirt junior Burns, if he opts to return.
Manny Diaz said Chaney has a bright future: “He worked hard this year. The confidence he played with, making the cuts he made was really encouraging for the future of our running back position.”
UM also can retain junior fullback Michael Parrott, who played just one snap on offense, per Miami Herald metrics correspondent Daniel Gould.
WIDE RECEIVER
UM got a big boost over the weekend when senior Mike Harley Jr. decided to return for a bonus season of eligibility. He had a big breakout season (57 catches, 799 yards, 7 TDs).
The hope is that Dee Wiggins and Mark Pope can make the strides that Harley made this season. Wiggins and Pope remain too inconsistent to be considered reliable.
The other key will be how many of eight young receivers become genuine difference makers. That group includes the four freshmen this season, sophomore Jeremiah Payton, and three highly-regarded incoming freshmen (Brashard Smith, Romello Brinson, Jacolby George).
Among the mild disappointments: the lack of contributions from Payton (five catches in 15 targets for 35 yards and not nearly as effective in games as in practice) and the four freshmen: Michael Redding (three catches for 19 yards and perhaps the highest ceiling of the group), Keyshawn Smith (two catches for 58 yards); Xavier Restrepo (played just 29 offensive snaps and one catch for 12 yards) and Daz Worsham (played just one offensive snaps and needs to add weight and strength).
Drops for Miami’s playmakers were still a big issue. Wiggins and Pope had six each.
How does UM fix that?
“It just takes persistence,” Diaz said. “That’s something we had been a lot better at over the last half of the season. It could be mental. [Drops by Pope and Wiggins in the bowl game] are catches those guys expect to make. But what do you do? … Get back to work. We’re better but not where we want to be.”
TIGHT END
With Brevin Jordan turning pro, Will Mallory becomes the unquestioned starter. He has a chance to enter 2021 as one of the nation’s top 10 receiving tight ends.
“I’ve got to get my body right and become that veteran player [needed] and helping this offense in a bigger role I hope,” he told Zagacki and Bailey on WQAM. “Getting better in blocking, in the passing game, trying to be that more reliable target.”
UM is welcoming two excellent tight end prospects in Texas-based Elijah Arroyo (31 catches for 690 yards and 13 TD receptions) and Kahlil Brantley.
And besides Mallory, two other tight ends also are back, barring transfers: Larry Hodges (played 67 offensive snaps) and skilled blocker Dominic Mammarelli (47).
UM expects more from Hodges, who also fits the H-back role; Lashlee believes he could be a valuable receiving threat if he dedicates himself to working this offseason.
OFFENSIVE LINE
UM said senior right tackle Jarrid Williams likely will turn pro, diminishing a line that was pretty average.
Navaughn Donaldson, who missed all but the final two games after a major knee injury late in 2019, figures to start at one guard spot but also could compete at tackle, with DJ Scaife (who had a mildly disappointing year), Jakai Clark, Cleveland Reed, Ousman Traore and 2020 freshmen Jalen Rivers and Chris Washington also competing at guard.
Rivers also can play tackle, but UM sees him in the mix at guard as well.
Like Donaldson, Scaife also could become an option at right tackle. But the best case would be if 2020 four-star freshmen Issiah Walker emerges as a starter at some point.
Left tackle Zion Nelson made admirable improvements - Lashlee said he was the Canes’ best lineman during the final two months of the season - and he will enter the spring as the front-runner for the left tackle job. That leaves Walker, up-and-down John Campbell, Kai Leon Herbert, Adam El Gammal and potentially Scaife and Donaldson competing at right tackle.
Don’t discount any of the three incoming freshmen competing for a significant role - Laurence Seymore (center or guard), Michael McLaughlin (tackle) and Ryan Rodriguez (center or guard). And Herbert - who had made some strides in practice after a disappointing career here - could challenge for a role at guard or tackle after opting out of this season.
Here’s my piece on where UM’s defense stands at every position heading into 2021.
This story was originally published January 11, 2021 at 4:19 PM.
