Feedback from ex-Canes player, others on Miami Hurricanes’ defensive personnel
With UM’s sold-out noon Saturday spring game at Fort Lauderdale’s DRV PNK Stadium approaching, what we’re hearing on defense from a former player who has attended several Miami Hurricanes spring practices (we’ll call him Player A), and some feedback from a few others:
▪ Player A, who asked not to be identified, said the linebackers have played well at times but haven’t exactly eased doubts about the position, and he expects additions this summer. One concern he expressed is that some of the linebackers aren’t instinctive enough in reading and reacting.
Of the three veteran returners who have played a lot (Corey Flagg, Keontra Smith and Waymon Steed), Player A said “Keonta Smith has the most upside of those three. With the way today’s game is played, he’s athletic and can tackle. He’s put on weight and looks more like a linebacker than safety now. Flagg and Steed, I think they’re close to their ceiling.”
The group is “improved, but it’s not a position we can say we can win with those guys. They’re going to have to address it in the portal.”
UCLA transfer linebacker Caleb Johnson remains very much in play for Miami.
Early enrollee Wesley Bissainthe has flashed and could end up in the rotation, if not starting, by the fall.
▪ Player A said he expects a big jump from defensive end Jahfari Harvey: “He has ability to raise his game; he’s only scratching the surface. He’s well put together, has speed coming off the edge, is always going 110 miles per hour.”
With freshman Cyrus Moss, “you can see speed, athletic ability, bend,” Player A said. “He has to put on some weight to be a pass rush specialist, but you can see him working into the rotation.”
UCLA transfer Mitchell Agude is a front-runner to start; he’s watching practice but isn’t yet eligible to participate.
“He’s well put together,” Player A said. “I like how involved he is in practice.”
▪ WQAM’s UM radio analyst, Don Bailey Jr., agrees on Harvey: “His effort level is getting to the point where there’s nobody even close. He’s a great pass rusher who’s getting better against the run and picking up this defense.”
Bailey, who calls Saturday’s spring game on WQAM with Joe Zagacki, said of Moss: “He’s a long, lanky guy but very quick and agile. He doesn’t have the body he wants to have, which he will develop over the next couple months and next couple of years. He doesn’t back down from older guys [such as Zion Nelson] and physical contact.
“He’s got great energy. It’s going to be hard situationally to keep him off the field this year. I don’t know that he can hold up — because of his size — 60 plays, 45 plays in a game, week in week out. But he has enough quickness to help you as a freshman in the pass rush game.”
▪ Chantz Williams and second-year player Thomas Davis also have flashed.
Defensive end/tackle Jacob Lichtenstein, the transfer from Southern California, said Davis “has really emerged in the spring. He was a little questionable to me in the winter workouts. But he comes out hard every single day, has bend, can really turn the corner” as a pass rusher.
Lichtenstein, incidentally, said of Harvey: “That dude has a motor like no other.”
▪ Among defensive tackles, Player A said Lichtenstein is a “big kid, run stopper. He has a body type that will help in the run game but I’m not sure how explosive rushing the passer he will be.”
Player A has seen growth from Leonard Taylor: “We have LT to be that freak D-tackle that we haven’t had in a while. He has all the ability to be special.... Jared Harrison-Hunte [out injured] has gained more size; that will help him with consistency. If he can keep the athleticism [with the extra weight], he’s fast and can get to the quarterback.”
▪ Player A on the safeties: “James Williams was all over the field in the scrimmage [last Saturday]. He blew up a nine route in the second scrimmage. I’m eager to see how [defensive coordinator] Kevin Steele can use James Williams, Avantae Williams and Kameron Kinchens together.
“Avantae is freak athletically If you can get him going, combined with the dependability of Kinchens and the unicorn [nature] of Williams, that’s special.”
Kinchens is out this spring with an injury.
“Going back to last season, Kinchens looks like he has a nose for the ball,” Player A said. “Plays consistently. A field general like Jaquan Johnson was, but bigger than Jaquan. Seems to be in the right place at the right time. Dependable. Good tackler.”
Safety Brian Balom, who missed the 2021 season with an injury, has flashed this spring.
“Big kid,” Player A said of Balom. “It’s tough when you have three kids in front of you that are special. But he’s mature.”
▪ On the cornerbacks, Player A said “Marcus Clarke is a little more consistent than last year, more involved in plays. I would love to see if Te’Cory Couch can have a bounce back year. He totally dropped off the Earth last year. Hopefully he’s the slot corner guy we need.”
“I’m eager to see [West Virginia transfer cornerback] Daryl Porter [who hasn’t yet enrolled]. DJ Ivey is the guy you scratch your head with. He’s the prototypical corner physically. First-round body. From everyone I talk to, it’s in his head [confidence issue]. He’s a specimen. It’s been good to have Al Blades back; he can go from safety to corner or corner to safety.”
▪ Steele said cornerback Isaiah Dunson “has really stepped up, has ice water in his veins, has been very focused and done a nice job. Al Blades can play multiple positions.”
Steele said he has been “pleasantly surprised” by the play of the cornerbacks this spring.
▪ Defensive backs coach Jahmile Addae told WQAM’s Hurricane Hotline that James Williams and Avantae Williams “are really active, love contact. They’re see ball, get ball guys. My thing with them is coaching them on the finer details. Both have made big strides. We ask them to be a quarterback on the back end. They’ve got a little bit of a tougher job of anyone on the defense.”
NEWS NOTE
UM remains very much in play for West Virginia transfer defensive end Akheem Mesidor, who had 9.5 sacks over the past two seasons. He visited UM this past week and also has visited Penn State but canceled his visit to Southern California this weekend, per Canesport.
Here’s my piece this week with feedback on the team’s offense this spring.
This story was originally published April 15, 2022 at 1:19 PM.
