Garcia commitment helps Canes round out Top-10 recruiting class

/0 Comments/in , /by

The 2021 recruiting cycle is like no other. Once COVID-19 took its course in mid-March, spring practices were cancelled, no 7-on-7 tournaments, no combine-like showcases, and recruiting essentially entered a dead period that is still in place to this very moment. 

 

Nevertheless, Hurricanes head coach Manny Diaz and the rest of his coaching staff still found a way to conjure up a well-rounded recruiting class with lots of talent and most of them either from South Florida or having ties to the area.

Wednesday was the first day of a three-day period known as the Early Signing Period where senior student-athletes can sign their National Letter of Intent with the school they choose to enroll at versus waiting for the customary National Signing Day in early February. Let’s break down what the Canes are getting on each side of the ball.

 

OFFENSE

 

You could even say that this was Diaz’s least drama-filled since he’s taken head coaching duties, with Diaz noting on Wednesday that 85% of his signees were locked in with the Canes before they even played a game this season.

 

But then the drama came at 6:30 PM, when Miami already had their first 20 commitments officially signed but they awaited the final decision of four-star QB Jake Garcia. Garcia hails out of Grayson High in Lowndes, GA but is originally from La Habra, CA.. A premature announcement by his head coach followed by Garcia stating he would resume his Instagram Live session when it was really his time to announce his actual school of choice, he was officially a Cane an hour later as he flashed the U at a ceremony hosted by Grayson High in front of friends and family. Coaches and fans collectively let out a sigh of relief as Diaz and OC Rhett Lashlee finally put the cherry on top. 

For the second season in a row, the Canes sign the best running back in Broward County. Last year, it was Deerfield Beach’s Jaylan Knighton and for this class, it’s Thaddeus Franklin out of Chaminade-Madonna High in Hollywood. Franklin is ranked as the 11th-best running back in the country as a four-star prospect and will be a great change-of-pace/bruising back for the Canes as he is more built than the speedier Don Chaney and Knighton at 6’0”, 225 lbs.

 

Miami’s bringing a great group of receivers and tight ends a lot of credit goes to WRs coach Rob Likens and TEs coach Stephen Field. Likens helped Miami sign three four-star receivers, all bringing playmaking abilities to the current corps. At 6’2”, Romello Brinson (Miami Northwestern, #25 WR) combines a good blend of speed and size and was a vital part of Northwestern’s offense the past few years. Jacoby George is a bit skinnier (5’11”, 161 lbs.) but he’s arguably been the best receiver in Broward County this season as he’s had a number of multi-touchdown games for Plantation High.

 

Despite being the shortest of the bunch at 5’8”, you won’t find many players that play with as big of a chip on their shoulder as Miami Palmetto’s Brashard Smith. Don’t let his height fool you, but he’s already at 190 pounds and along with being a threat to score whenever he has the ball, he’s been versatile enough to even line up at QB for his team in the state playoffs.

 

Tight End U adds two more to the lineage in this class. 4-star Elijah Arroyo (#10 TE) has been nothing short of unstoppable for Frisco High this season no matter where they lined him up on the field, whether it’d be at tight end or wide receiver. Arroyo was born in the South Florida area and was always a Canes fan at heart. Kahlil Brantley, Brinson’s teammate at Northwestern, also signed with Miami and is ranked as the 41st-best tight end in the country.

 

Miami’s woes on the offensive line the past couple of years have been no secret to the media and fans alike and OL Garin Justice is getting some solid reinforcements in this class. The Canes’ longest tenured commit is OG Laurence Seymore from Miami Central, who’s ranked as the 10th-best guard in the country and has been a member of this class since March of 2018. Michael McLaughlin (Stoneman Douglas, Parkland, FL) not only made a move from Indiana to South Florida for his senior season but also switched positions from tight end to offensive line. He’s ranked as the 27th-best offensive tackle in the country and is very lengthy at 6’7”, 290 lbs.

The Canes also have their center for the future in Ryan Rodriguez, who’s listed as the 7th-best center in the country for Miami Columbus.

 

DEFENSE

 

The two highest-ranked (and not to mention five-star) signees of this class both play vital positions that Miami has had lots of previous success with in terms of grooming and player development.

 

Let’s start with 5-star DT Leonard Taylor out of Miami Palmetto, who is ranked as the best DT in the nation and 10th overall. At 6’4” and 285 lbs., Taylor possesses a scary combination of relentless pressure and speed that will give ACC quarterbacks fits for the next few years. 3-star Allan Haye plays a vital role on Chaminade-Madonna’s defensive line and his addition should not be overlooked.

Rounding out the defensive line, Miami also added Jabari Ishmael, whose father is an assistant strength and conditioning coach for the Canes in Victor Ishmael. Ranked as the 17th-best weakside defensive end in the country, Ishmael hopes to continue the success that Greg Rousseau, Jaelan Phillips, and Quincy Roche have had in the past couple of seasons. 

 

Miami’s also bringing in a very skilled group of linebackers, starting with Tyler Johnson out of Miami Killian. Johnson is the younger brother of ex-Miami safety Jaquan Johnson and is the #31 OLB in the nation. Throw in a great leader as well as a hard-hitting cannon in three-star Deshawn Troutman out of Edgewater in Orlando. Troutman is currently the size of a safety (6’1”, 205 lbs.) but as the film shows, he does not shy away from physicality. Considered more of a tweener, three-star prospect Thomas Davis is also a little undersized at 6’1/2”, 235 pounds but he played for a Georgia powerhouse in Lowndes High in Valdosta. Miami may opt to have Davis in all kinds of pass rushing spots as he also played defensive end for Lowndes.

The lone commit at the striker position is Chase Smith out of Melbourne High in Melbourne, FL. He is listed as an athlete on 247Sports’ database and that is because of his versatility at 6’3”, 190 lbs. When word of his original commitment got out, it was actually unclear what position he would play because he also lined up at wide receiver when he played for Palm Bay Bayside for his junior year. Smith is also a legacy Cane, as his father Willie was an All-American tight end in the 80s.  

 

This is the part where you’re probably going to let out a long sigh. If you’ve watched the Canes this season, you would’ve seen that cornerback play was all over the place and while the team is down to only 5 scholarship corners, they’ve only been able to add one corner in the Early Signing Period and that is Fort Myers Bishop Verot speedster Malik Curtis. While Curtis is a 3-star prospect, his electric playmaking ability is extremely hard to miss on film and there were rumors that he’s so fast, he could be moved to offense. Miami missed out on three targets on Wednesday and it’s likely that Manny Diaz will have to resort to the transfer portal once again.

One non-portal cornerback prospect to keep an eye on is former Auburn commit Tar’varish Dawson, who hails from Lehigh Acres, FL. He’s solid in coverage and his speed is like no other, having been recorded at 10.58 in the 100m dash. Dawson will wait to sign on NSD in February.

 


Not to leave you with a cliffhanger but the other highly-ranked standout in this class is none other than American Heritage safety James Williams. Miami might have the best safety class in the nation for 2021 and much like Taylor, Williams is considered the best player in the nation at his position and he also has an interesting story behind him. Manny Diaz started Wednesday’s press conference with an anecdote about how he discovered Williams when he was a freshman at Monsignor Pace High in 2017 and knew that he resembled the type of player that Miami needs to get. One commitment, one decommitment, and one re-commitment later, he’s back in the fold. Williams is a physically-imposing menace wherever you place him because of his 6’5”, 230 pound frame, but he also has solid speed to keep up with most receivers.

I personally feel like four-star safety Kamren Kinchens does not get enough love. Much of the spotlight is focused on Williams because of how special he is, but Kinchens is an absolute baller for Miami Northwestern. He’s ranked as the 23rd-best safety in the country but in all honesty, you won’t find more than three or four safeties better than him. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if both Williams and Kinchens compete for playing time in 2021. 

Last but not least, it’s so nice to say that the replacement for Jose Borregales, who’s having one of the best seasons ever for a Miami kicker statistically, is none other than his little brother, Andres. Andres is ranked as the 3rd-best kicker in the country and he recently transferred to Hialeah Champagnat Catholic for his senior season due to his former school (Chaminade-Madonna) not allowing players to graduate early. 

 

There you go. The Canes are welcoming a total of 21 signees and around 15 are expected to enroll early in January in time for what hopefully is spring practice. Manny Diaz and his staff have absolutely made the best of a very topsy-turvy recruiting cycle when it was imperative that the Canes take advantage of a South Florida area that was even more prosperous than usual. Miami has three spots left in this class and expect to hear some smoke about a lot of late bloomers as well as players from the trusty transfer portal.

 

Keep it locked with @PaulAustria_ and @SixthRingCanes on Twitter for the latest in Miami Hurricanes news and recruiting. Check out this past Wednesday’s episode of The Sixth Ring, where we discussed our thoughts on this class and stay tuned for another episode soon, while we have special guest and South Florida recruiting guru Larry Blustein on to give us his thoughts.

 

Also, sign up for an account on Prizepicks.com, where you can pick the over/under on fantasy projections on some of your favorite players. There’s no better time to sign up than now as the NFL season starts to wind down while the NBA season is right around the corner. Enter the promo code “five” to double your initial deposit.

 

0 replies

Leave a Reply

Want to join the discussion?
Feel free to contribute!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *