Revamped defensive line to get tested vs. Alabama
The Miami Hurricanes will have a revamped defensive line when they open their season against defending national champion Alabama on Saturday at MercedesBenz Stadium in Atlanta.
With Jaelan Phillips and Quincy Roche now in the NFL after being UM’s top pass rushers last year, third-year redshirt freshman Jahfari Harvey and sixth-year redshirt senior Zach McCloud will step up as Miami’s starting defensive ends against the Crimson Tide, with Chantz Williams and Deandre Johnson listed as their backups.
While Harvey was listed as a starter, UM coach Manny Diaz doesn’t expect the difference in snap count between him or Johnson — a Tennessee transfer who’s entering his fifth college football season — to be significantly different on Saturday.
“Jahfari’s gotten a lot bigger and stronger, which I think gives him a little different physical element to his game that he didn’t have a year ago,”Diazsaid.“Deandre—welost him for some time in the spring. He was out for some time here during training camp, so I think Jahfari had a little bit more opportunity with reps to improve. I don’t know if you’ll see a ginormous difference in the snap count between those two guys.
“Jahfari’s always had great quickness and get off, and could turn a corner on a tackle. I think he feels stronger and you can see it in the confidence he plays with.”
Harvey, a former four-star prospect in the 2019 recruiting class, saw action in four games during his true freshman season and played 10 games in a reserve role behind Phillips and Roche last season.
DefensivelinecoachJessSimpson said Harvey’s done a lot of “cleaning up” with his skill set from the spring and throughout preseason camp.
“As a rusher it was everything from get off to not picking up your front foot to when are you throwing your moves, angle departure to how high you’re getting in rushes,” he added. “Being an effective pass rusher, you can do a great job and you don’t get stats for it, but you did a great job being part of a coordinated rush.
“He did all those things and he’s still working on it.”
Simpson added that McCloud, who was used as a linebacker during his first five seasons with UM before moving to defensive end at the end of last season, has “done everything you want” throughout the position change, with Diaz commenting that he believes McCloud is playing the best football of his career.
Miami will use a combination of Jared Harrison-Hunte, Jon Ford and Nesta Jade Silvera as its two starting defensive tackles, with Harrison-Hunte and Ford getting the starting nod against Alabama and Silvera listed as another starting option at both tackle spots. Jordan Miller was listed as a backup behind the aforementioned trio.
“We got a deep group of defensive tackles,” Simpson said. “Everybody knows Jared’s a really good athlete. He’s improved his game a lot. Jon Ford’s stepped it up. Obviously Jade’s coming off an injury and he’s kind of battled through that. We got three guys we’d consider starting. You can even throw Jordan Miller into that group.”
True freshman Leonard Taylor, a five-star prospect out of Miami Palmetto, wasn’t listed on the two-deep depth chart for Saturday, but he’s expected to get more playing time as the season progresses.
“His knowledge of what we’re doing has improved every day,” Simpson said of Taylor. “His mental errors have dropped each practice. He’s playing at arguably the deepest position on our football team. I would say over the course of this season I wouldn’t be shocked if his role didn’t grow. He’s got some special attributes and we’re just trying to connect all the dots.”
Diaz emphasized throughout Monday that the depth chart could change after Week 1 and that there will be a lot of defensive rotations as the unit looks to improve at stopping the run this season.
“It’s bigger than the defensive line,” Simpson said. “It’s being connected as a front seven. We haven’t been tested in the way we’re going to be tested Saturday in the run game, but I think these guys are going to be up to the challenge.”
Injuries: Diaz said that thirdyear sophomore linebacker Sam Brooks Jr., who played in 10 games last season, won’t be available on Saturday as he continues to recover from a toe injury.
Among the players who are expected to miss the season with injuries, according to Diaz, are: offensive lineman John Campbell, defensive end Thomas Davis and safety Brian Balom.