UM tight ends are sticking together
Inseparable freshman roommates are quite ‘the package deal.’
CORAL GABLES — Brevin Jordan and Will Mallory do a lot together.
As two of the top tight end recruits in the 2018 class, they signed with the Hurricanes together. They enrolled at the University of Miami in May for Summer Session A together. They live together. And they also play together, too, with the Hurricanes expected to utilize a bunch of two-tight-end sets this season.
“They come as a package,” freshman quarterback Jarren Williams said. “If you see Will, you’re going to see Brevin. They’re always together.”
Jordan and Mallory are also taking the fast track together, too, on their way to immediate playing time this season. Speaking for the first time since arriving at UM, they expressed confidence during Monday’s media day that they can make the most of their opportunity.
The freshman duo entered fall camp with hopes of earning snaps in the season opener against LSU on Sept. 2. But those hopes turned into a requirement after the only tight end on the roster with a catch on the college level, Michael Irvin II, suffered an MCL injury in his right knee early in fall camp that’s going to keep him out for the next four months.
“My reaction was kind of a
down feeling because losing Mike, we lost so much help at the tight end position,” Jordan said. “It was really just a sad feeling. But it’s always next man up in college football.”
Next man, or men, up is Jordan and Mallory. The only other scholarship tight end on Miami’s roster is sophomore Brian Polendey, who played in six games largely on special teams and did not record a catch last season.
But Jordan doesn’t feel any added pressure after Irvin’s injury. Why? Because he signed with the Hurricanes expecting to be the starting tight end from Day 1.
“I came here to play. I didn’t come here to sit behind anybody,” Jordan said. “So that pressure has always been there. Nothing has changed. I’m coming in with the same approach.”
Jordan, from Las Vegas, was rated by Rivals as a fivestar prospect and the second-best tight end in the country for the 2018 class. Mallory, from Jacksonville, was rated as a four-star prospect and the eighth-best at his position.
“It’s everything you hoped for in the recruiting process, when you’re bringing in two guys at one position,” Hurricanes tight ends coach Todd Hartley said Monday. “You hope they get along, you hope they understand each other’s role, you hope they really, truly understand how they can help each other. It will be very beneficial for our team and for our offense. And they’ve bought in from Day 1.”
The Hurricanes have a plan to play Jordan and Mallory as freshmen in separate roles. The plan is to use the same model that tight ends David Njoku and Chris Herndon excelled in together, as they combined to record 71 catches for 1,032 yards and 10 touchdowns in 2016.
Njoku played the “Y” tight end, a hybrid receiver/tight end position that had him line up out wide at times. Herndon played the “F” tight end, the traditional tight end spot.
Right now, Jordan is in Herndon’s place as the “F” tight end and Mallory is in Njoku’s place as the “Y” tight end. At 6-foot-3, 245 pounds, Jordan is more physically prepared to play on the line and help in the blocking game than the 6-5, 230pound Mallory.
“Brevin is a little bit more polished right now in the point of attack,” Hartley said. “But Will has gotten his fair share of reps there and has done a phenomenal job of what we asked him to do. Is he where we need him to be yet? No. But he’s not scared and he has not backed down from anything.
“So differences in their game, I would say Will is more of a downfield threat right now. Brevin is more of a versatility guy, where you can play him flexed out, put him in the backfield, put him attached. But they’re both going to be really good players for us.”
Jordan and Mallory acknowledge there’s still plenty of room for improvement in the blocking department and in their knowledge of the Hurricanes’ offensive system. The roommates are working overtime to improve in both areas.
“We talk about it every chance we get,” Mallory said when asked how much they study the playbook together at home, “whether it’s opening up film or we’re showing each other plays or we’re talking about something that happened at practice or we’re both trying to figure out what we did right, what we did wrong and how we can improve.”