One big problem that’s holding back UM football
When Greg Rousseau’s name is called during the early stages of April’s NFL Draft, it will end the longest stretch that UM has gone — since the program’s turnaround in the 1980s — without producing a first- or secondround draft choice from South Florida.
The Canes haven’t had one since former Miami Northwestern cornerback
Artie Burns went 25th overall to Pittsburgh in 2016; New Jersey native
David Njoku went 29th to Cleveland a year later.
And that speaks to one of the problems that has kept this Canes program from becoming a recent championship contender: Not enough of these Dade/Broward/Palm Beach players have become elite college players, or the type of talents that warrant consideration during the first two days of the NFL Draft.
Consider this:
For the classes of 2015 through 2019, 247 Sports ranked the top 250 players in Florida each of those years. Of the players from the tri-county area, UM snagged 44 of those players; a 45th — ex- Southridge cornerback Tyrique Stevenson — recently joined Miami as a transfer from Georgia.
Of those 44, do you know how many became elite college players? Three: Rousseau, Ahmmon Richards (before his neck injury) and Jaquan Johnson.
About 10 others, give or take a few, became very good college players: Joe Jackson, Jon Garvin, Mark Walton, Mike Harley, Sheldrick Redwine, Travis Homer, RJ McIntosh, Trajan Bandy and Cam’Ron Harris. And while all of those players should be praised for their college careers, none of those was — or is — considered a top-two or even top-three round NFL talent, the type of players who make teams national champions.
Cornerback Malek Young likely would have joined that “very good college player” group if a neck injury hadn’t ended his career after two years. And cornerbacks Al Blades and Te’Cory Couch and defensive tackle Nesta Silvera, among others, have a chance to be regarded as very good college players if they play really well in 2021, though none are projected as high NFL picks.
Here’s the problem: Of those 44 players, eight were either busts or transferred, including receivers Sam Bruce and Dionte Mullins.
And several others simply haven’t quite lived up to expectations. Jon Ford, considered a first-round talent by a former UM defensive line coach, has had a nondescript career and is a marginal NFL prospect. Kai-Leon Herbert, rated by Rivals as the 25th best offensive tackle in the 2017 class, opted out last year but couldn’t get on the field when he was available.
Navaughn Donaldson has had a solid career but not quite what was expected when Rivals rated him the No. 6 offensive tackle in the 2017 class.
Mark Pope, a five-star prospect and rated the fifth best receiver in 2018, continues to be plagued by drops and inconsistency. Silvera, the No. 9 tackle in the 2018 class, has been impactful at times, disappointing at others. Gurvan Hall, the No. 17 safety in the 2018 class, hasn’t become the impact player that some at UM expected.
In many cases, this UM staff — and this is ultimately a coach Manny Diaz decision — would prefer to get the fifth, ninth and 10th best players from South Florida than the best player from somewhere else.
That’s one reason why 15 of the 21 players in the Canes’ 2021 class were from the tri-county area.
By comparison, the great 1999 class had nine of 23 from South Florida;
Ken Dorsey (California),
Bryant McKinnie (Pennsylvania) and Clinton Portis (Gainesville) were among those recruited from elsewhere; Andre Johnson and Vernon Carey were elite local recruits.
The issue is not enough of these Dade/Broward/ Palm Beach players are good enough or productive enough to raise the program to top-10 status.
Keep in mind that UM’s best players in 2020 —
D’Eriq King, Jaelan Phillips, Brevin Jordan and
Quincy Roche — went to
high school outside South Florida, with all of those transfers except Jordan.
Perhaps that changes with five-star safety James Williams and defensive tackle Leonard Taylor, the two South Florida gems from UM’s 2021 class.
But it’s difficult to envision UM returning to elite status if more of the elite NFL prospects don’t stay home. Remember that Rousseau rose to that status as an undervalued three-star recruit.
The top-rated South Florida players in the
2015, ’16 and ’17 classes —
Calvin Ridley, Nick Bosa and Jerry Jeudy — went elsewhere (two to Alabama, one to Ohio State) and became first-round picks. Defensive end Brian Burns, 247 Sports’ No. 2 South Florida recruit in 2016, went to FSU and became a first-round pick. The top local recruit in the 2018 class — Pat Surtain Jr. — went to Alabama and will be a first-round pick in April.
What needs to happen, Diaz said, is the top local players “need to see someone who made that decision to stay home to know it’s OK to do that. We have some on our team —
Don Chaney Jr., Jaylon Knighton” and now a very strong 2021 class headlined by Taylor and Williams.
There’s no doubt UM’s local recruiting has improved with Diaz as head coach, thanks to many, including Diaz, the assistant coaches, Pop Cooney, Edwin Pata, DeMarcus Van Dyke, Andy Vaughn and Ed Reed.
The key now is hoping that more become Rousseaus — elite college players and top NFL prospects. That’s the difference between being the nation’s 22nd-ranked team (UM’s final spot in January’s AP poll) or something significantly
better than that.
CHATTER
Even if Penn State
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linebacker Micah Parsons — once regarded as a top-five pick — should fall to the Dolphins at No. 18,
Mel Kiper could still make a case to perhaps select Notre Dame’s Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah
at No. 18 instead. “As an open-field tackler, Jeremiah is one of the best I’ve seen in a long time,” Kiper said. “As a coverage linebacker, Jeremiah is among the best I’ve seen in a long time. Is Parsons better than Koramoah? Karomoah played. Parsons didn’t. Maybe you give the edge to Owusu-Koramoah.”
With the expected
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addition of a 17th regularseason game for each team, the Dolphins and the other AFC teams likely will have nine home games and eight road games in 2021, according to NBC’s Peter King.
Miami’s 17th game would be home against the Giants. Miami’s other 2021 home games: New England, the Jets, Buffalo, Houston, Indianapolis, Atlanta, Carolina, Baltimore.
Gio Gonzalez chose
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the Marlins over nonroster invitations from several other teams. The Marlins aren’t quite sure what to expect but thought it was worth a flier. In a best case scenario, he builds up his arm strength at the Marlins’ alternate site and eventually becomes an option for a back-end rotation spot.
Gonzalez, 35, who was born in Hialeah, allowed 59 baserunners in 32 1⁄3
innings last season for Chicago, making four starts. But he did have 34 strikeouts and his ERA — while bloated at 4.83 — wasn’t horrific. He missed time with a right groin strain.