2021 Independence (TX) TE Elijah Arroyo committed to the Miami Hurricanes tonight.
The 6-4, 210-pounder is currently a consensus 4-star prospect in the national rankings. According to the 247Sports Composite Ranking, Arroyo is the #329 player nationally in 2021, the #13 TE in the country, and the #49 player in Texas. His commitment moved UM’s class ranking on 247Sports up to #7 in the nation and to #8 on Rivals.
The Player
Arroyo committed to the Hurricanes sight unseen, as he has been unable to visit this spring due to the campus shutdowns. Miami was able to make up for that with OC Rhett Lashlee, who has had a strong connection with the local Texan going back to Lashlee's days at SMU. Arroyo also has family ties to the South Florida area, and called UM his “dream school” after receiving his offer back in January. Arroyo put the Canes in his top 10 group released last week, but, this week, decided there was no reason to wait any longer. An interesting part of his story is that he spent part of his childhood growing up in Mexico. He chose Miami over Texas A&M, UGA, LSU, Alabama, and Penn State to name a few.
Add Arroyo’s name as another entry to the new breed of jumbo athletes that are becoming more and more common, as he is a receiver in a tight end’s body. Right off the bat on film, Arroyo shows plus concentration and hands, giving his QB a large catch radius to work with. Arroyo’s speed jumps off the screen, and he can easily run away from DB’s; has been clocked at a 4.6 40 in the past. Wins many reps right from the snap with his quickness and establishes the capacity to blow by his man off the line. Lines up all over the field at Independence as an H-Back, in-line, and in the slot, and UM will likely want to use his versatility in a similar manner in Lashlee’s offense.
Dangerous as a runner in the open field and shows the ability to bounce off tackles and churn out extra yards. A terror working the middle of the field, and can utilize each level of the gridiron to stretch a defense. A red-zone threat that can freelance near the goal-line if he’s initially covered up, and will find the open space in the scramble drill. Shows physicality and toughness as a blocker, which is something you don’t see from a lot of young tight ends, and had quite a few pancakes on tape. Still needs to add a lot more lean muscle to his frame to hold up at the next level. Earned a spot on first team All-District after posting a 47-648-5 line as a junior in 2019.
The Class
Arroyo is the 14th commit overall in the 2021 class and he is the second true tight end in the class, joining Miami Northwestern (FL) 3-star Kahlil Brantley. North Miami (FL) 3-star Chamon Metayer is an athlete as a TE/DE that has played both offense and defense at different points of his high school career, and it's to be determined where he will end up in college; he has told CIS in the past he prefers to play offense. Recruiting at this spot is likely over with, but being so far from signing day, I wouldn’t rule out UM keeping tabs on some targets just to cover all their bases in case somebody departs from the class ahead of December.
The Team
Miami isn’t projected to lose anybody at the position next offseason, but certainly Brevin Jordan will be heavily considering entering the NFL Draft early if he has the season many expect he will have. Even if Jordan does jump early, Miami will still have talented options such as Will Mallory, Larry Hodges and Dominic Mammarelli to potentially fill the void.
Arroyo seems to fit perfectly with what Lashlee wants out of a tight end in his offense, plus he profiles to have the highest upside among his classmates at the spot, so he’ll have a strong chance at playing early if he can pack on a few more pounds. Without Mallory in 2022, the depth chart really opens up, and Arroyo can compete with the rest of the remaining TE’s for the starting nod. Ultimately, Arroyo has All-ACC potential as another moving part Lashlee’s spread attack.
The 6-4, 210-pounder is currently a consensus 4-star prospect in the national rankings. According to the 247Sports Composite Ranking, Arroyo is the #329 player nationally in 2021, the #13 TE in the country, and the #49 player in Texas. His commitment moved UM’s class ranking on 247Sports up to #7 in the nation and to #8 on Rivals.
The Player
Arroyo committed to the Hurricanes sight unseen, as he has been unable to visit this spring due to the campus shutdowns. Miami was able to make up for that with OC Rhett Lashlee, who has had a strong connection with the local Texan going back to Lashlee's days at SMU. Arroyo also has family ties to the South Florida area, and called UM his “dream school” after receiving his offer back in January. Arroyo put the Canes in his top 10 group released last week, but, this week, decided there was no reason to wait any longer. An interesting part of his story is that he spent part of his childhood growing up in Mexico. He chose Miami over Texas A&M, UGA, LSU, Alabama, and Penn State to name a few.
Add Arroyo’s name as another entry to the new breed of jumbo athletes that are becoming more and more common, as he is a receiver in a tight end’s body. Right off the bat on film, Arroyo shows plus concentration and hands, giving his QB a large catch radius to work with. Arroyo’s speed jumps off the screen, and he can easily run away from DB’s; has been clocked at a 4.6 40 in the past. Wins many reps right from the snap with his quickness and establishes the capacity to blow by his man off the line. Lines up all over the field at Independence as an H-Back, in-line, and in the slot, and UM will likely want to use his versatility in a similar manner in Lashlee’s offense.
Dangerous as a runner in the open field and shows the ability to bounce off tackles and churn out extra yards. A terror working the middle of the field, and can utilize each level of the gridiron to stretch a defense. A red-zone threat that can freelance near the goal-line if he’s initially covered up, and will find the open space in the scramble drill. Shows physicality and toughness as a blocker, which is something you don’t see from a lot of young tight ends, and had quite a few pancakes on tape. Still needs to add a lot more lean muscle to his frame to hold up at the next level. Earned a spot on first team All-District after posting a 47-648-5 line as a junior in 2019.
The Class
Arroyo is the 14th commit overall in the 2021 class and he is the second true tight end in the class, joining Miami Northwestern (FL) 3-star Kahlil Brantley. North Miami (FL) 3-star Chamon Metayer is an athlete as a TE/DE that has played both offense and defense at different points of his high school career, and it's to be determined where he will end up in college; he has told CIS in the past he prefers to play offense. Recruiting at this spot is likely over with, but being so far from signing day, I wouldn’t rule out UM keeping tabs on some targets just to cover all their bases in case somebody departs from the class ahead of December.
The Team
Miami isn’t projected to lose anybody at the position next offseason, but certainly Brevin Jordan will be heavily considering entering the NFL Draft early if he has the season many expect he will have. Even if Jordan does jump early, Miami will still have talented options such as Will Mallory, Larry Hodges and Dominic Mammarelli to potentially fill the void.
Arroyo seems to fit perfectly with what Lashlee wants out of a tight end in his offense, plus he profiles to have the highest upside among his classmates at the spot, so he’ll have a strong chance at playing early if he can pack on a few more pounds. Without Mallory in 2022, the depth chart really opens up, and Arroyo can compete with the rest of the remaining TE’s for the starting nod. Ultimately, Arroyo has All-ACC potential as another moving part Lashlee’s spread attack.
