2020 Columbus (FL) DE Elijah Roberts decommitted from Miami on Monday night.
The 6-3, 240-pounder is a 3-star ranked #471 overall nationally, the #18 DE, and #62 in the Sunshine State in the 247Sports Composite. His decommitment does not change Miami’s #1 class in 2020 on 247Sports or Rivals.
The Background
Roberts committed to Miami in June after spending the day at a Mark Richt summer camp. Roberts originally wanted to commit a month before, but held off on that as, ultimately, he felt he wasn’t ready. He probably should have stuck with that first instinct instead of getting overwhelmed with excitement on his visit and pulling the trigger, but it’s not the end of the world that a 16 year old made a rash decision based on emotion. Again, despite what some may say with the timing of everything, I don’t think this had anything to do with Miami and was all about Roberts feeling he rushed things in retrospect.
That makes five decommitments already for Miami in the class of 2020 and all have been elite or near-elite prospects. A talent such as Roberts parting ways with Miami is never good and there’s really no way to sugarcoat that. However, this is just another in a long line of way too early commitments ending with way too early decommitments. You can’t have coaches stop recruiting freshman and sophomores in high school because it’s just so necessary these days to build those relationships as early as possible, but you can’t help but wonder if the game wouldn’t be better served limiting the timeline on commitments until at least a prospect’s junior season.
Future of the Class
Roberts’ decommitment brings the total class numbers down to 11. Miami will continue to recruit Roberts and UM would love to re-add him to this class. Either way, Miami is still well-stocked on the defensive line for 2020 right now with Carol City (FL) 4-star DE Samuel Anaele, IMG Academy (FL) 4-star DT Tre’Von Riggins, and Chaminade-Madonna (FL) 4-star DT Willie Moise.
In terms of targets, we’ve known Miami feels that Apopka (FL) 4-star DE/DT Jalen Carter is the #1 defensive prospect in the state and will pursue him as such. In our last talk, Carter told CIS he was now up to 6’5” 285, so it’s pretty safe to say he would be a DT here at Miami. Carter loved the atmosphere on campus when he came down to visit for Paradise Camp and said the hospitality shown by the staff was unmatched by any other program he’s been to. As long as UM continues to prioritize Carter, they will be hard to beat in this recruitment and CIS heard a lot of positive chatter regarding him to UM after Paradise.
Another top target on the line is Oakleaf (FL) 4-star DE Chantz Williams, and the Canes have been showing him the love as well. He’s probably Miami’s first option in terms of edge rushers this cycle and Miami wants him badly. Williams has now visited UM for two straight Paradise Camps and I like the size (10-15 pounds) that Williams has put on in the past year or so to begin filling out his 6’4” frame. I think it’s safe to call him a Miami-lean at this point.
Other highly regarded prospects on the D-Line that UM is in good spots for are Troup County (GA) 4-star DE/DT Andy Boykin and Sebastian River (FL) 4-star DT Timothy Smith. Boykin came down for Paradise as well and recently put Miami in his top 5, while Smith most recently attended Underclassman Day in Coral Gables back in March.
Pahokee (FL) 4-star DE Latarie Kinsler was close to committing to Miami over the summer and visited for Paradise Camp, but lately over the fall, UM has not been prioritizing him as much, so it’s hard to say if he will end up in the class at this point. He looked like a toothpick at Paradise and really needs to work on filling out his body. Schley County (GA) 4-star DE Zykeivous Walker holds an early UM offer as well, but there hasn’t been much interest shown from him on his part to have any confidence that he’ll come to Miami.
The 6-3, 240-pounder is a 3-star ranked #471 overall nationally, the #18 DE, and #62 in the Sunshine State in the 247Sports Composite. His decommitment does not change Miami’s #1 class in 2020 on 247Sports or Rivals.
The Background
Roberts committed to Miami in June after spending the day at a Mark Richt summer camp. Roberts originally wanted to commit a month before, but held off on that as, ultimately, he felt he wasn’t ready. He probably should have stuck with that first instinct instead of getting overwhelmed with excitement on his visit and pulling the trigger, but it’s not the end of the world that a 16 year old made a rash decision based on emotion. Again, despite what some may say with the timing of everything, I don’t think this had anything to do with Miami and was all about Roberts feeling he rushed things in retrospect.
That makes five decommitments already for Miami in the class of 2020 and all have been elite or near-elite prospects. A talent such as Roberts parting ways with Miami is never good and there’s really no way to sugarcoat that. However, this is just another in a long line of way too early commitments ending with way too early decommitments. You can’t have coaches stop recruiting freshman and sophomores in high school because it’s just so necessary these days to build those relationships as early as possible, but you can’t help but wonder if the game wouldn’t be better served limiting the timeline on commitments until at least a prospect’s junior season.
Future of the Class
Roberts’ decommitment brings the total class numbers down to 11. Miami will continue to recruit Roberts and UM would love to re-add him to this class. Either way, Miami is still well-stocked on the defensive line for 2020 right now with Carol City (FL) 4-star DE Samuel Anaele, IMG Academy (FL) 4-star DT Tre’Von Riggins, and Chaminade-Madonna (FL) 4-star DT Willie Moise.
In terms of targets, we’ve known Miami feels that Apopka (FL) 4-star DE/DT Jalen Carter is the #1 defensive prospect in the state and will pursue him as such. In our last talk, Carter told CIS he was now up to 6’5” 285, so it’s pretty safe to say he would be a DT here at Miami. Carter loved the atmosphere on campus when he came down to visit for Paradise Camp and said the hospitality shown by the staff was unmatched by any other program he’s been to. As long as UM continues to prioritize Carter, they will be hard to beat in this recruitment and CIS heard a lot of positive chatter regarding him to UM after Paradise.
Another top target on the line is Oakleaf (FL) 4-star DE Chantz Williams, and the Canes have been showing him the love as well. He’s probably Miami’s first option in terms of edge rushers this cycle and Miami wants him badly. Williams has now visited UM for two straight Paradise Camps and I like the size (10-15 pounds) that Williams has put on in the past year or so to begin filling out his 6’4” frame. I think it’s safe to call him a Miami-lean at this point.
Other highly regarded prospects on the D-Line that UM is in good spots for are Troup County (GA) 4-star DE/DT Andy Boykin and Sebastian River (FL) 4-star DT Timothy Smith. Boykin came down for Paradise as well and recently put Miami in his top 5, while Smith most recently attended Underclassman Day in Coral Gables back in March.
Pahokee (FL) 4-star DE Latarie Kinsler was close to committing to Miami over the summer and visited for Paradise Camp, but lately over the fall, UM has not been prioritizing him as much, so it’s hard to say if he will end up in the class at this point. He looked like a toothpick at Paradise and really needs to work on filling out his body. Schley County (GA) 4-star DE Zykeivous Walker holds an early UM offer as well, but there hasn’t been much interest shown from him on his part to have any confidence that he’ll come to Miami.
