A four-star true freshman, underranked because of his height, has dominated Miami’s spring practice and positioned himself for immediate impact. Are we talking about Rueben Bain or Elija Lofton? On today’s CanesInSight Daily Podcast, I dug deep on this comparison and fired up the Lofton hype train:
On the similarities between Lofton and Bain: We named the podcast, “Elija Lofton is the Rueben Bain of offense.” That comparison is based on where Lofton is in spring compared to Bain last year. If he’s really the Bain of the offense, he’ll be a candidate for ACC rookie of the year. Of course, he hasn't done that yet. This is all just spring hype.
But Rueben Bain was generating similar hype last spring, and it translated to the field. The comparisons go deeper than, “Hey, the star of last spring was Rueben Bain, the star of this spring is Elija Lofton.” Bain was a four-star player who really should have been a five star. Why wasn't he a five-star player? He's not the tallest guy. That’s it. He's not 6'5". He's probably closer to 6'2". When you think edge rushers, you think 6'5 prototype. Bain’s not that.
Now why wasn’t Elija Loftopn a four-star and not a five-star? He wasn't the 6’5 prototype. Similar knocks on both of them.
So they're not tall. But are they small? No. Reuben Bain is very strong, very compact, very heavy. Same thing with Elija Lofton at 240. He’s already a monster in the weight room. Both of them excel in power clean, squats, all the explosive power measurements. They’re squatty, heavy and powerful.
Look at their games. Can they just do one thing? No. Bain can beat you with the speed rush. He can beat you with the bull rush. He can beat you with the speed to power. He can bend around the edge. He has counters. He can use his hands. He's good against the run. He can play defensive tackle. He's extremely versatile as a defensive end and extremely complete as a defensive end. He's not a one-trick pony.
Elija Lofton, same thing. He can make contested catches. He can run routes. He can run the ball, as you saw in the scrimmage on Saturday (2 TDs and 100+ rushing yards). He can block. He can, if you need him to, play defense. He’s a pure football player, and his height is the only thing that kept him from five-star status. And this was all there on his high school film. That's why Lofton was my favorite player in the class . My thoughts on him, from our NSD show four months ago, are below:
On their production against top competition: This is not somebody who should have snuck up on anybody. He was doing all these things in high school, very similar to Rueben Bain. In high school Bain, dominated top competition. He had three sacks against IMG, the most talented team in the nation. So he proved he could dominate the best. For his part, Elija Lofton dominated South Florida's top teams, including Bain's alma mater (Miami Central). and other national programs.
Bain and Lofton both come elite programs. Bain is from Central, and Lofton is from Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas). They're coming in with that championship mentality and great coaching.
I know there's people saying, “This is classic DMoney hype. You're comparing a guy who has not played a snap to one of the best players in the country.” And, yes, these comparisons are based on projection. But if you think I'm just being a fan and a prisoner of the moment, I will direct you to our head coach, Mario Cristobal, who made a very similar comparison earlier this spring:
You wish you had a bunch of him. The truth of the matter is, I personally think if [Lofton] was a linebacker, he'd go over there right now and give everybody a run for their money. That's how much faith we have in him as a freshman. He comes from Bishop Gorman, where there are very high standards. And he he's exceeded expectations. I'm pretty fired up about the guy. We talked a lot about Rueben Bain last year early on and Francis Mauigoa. And when you start talking about Elija Lofton, you feel a little bit the same way.
Notice that Cristobal didn't compare him to other freshmen. He compared him to Francis Mauigoa, Freshman All-American. Rueben Bain, Freshman All-American. This isn’t a fan or media member who benefits from unrealistic expectations. This is the head coach. So that gives you an idea of what's happening behind closed doors at practices with Elija Lofton. I’m excited for the spring game on Saturday where everyone can see him for themselves.
