With the season opener against Notre Dame just over a month away, fall camp for the Miami Hurricanes begins this week.
Spring practices and scrimmages gave us our first look at incoming freshmen and winter portal players, but now the roster is finalized with some spring portal additions at key positions.
Here are the top five players I will be closely watching at fall camp across the next month:
After his season-ending elbow injury in the SEC championship, Beck was still rehabbing during spring practices, meaning we haven’t seen him in live action with his new receiving core.
And while I think the 2024 Carson Beck is overly disrespected, we are obviously hoping for his 2023 version where he racked up nearly 4,000 yards alongside 24 touchdowns and became the projected number 1 overall pick before last season.
It will be interesting to see how he reads the field, who his favorite targets are, and how he maneuvers the pocket with one of the best o-line groups in the country.
Named to the preseason watch list for the Maxwell award, a clean fall camp would do wonders for his confidence heading into week 1 at Hard Rock.
2. CJ Daniels, WR, #7
Another player who spent most of spring practices rehabbing was LSU transfer CJ Daniels.
The veteran wideout was rehabbing a foot injury that limited his production in 2024, and hopes to lead Miami’s inexperienced wide receiver group this upcoming season.
“He's the older guy and you need that, the big brother,” wide receiver coach Kevin Beard said.
“They lean on him and from day one he said ‘Hey coach, can you make a group thread with just the players?’ And they're on it all the time. So, it's a constant mindset of how do we get better.”
Daniels looked solid during his short cameos as he was cleared near the end of spring practices, seen making multiple highlight reel catches.
During his last healthy season at Liberty in 2023, Daniels was dominant for the ranked side — an impressive 55 receptions for 1,067 receiving yards and ten touchdowns.
Like Beck, Miami is hoping Daniels can return to that 2023 form and answer the question marks surrounding the largely unproven wide-out room.
3. Malachi Toney & Hayden Lowe, WR & DE, #10 & #14
For the transition between offense and defense, I chose the standout freshman pair of Malachi Toney and Hayden Lowe.
Both gathered plenty of buzz during spring practices on their respective sides of the ball, and starred during the spring game.
For Toney, he consistently demonstrated an ability to find weak spots in the zone and serve as a reliable target all spring. And when the pads came on for the spring game, he was electric with multiple touchdowns to his name.
“He has no fear, he puts the work in outside of the football field to allow himself to come out here fearless,” coach Beard said.
The South Florida native will be battling for the slot receiver position against Cincinnati transfer Tony Johnson and returning Junior Ray-Ray Joseph, a battle I’m looking forward to watching at fall camp.
For Lowe, the five-star prospect was consistently putting in good work against the offensive line during the spring.
His motor was clear, always driving through blocks and finding his way to the ball. In one-on-one drills, Lowe was unafraid of competition, eager to call out senior offensive lineman.
“That man is ready to play right now. He's a real crazy guy, but he got a nice motor. He plays with a lot of enthusiasm, a lot of tenacity, a lot of everything man,” said teammate Rueben Bain.
And while his path isn’t as clear to playing time with Bain and Akheem Mesidor likely occupying the edge roles, I expect Lowe to find a way onto the field.
For fall camp, I’d love to see Lowe continue sharpening his skills by polishing his finesse moves to match his high-end motor.
Championship teams have impact freshmen, Miami needs this pair to shine bright for their postseason hopes.
4. Mohamed Toure, LB, #1
Arguably the ’Canes top need in the spring transfer portal, linebacker was a position of real concern.
And in early May, Miami landed a transfer commitment from Rutgers linebacker Mohamed Toure.
In 2023 with Hurricanes defensive Coordinator Corey Hetherman serving as linebacker coach at Rutgers, Toure had a career year — 93 tackles, 9.5 tackles-for-loss, and 4.5 sacks.
Now reunited with Hetherman, Toure could possibly return to that 2023 form which saw him named as an All-Big Ten honorable mention.
Originally part of the class of 2019, Toure brings valuable experience to the defensive side of the ball, at a position that requires leadership. And while injury concerns are present (two ACL injuries), he has been fully screened and cleared by the staff.
Keep him healthy and the Hurricanes may just have an all-conference level player on their hands.
5. Justin Scott, DT, #5
To round out the list we have rising sophomore Justin Scott.
The former five star defensive tackle didn’t see much action last season, only appearing in five games, and is expected to take a big step forward this season.
During spring Scott impressed, both in shape and performing well in between the lines. Across the practices he was a mainstay in my performers of the day, wreaking havoc on the interior.
“On a single-block, he's a guy we anticipate and expect to win right now,” said Coach Hetherman.
“Just his movements, how twitchy he is off the football, he's a guy who continues to get better during spring football.”
While Miami has retooled across the board under the leadership of head coach Mario Cristobal, the d-tackle position has routinely been below the levels of contending playoff teams.
And at a position that is five-star dominant, developing your headline recruit goes a long way to recruiting such talent. Therefore Scott could have as much of an impact off the field as he could on, and Miami desperately needs both.
Like linebacker, defensive tackle is a crucial position that had plenty of question marks surrounding it, Scott could cement himself as the answer with a good fall camp.
Honorable mentions: Donta Simpson, Bryce Fitzgerald, Charmar Brown, Marquise Lightfoot, Armondo Blount, Bert Auburn
Spring practices and scrimmages gave us our first look at incoming freshmen and winter portal players, but now the roster is finalized with some spring portal additions at key positions.
Here are the top five players I will be closely watching at fall camp across the next month:
- Carson Beck, QB, #11
After his season-ending elbow injury in the SEC championship, Beck was still rehabbing during spring practices, meaning we haven’t seen him in live action with his new receiving core.
And while I think the 2024 Carson Beck is overly disrespected, we are obviously hoping for his 2023 version where he racked up nearly 4,000 yards alongside 24 touchdowns and became the projected number 1 overall pick before last season.
It will be interesting to see how he reads the field, who his favorite targets are, and how he maneuvers the pocket with one of the best o-line groups in the country.
Named to the preseason watch list for the Maxwell award, a clean fall camp would do wonders for his confidence heading into week 1 at Hard Rock.
2. CJ Daniels, WR, #7
Another player who spent most of spring practices rehabbing was LSU transfer CJ Daniels.
The veteran wideout was rehabbing a foot injury that limited his production in 2024, and hopes to lead Miami’s inexperienced wide receiver group this upcoming season.
“He's the older guy and you need that, the big brother,” wide receiver coach Kevin Beard said.
“They lean on him and from day one he said ‘Hey coach, can you make a group thread with just the players?’ And they're on it all the time. So, it's a constant mindset of how do we get better.”
Daniels looked solid during his short cameos as he was cleared near the end of spring practices, seen making multiple highlight reel catches.
During his last healthy season at Liberty in 2023, Daniels was dominant for the ranked side — an impressive 55 receptions for 1,067 receiving yards and ten touchdowns.
Like Beck, Miami is hoping Daniels can return to that 2023 form and answer the question marks surrounding the largely unproven wide-out room.
3. Malachi Toney & Hayden Lowe, WR & DE, #10 & #14
For the transition between offense and defense, I chose the standout freshman pair of Malachi Toney and Hayden Lowe.
Both gathered plenty of buzz during spring practices on their respective sides of the ball, and starred during the spring game.
For Toney, he consistently demonstrated an ability to find weak spots in the zone and serve as a reliable target all spring. And when the pads came on for the spring game, he was electric with multiple touchdowns to his name.
“He has no fear, he puts the work in outside of the football field to allow himself to come out here fearless,” coach Beard said.
The South Florida native will be battling for the slot receiver position against Cincinnati transfer Tony Johnson and returning Junior Ray-Ray Joseph, a battle I’m looking forward to watching at fall camp.
For Lowe, the five-star prospect was consistently putting in good work against the offensive line during the spring.
His motor was clear, always driving through blocks and finding his way to the ball. In one-on-one drills, Lowe was unafraid of competition, eager to call out senior offensive lineman.
“That man is ready to play right now. He's a real crazy guy, but he got a nice motor. He plays with a lot of enthusiasm, a lot of tenacity, a lot of everything man,” said teammate Rueben Bain.
And while his path isn’t as clear to playing time with Bain and Akheem Mesidor likely occupying the edge roles, I expect Lowe to find a way onto the field.
For fall camp, I’d love to see Lowe continue sharpening his skills by polishing his finesse moves to match his high-end motor.
Championship teams have impact freshmen, Miami needs this pair to shine bright for their postseason hopes.
4. Mohamed Toure, LB, #1
Arguably the ’Canes top need in the spring transfer portal, linebacker was a position of real concern.
And in early May, Miami landed a transfer commitment from Rutgers linebacker Mohamed Toure.
In 2023 with Hurricanes defensive Coordinator Corey Hetherman serving as linebacker coach at Rutgers, Toure had a career year — 93 tackles, 9.5 tackles-for-loss, and 4.5 sacks.
Now reunited with Hetherman, Toure could possibly return to that 2023 form which saw him named as an All-Big Ten honorable mention.
Originally part of the class of 2019, Toure brings valuable experience to the defensive side of the ball, at a position that requires leadership. And while injury concerns are present (two ACL injuries), he has been fully screened and cleared by the staff.
Keep him healthy and the Hurricanes may just have an all-conference level player on their hands.
5. Justin Scott, DT, #5
To round out the list we have rising sophomore Justin Scott.
The former five star defensive tackle didn’t see much action last season, only appearing in five games, and is expected to take a big step forward this season.
During spring Scott impressed, both in shape and performing well in between the lines. Across the practices he was a mainstay in my performers of the day, wreaking havoc on the interior.
“On a single-block, he's a guy we anticipate and expect to win right now,” said Coach Hetherman.
“Just his movements, how twitchy he is off the football, he's a guy who continues to get better during spring football.”
While Miami has retooled across the board under the leadership of head coach Mario Cristobal, the d-tackle position has routinely been below the levels of contending playoff teams.
And at a position that is five-star dominant, developing your headline recruit goes a long way to recruiting such talent. Therefore Scott could have as much of an impact off the field as he could on, and Miami desperately needs both.
Like linebacker, defensive tackle is a crucial position that had plenty of question marks surrounding it, Scott could cement himself as the answer with a good fall camp.
Honorable mentions: Donta Simpson, Bryce Fitzgerald, Charmar Brown, Marquise Lightfoot, Armondo Blount, Bert Auburn
