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2020 Camden (NJ) LB Tirek Austin-Cave officially became a Miami Hurricane this morning. He was the 6th confirmed signee.
The 6-1 205 pounder is currently a consensus 3-star in the national rankings. According to the 247Sports Composite, Austin-Cave is the #598 player nationally, #27 ILB in the country, and the #15 player in New Jersey.
Recruiting Story
Austin-Cave’s Miami recruitment lasted about 5 months, as he received his UM offer back in early February. West Virginia was considered an early leader for Austin-Cave, but Miami did a great job here identifying a prospect they liked at a position of need and quickly convincing him UM was the best place for him on his official visit, which took place last month and was his first visit to Miami. He is the first recruit UM has pulled from New Jersey since Evidence Njoku and Zach Feagles in the 2017 class.
Evaluation
Austin-Cave recorded a 4.76 in the 40, a 4.53 shuttle time, and a 33.90 inch vertical at the Opening New Jersey Regional back in April. As a senior in 2019 for Camden, he totaled a whopping 148 tackles, 20 TFL, 11 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, 2 fumble recoveries, 2 INT’s, 6 PBU's, and 1 blocked punt, so it’s fair to say he’s a highly productive ‘backer that plays with energy and is all over the field.
On tape, Austin-Cave is quick to shut down openings and fills gaps in the line with vigor. Shows good sideline-to-sideline speed and covers a lot of ground for the middle of a defense. Will chase a ball-carrier down from behind and demonstrates great recovery speed to prevent or minimize big plays. Stalks running back with adequate patience and shows above average technique to break his hips down and form tackle. Not easily fooled on misdirection plays and has quality eye discipline. Has an affinity for shedding blocks and I love the coordination between his hands and feet to work around blockers. Would like to see more of his coverage ability, but Austin-Cave has an incredible football IQ and is a student of the game, so I have no doubt he could improve that aspect of his game. Similar to taking Corey Flagg, Diaz is clearly going after highly productive high school linebackers with above average intelligence and Austin-Cave fits that mold to a tee.
The Team
The Canes lose longtime 4-year starters Shaq Quarterman and Michael Pinckney at the linebacker position. Replacing one of those two spots will be Zach McCloud, who redshirted this year to return in a more prominent role in 2020. The other starting job is up in the air right now among a bunch of unproven players, with injury prone veterans like Waymon Steed, BJ Jennings, and Patrick Joyner going up against the younger and speedier Avery Huff and Sam Brooks. None of these players were able to establish themselves as a true heir apparent this season.
Redshirt Probability: 2/10
In my opinion, Austin-Cave has a very good shot to play early, as he has an all-around game that pairs above average testing numbers with strong production at the HS level. Aside from McCloud, there is no obvious choice to start, and the two-deep is completely up in the air. Since he’s coming in early, I’m expecting Austin-Cave to at least be on the two-deep and earn a spot in the rotation starting this spring.
The 6-1 205 pounder is currently a consensus 3-star in the national rankings. According to the 247Sports Composite, Austin-Cave is the #598 player nationally, #27 ILB in the country, and the #15 player in New Jersey.
Recruiting Story
Austin-Cave’s Miami recruitment lasted about 5 months, as he received his UM offer back in early February. West Virginia was considered an early leader for Austin-Cave, but Miami did a great job here identifying a prospect they liked at a position of need and quickly convincing him UM was the best place for him on his official visit, which took place last month and was his first visit to Miami. He is the first recruit UM has pulled from New Jersey since Evidence Njoku and Zach Feagles in the 2017 class.
Evaluation
Austin-Cave recorded a 4.76 in the 40, a 4.53 shuttle time, and a 33.90 inch vertical at the Opening New Jersey Regional back in April. As a senior in 2019 for Camden, he totaled a whopping 148 tackles, 20 TFL, 11 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, 2 fumble recoveries, 2 INT’s, 6 PBU's, and 1 blocked punt, so it’s fair to say he’s a highly productive ‘backer that plays with energy and is all over the field.
On tape, Austin-Cave is quick to shut down openings and fills gaps in the line with vigor. Shows good sideline-to-sideline speed and covers a lot of ground for the middle of a defense. Will chase a ball-carrier down from behind and demonstrates great recovery speed to prevent or minimize big plays. Stalks running back with adequate patience and shows above average technique to break his hips down and form tackle. Not easily fooled on misdirection plays and has quality eye discipline. Has an affinity for shedding blocks and I love the coordination between his hands and feet to work around blockers. Would like to see more of his coverage ability, but Austin-Cave has an incredible football IQ and is a student of the game, so I have no doubt he could improve that aspect of his game. Similar to taking Corey Flagg, Diaz is clearly going after highly productive high school linebackers with above average intelligence and Austin-Cave fits that mold to a tee.
The Team
The Canes lose longtime 4-year starters Shaq Quarterman and Michael Pinckney at the linebacker position. Replacing one of those two spots will be Zach McCloud, who redshirted this year to return in a more prominent role in 2020. The other starting job is up in the air right now among a bunch of unproven players, with injury prone veterans like Waymon Steed, BJ Jennings, and Patrick Joyner going up against the younger and speedier Avery Huff and Sam Brooks. None of these players were able to establish themselves as a true heir apparent this season.
Redshirt Probability: 2/10
In my opinion, Austin-Cave has a very good shot to play early, as he has an all-around game that pairs above average testing numbers with strong production at the HS level. Aside from McCloud, there is no obvious choice to start, and the two-deep is completely up in the air. Since he’s coming in early, I’m expecting Austin-Cave to at least be on the two-deep and earn a spot in the rotation starting this spring.
