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2021 Bayside (FL) ATH Chase Smith committed to the Miami Hurricanes last week.
The 6-3 190 pounder is currently a consensus 4-star prospect in the national rankings. According to the 247Sports Composite Ranking, Smith is the #261 player nationally in 2021, the #14 ATH in the country, and the #37 player in the Sunshine State. His commitment moved UM’s class ranking on 247Sports up to #8 in the nation and to #9 on Rivals.
Recruiting Story
A late start to his recruitment coupled with an aversion to doing media made Smith overlooked in some aspects throughout the cycle, but there’s no doubt he is one of the more talented players in this class. Smith received very little Power 5 attention until he really broke out as a junior in 2019. The Hurricanes offered him that following January, although the Bayside star was unable to make a visit to UM before the campus shutdowns in March. Around that same period, Smith earned offers from some of the top programs in college football, including Georgia, Oklahoma, Auburn, Florida, and Florida State among others, but he was unable to take visits to those schools either and it left Smith in a tough position. While Smith maintained for months that he would wait to take visits before making any decisions, it seemed less and less likely that he would be able to do so as time went on, so he opted to end his recruitment now and focus on his senior season instead. An interesting part of Smith’s story includes being a UM legacy, as his father Willie was an All-American TE at Miami in the 80’s before being drafted into the NFL. That connection almost certainly played a part in his decision to ultimately go with the Canes, the program most familiar to him and his family in a time of uncertainty.
The Player
Smith put up big-time numbers on both sides of the ball for Bayside as a junior in 2019, recording 50 catches for 716 yards and 7 TD’s on offense at receiver, and 72 tackles, 18 TFL, 4 sacks, 4 INT, 1 FR, and 4 TD’s on defense as a safety/linebacker; that effort landed him on the All-Space Coast Team. Has a basketball and track background as well.
Smith is an athletic marvel that possesses a long and lanky frame with room to grow, and he could shine at many different positions at the next level, but the Canes currently have him pegged for the striker position. On film, Smith is able to show off a diverse skillset on the defensive side of the ball, but seems at his best when he’s closer to the line of scrimmage in a disruptor role. That’s going to make him a perfect fit for the striker position at Miami, where he will be able to use his speed and playmaking ability in the box to cause havoc for opposing offenses. Strong run defender that will contain the edge and is also at home blitzing into the backfield to make stops behind the sticks. Demonstrates he has a nose for the football and brings a scorer’s mentality to the defense as shown by 4 defensive TD’s last year; he is looking to make house calls whenever he gets his hands on the rock.
Adept at running down plays from behind where he can display his impressive make-up speed; his effort-level is never in question. Not just a guy that can make plays in the box, though; raw coverage ability shows up on tape at times as well, and his speed will allow him to lock down the middle of the field on passing downs once he learns more technique in that area of the game. Can rely on speed and finesse too much; would like to see more physicality from him in taking on blocks and shedding them quickly to make a play. Ultimately, a high-upside prospect that you can really see taking off once he fills out his frame and starts to focus on one position full-time.
The Class
Smith becomes the 22nd commitment and 1st striker in the 2021 class. Smith is actually the first-ever recruit that Miami has recruited specifically for the striker position, instead of how they usually mention it as a possibility down the line for some safety targets. As such, Smith was the top and only target at the position, and UM is done recruiting at striker. Smith’s pledge does whittle down the number of open spots left in 2021, though; UM has been taking a “best available” approach to recruiting these past few months and the Canes could go any number of routes to fill the last few slots in the class, including taking a QB, RB, OL, DL, LB, and/or a CB.
The Team
The striker position is a relatively new role in the Miami defense, and it has been primarily manned by Romeo Finley during its first two years of inception. While Finley played well in the role, he has now graduated, and it opens the door for two highly recruited talents to really take the position to the next level. Sophomores Gilbert Frierson and Keontra Smith have both had strong fall camps and have the athletic potential to operate as an upgrade from Finley. Assuming these youngsters establish themselves when the games actually matter during the 2020 season, Chase Smith will arrive to help fill out the depth and overall numbers at the position next year. He is a good candidate to redshirt as a freshman as he adds muscle to his frame and focuses on defense exclusively for the first time, but Smith has a clear path to seeing some snaps in the rotation the following year, before potentially taking on a starting role by his redshirt sophomore season.
The 6-3 190 pounder is currently a consensus 4-star prospect in the national rankings. According to the 247Sports Composite Ranking, Smith is the #261 player nationally in 2021, the #14 ATH in the country, and the #37 player in the Sunshine State. His commitment moved UM’s class ranking on 247Sports up to #8 in the nation and to #9 on Rivals.
Recruiting Story
A late start to his recruitment coupled with an aversion to doing media made Smith overlooked in some aspects throughout the cycle, but there’s no doubt he is one of the more talented players in this class. Smith received very little Power 5 attention until he really broke out as a junior in 2019. The Hurricanes offered him that following January, although the Bayside star was unable to make a visit to UM before the campus shutdowns in March. Around that same period, Smith earned offers from some of the top programs in college football, including Georgia, Oklahoma, Auburn, Florida, and Florida State among others, but he was unable to take visits to those schools either and it left Smith in a tough position. While Smith maintained for months that he would wait to take visits before making any decisions, it seemed less and less likely that he would be able to do so as time went on, so he opted to end his recruitment now and focus on his senior season instead. An interesting part of Smith’s story includes being a UM legacy, as his father Willie was an All-American TE at Miami in the 80’s before being drafted into the NFL. That connection almost certainly played a part in his decision to ultimately go with the Canes, the program most familiar to him and his family in a time of uncertainty.
The Player
Smith put up big-time numbers on both sides of the ball for Bayside as a junior in 2019, recording 50 catches for 716 yards and 7 TD’s on offense at receiver, and 72 tackles, 18 TFL, 4 sacks, 4 INT, 1 FR, and 4 TD’s on defense as a safety/linebacker; that effort landed him on the All-Space Coast Team. Has a basketball and track background as well.
Smith is an athletic marvel that possesses a long and lanky frame with room to grow, and he could shine at many different positions at the next level, but the Canes currently have him pegged for the striker position. On film, Smith is able to show off a diverse skillset on the defensive side of the ball, but seems at his best when he’s closer to the line of scrimmage in a disruptor role. That’s going to make him a perfect fit for the striker position at Miami, where he will be able to use his speed and playmaking ability in the box to cause havoc for opposing offenses. Strong run defender that will contain the edge and is also at home blitzing into the backfield to make stops behind the sticks. Demonstrates he has a nose for the football and brings a scorer’s mentality to the defense as shown by 4 defensive TD’s last year; he is looking to make house calls whenever he gets his hands on the rock.
Adept at running down plays from behind where he can display his impressive make-up speed; his effort-level is never in question. Not just a guy that can make plays in the box, though; raw coverage ability shows up on tape at times as well, and his speed will allow him to lock down the middle of the field on passing downs once he learns more technique in that area of the game. Can rely on speed and finesse too much; would like to see more physicality from him in taking on blocks and shedding them quickly to make a play. Ultimately, a high-upside prospect that you can really see taking off once he fills out his frame and starts to focus on one position full-time.
The Class
Smith becomes the 22nd commitment and 1st striker in the 2021 class. Smith is actually the first-ever recruit that Miami has recruited specifically for the striker position, instead of how they usually mention it as a possibility down the line for some safety targets. As such, Smith was the top and only target at the position, and UM is done recruiting at striker. Smith’s pledge does whittle down the number of open spots left in 2021, though; UM has been taking a “best available” approach to recruiting these past few months and the Canes could go any number of routes to fill the last few slots in the class, including taking a QB, RB, OL, DL, LB, and/or a CB.
The Team
The striker position is a relatively new role in the Miami defense, and it has been primarily manned by Romeo Finley during its first two years of inception. While Finley played well in the role, he has now graduated, and it opens the door for two highly recruited talents to really take the position to the next level. Sophomores Gilbert Frierson and Keontra Smith have both had strong fall camps and have the athletic potential to operate as an upgrade from Finley. Assuming these youngsters establish themselves when the games actually matter during the 2020 season, Chase Smith will arrive to help fill out the depth and overall numbers at the position next year. He is a good candidate to redshirt as a freshman as he adds muscle to his frame and focuses on defense exclusively for the first time, but Smith has a clear path to seeing some snaps in the rotation the following year, before potentially taking on a starting role by his redshirt sophomore season.
