Gaby’s pre-camp buzz

QB-Carson Beck
RB-Mark Fletcher/Jordan Lyle/Chamar Brown
TE-Elijah Lofton/Alex Bauman
WR-C.J. Daniels/Josh Moore
WR-Tony Johnson/Malachi Toney
WR-JoJo Trader/Keelen Marion
OL-Markel Bell
OL-Matthew McCoy
OL-James Brockermeyer
OL-Anez Cooper
OL-Francis Mauigoa

DE-Rueben Bain/Armando Blount
DT-Ahmad Moten/Artavis Jones
DT-David Blay/Justin Scott
DE-Ahkeem Mesidor/Marquis Lightfoot/Hayden Lowe
LB-Mo Toure/Popo Aguirre
LB-Wesley Bissanthe/Kamal Bonner
CB-Xavier Lucas/Demari Brown
CB-O.J. Frederique/Ethan O'Connor
NB-Keonte Scott/Charles Brantley
S-Jakobi Thomas
S-Zachariah Poyser

These will more than likely be the players playing the most. What stands out? Feel good mostly?
Mesidor and Wes should be 2nd team
 
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That’s an offense that’s going to lack explosive plays except for
Lyle. I’d also be kind of shocked but not surprised if Moore ends up ahead of Robinson, Carr and others on the 2 deep at WR.
If you have Lyle, Lofton, Marion, and Trader on field their is plenty of big play ability there.

Marion is a gadget guy, lot of jet sweep runs and screen game.
Limited action thus far:

Lofton 16 YPC
Trader 15 YPC
Marion 14 YPC
Lyle 7.4 per carry
 
there are probably 4-6 teams that are top tier (even those have some question marks). Then the next tier is about 15 deep and any of them can jump into the back end of top 10 or higher if things break right Miami is in that second tier.
Good question. “Playoff caliber” is tough because I keep looking around at other teams and realizing there’s a lot of question marks

If it’s to be believed that Mario has been stacking talent then some of these 2024 guys should be stepping up

I think it’s a playoff caliber team simply because of the sum of the parts along with the hope that Heatherman can have a Dawson like effect on the defense

We’ve got question marks for sure especially if you want to talk about being higher than Top 12-13 but I think we added some sneaky good additions in the portal (Lucas/Toure/Brown/Marion/Bauman come to mind)
Beck, OL. D end room has the talent level to step up to that threshold.

I can’t fully disagree with any of these answers, but that’s kinda my concern. Its too much up in the air and my canes ptsd or maybe just me being realistic, i dont think everything will just be the best case scenario in the same year

Like last year the offense was best case scenario, dline was like mid tier case scenario because i think they were solid but not what everyone expected all year, some high highs but low lows as well that we couldn’t overcome, secondary was worst case scenario ever lol

If we can get like the best case scenario from the offense again i think we can win alot. So i think our offense has to be playoff caliber for us to really to exceed expectations, not saying #1 like last year but good enough to win games in different circumstances like last year

Or maybe its like a better version of 2023 where the offense was good until tvd fell off and the defense was good enough to keep us in games. We all thought that was at least a 9 win team
 
TrumpyCane has a list:

Butch Davis
2001 NC team
Manny with resources>Mario
Fighting somewhere
BBQ
Jerimiah Smith transfer
I would add best teams to never win the ‘ship…

…in the spirit of the Ohio State fan who recently said on IG that Miami fans brag about their 2002 team being their best team ever.

If it wasn’t an Ohio State fan, and the subject hadn’t been the Fiesta Bowl in which they beat us, I would have assumed it was a typo or he was perhaps young and got the year wrong. But no, he meant 2002 and truly thought that we believe that the team that Ohio State beat was better than all our championship teams. I laughed and told him 2002 probably wasn't even top 5 of our teams to LOSE the championship, let alone win.
 
I have watched the Gator game from last year 3 times and the Gators self destructed via 2 horrific penalties that changed the entire complexion of the game.
And watch the same thing happen again this year. It’s Billy’s thing and wasn’t unique to the Miami game. It happens in every single Florida game. In fact, it’s usually worse; the refs didn’t call much and UF wasn’t quite as undisciplined as they usually are. Watch last year’s Tennessee game if you want to see a real ****show.

But it’s entirely disingenuous to act like we won that game, had any advantage, or even like there was some kind of momentum shift that turned the game in our favor because they screwed up. Miami controlled that game from start to finish. And if you don’t believe me, go back to my posts from last summer because the game went EXACTLY the way I called it - all the way down to the fact that the bull**** “mighty Swamp” wouldn’t be a factor because it’s not loud and the fans leave by halftime.
 
i know it was hashed out a little bit previously during the spring but if the safety room numbers are what they are (abysmal) why don't we consider putting Lucas back there?

He can and HAS played it before according to @Coach Macho...

If the goal is having as much talent on the field at once and the CB room has an abundance of talent...

Why not? Lucas will be good no matter the spot...
Agreed i would feel sooooo much better with Lucas an Poyser at Safety! Would still have OJ, O'Connor, Brantley, Brown... that move alone would make our d on paper potentially Elite if both those guys played all conference type ball! Theres no way we can go into this year with our Safety room as is especially after literally the same thing happening last year we all knew an look at the results of it!!
 
QB-Carson Beck
RB-Mark Fletcher/Jordan Lyle/Chamar Brown
TE-Elijah Lofton/Alex Bauman
WR-C.J. Daniels/Josh Moore
WR-Tony Johnson/Malachi Toney
WR-JoJo Trader/Keelen Marion
OL-Markel Bell
OL-Matthew McCoy
OL-James Brockermeyer
OL-Anez Cooper
OL-Francis Mauigoa

DE-Rueben Bain/Armando Blount
DT-Ahmad Moten/Artavis Jones
DT-David Blay/Justin Scott
DE-Ahkeem Mesidor/Marquis Lightfoot/Hayden Lowe
LB-Mo Toure/Popo Aguirre
LB-Wesley Bissanthe/Kamal Bonner
CB-Xavier Lucas/Demari Brown
CB-O.J. Frederique/Ethan O'Connor
NB-Keonte Scott/Charles Brantley
S-Jakobi Thomas
S-Zachariah Poyser

These will more than likely be the players playing the most. What stands out? Feel good mostly?
In order of confidence:
1) OL
2) DB
3) QB
4) DL
5) RB (product of OL)
6) WR
7) LB


I don't think this offense will lack explosive plays, they just won't come as plenty as we had last year. I think what we'll be looking at is somewhere in the middle of the 2023 and 2024 offense. Which with an improved defense, should/better be good enough to make Charolette.

LB is that low cause it may truly depend on Mo's knee, if Popo can take a next step, I think Wes may have hit his ceiling. Bonner is under the radar here. NC St didn't want to lose him and they know how to find talented LBs. he could be a real good get.
 
I can’t fully disagree with any of these answers, but that’s kinda my concern. Its too much up in the air and my canes ptsd or maybe just me being realistic, i dont think everything will just be the best case scenario in the same year

Like last year the offense was best case scenario, dline was like mid tier case scenario because i think they were solid but not what everyone expected all year, some high highs but low lows as well that we couldn’t overcome, secondary was worst case scenario ever lol

If we can get like the best case scenario from the offense again i think we can win alot. So i think our offense has to be playoff caliber for us to really to exceed expectations, not saying #1 like last year but good enough to win games in different circumstances like last year

Or maybe its like a better version of 2023 where the offense was good until tvd fell off and the defense was good enough to keep us in games. We all thought that was at least a 9 win team
I’m with you. It’s difficult for me to be optimistic because of Mario’s record here in November and December and we have a tough November schedule

It’s doable but 5 games in a month is tough to begin with let alone traditional games where we fall apart
 
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Sick and tired of safety being a problem for us. Need to start a crowdfund for a top of the line safety transfer next year now. I’m happy to run it.
 
I think it's a top 8-10 starting 11…And a top 12-13 two deep.

I have to look at some other teams, but that's kinda where I'm at.

I think we also have good OL depth, which isn't listed but a strength although somewhat unproven. (is anyone's backup OL "proven"?)

To your list I'd also guess Pruitt and maybe M.Bryant or another safety (Day/Williams) have as good a chance as the players listed had of them.

----------

I'd rank our Starters (and backups that will play alot) /and then depth like this…The third column is what was on the field last november

QB A…B+….A+
RB B+…B+…A
WR B-…B…A
TE A-…B+…A+
OL A… A-….A
K B… A+

DT B…C+…B
DE A…A-…..B+
LB B…B+… B-
CB A-…A+…C
S…C… C….D+

Nickles are lumped in with corners…Assumes Toure is at 90% of his former self and that Beck is fine.


I agree with nearly every position grade you gave, including the depth grades. I don't think our WRs were an A last season, (B+), would lower TE a partial grade both last season and this. I think they cover the holes at S enough for it to not lose us games.

To me, this is a 10-2 or better, playoff caliber team. Got to stay healthy, especially at S and DT (and QB of course). I'm super excited and will see all you guys at the ND game. Gotta let me know where the best tailgates are.
 
If you have Lyle, Lofton, Marion, and Trader on field their is plenty of big play ability there.

Marion is a gadget guy, lot of jet sweep runs and screen game.
Limited action thus far:

Lofton 16 YPC
Trader 15 YPC
Marion 14 YPC
Lyle 7.4 per carry
Bringing out the hidden playbook this year?
 
I’m with you. It’s difficult for me to be optimistic because of Mario’s record here in November and December and we have a tough November schedule

It’s doable but 5 games in a month is tough to begin with let alone traditional games where we fall apart
We have a roster to lead the ACC, just need a coach to get us there. If we don't have the roster, we just need a coach to get us there.
 
This team finally has good starters with good depth. We know DT doesn't have depth, but can be helped with DE depth. S doesn't have depth. That's it, those 2 and QB. Other positions may have unproven depth, but it looks good enough. This team is ready to step up. This season is 100% on the coaches. If Beck goes down, it's over. I think receivers step up and Beck has a big season. We probably have 8 players that have been regularly nicked up or injured that have to stay healthy. If they do, it will be huge. I believe this team beats ND and the hype train really gets rolling early, then when we beat UF, everyone is finally seeing the program differently. No more losing to inferior talent, those ACC away games in Dec. All eyes on Mario. My opinion without Fall Camp, yet.
 
We have a roster to lead the ACC, just need a coach to get us there. If we don't have the roster, we just need a coach to get us there.
We gotta exorcise some demons to get there. I like it. There will always be spin out there but like I said last year end of the day we are arguing over who is the 12-13th best team in the country. It’s not compelling.
 
This team finally has good starters with good depth. We know DT doesn't have depth, but can be helped with DE depth. S doesn't have depth. That's it, those 2 and QB. Other positions may have unproven depth, but it looks good enough. This team is ready to step up. This season is 100% on the coaches. If Beck goes down, it's over. I think receivers step up and Beck has a big season. We probably have 8 players that have been regularly nicked up or injured that have to stay healthy. If they do, it will be huge. I believe this team beats ND and the hype train really gets rolling early, then when we beat UF, everyone is finally seeing the program differently. No more losing to inferior talent, those ACC away games in Dec. All eyes on Mario. My opinion without Fall Camp, yet.

Agree with everything you wrote. Must. Stay. Healthy. Do that and talent is good enough to win the ACCCG and make a playoff run. Beck is going to remind everyone why he was once projected to be #1 in the draft. He is not Cam Ward but he is the real deal.
 
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Agree with everything you wrote. Must. Stay. Healthy. Do that and talent is good enough to win the ACCCG and make a playoff run. Beck is going to remind everyone why he was once projected to be #1 in the draft. He is not Cam Ward but he is the real deal.
And if he has Mario’s best OL yet? Huge. No one has seen him with a good one yet.
 
Almost every team in CFB if they are hit with multiple key injuries at any 1 particular position group are in trouble. This isn't relevant to only Miami.
True but the top tier programs stack up. For example, look at all the injuries Texas dealt with at RB and didn’t miss a beat. Injuries are gonna happen. We are no where near that level.
 
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