Not counting freshmans or players that haven't played too much, I'm at 13.
Cam Ward
Damien Martinez
Xavier Restrepo
Sam Brown
Jalen Rivers
Francis Mauigoa
Anez Cooper
Reuben Bain
Akheem Mesidor
CJ Clark
Simeon Barrow
Kiko Mauigoa
Mishael Powell
Players like Marley Cook, Jacolby George, Elijah Alston, Daryl Porter, Jaylin Alderman look like fringe NFL types for now.
Then you have players like Elijah Arroyo with 11 career catches going into his RSJR year. Tough to project him, but obviously we know the talent is there. I just wouldn't put him in the NFL Draft bucket yet.
Tons of young players not accounted for here, but you get the idea. Even players like Mesidor, with his injury history is no sure thing and the variance for many of those players may be wide but have some pre-season buzz and have something behind them that support a draft pick (example, Sam Brown's athletic profile + production with a nice season could be a late Day 2 pick or somewhere on Day 3 or maybe not at all. Depends on his season.)
Which of the non-Bain/Mauigoa sophomores do you see on a list like this? Any other players I'd be missing that are not currently a true freshman or unseen second year players?
Perhaps I'm conservative, but I don't think Manny left Mario much at all from a talent perspective. Even Manny's 5-star players were not that great here. So, looking at my list and seeing 8 names as transfers (as opposed to 5 Miami recruited out of HS)...throw in another 4 to 1 split on those fringe names.
Hard times.