Official visit season starts tomorrow, and the Canes are in a healthy position. As it stands, they have the #4 class on the Composite with 15 commits and a 92.90 average recruit rating. Now it's time to push it over the top. Here is the latest.

- There has been a lot of talk about numbers with this class. In the past, the discussion was always about scholarships. Now, it's salary. I expect the Canes to keep this class relatively small (20 players) in terms of NIL guys. That will give the staff flexibility to retain a loaded roster. They want a chance to develop their own young players.

But that doesn't mean they will only bring in 20 high school players. Don't be surprised if the Canes snatch some G5 prospects with limited NIL and full scholarships. This staff values senior film immensely and never stops evaluating.

- The story of this recruiting class right now is defensive end. If I had to place a wager, I'd bet on the Canes landing one of DJ Jacobs (Atlanta, GA) and Jaiden Bryant (Columbia, SC). Bryant is visiting this weekend and we remain in communication with Jacobs. The staff has prioritized the position, Jason Taylor's track record is established, and both five-stars have made multiple visits. There is an outside possibility, although not likely, that we could land both.



- Position-wise, I think the last spots will look something like this (in no order): DE, DT, LB, S, WR.

- The Canes would love to close the deal with WR Eli Woodard (Temecula, CA) this weekend. They have a chance to do so. They also love WR Tre Moore (Austin, TX). I could see this wrapping up soon one way or the other.

- At DT, the staff is eager to get an in-person look at DT DeMarco Jenkins (Houston, TX). Damione Lewis, a fellow Texan, is a huge advocate for Jenkins. This could move fast if the visit goes well.



- The LB board is the most wide-open on the team, aside from AJ Randle (Raleigh, NC). We have four linebackers scheduled to visit this week (Randle, Kaden Henderson, Noah Glover and Jalaythan Mayfield) one next week (Drew Williams) and one the following week (Aston Whiteside). Of all the remaining positions, this is the most unclear.

- The top target at safety appears to be Andre Hyppolyte (North Miami Beach). Jeff Bertani is the longest-tenured HS coach in Miami with a long history of NFL players, especially at defensive back. Those names include Kemal Ishmael (95 NFL games), EJ Biggers (92 NFL games), Johnathan Cyprien (79 NFL games) and Louis Delmas (78 NFL games). Coach Cristobal has tremendous respect for Bertani, and he coached Cyprien at FIU. Bertani speaks extremely highly about Hyppolyte, who is also playing QB this year.

Loia Valade (West Boca) is a good player but I don't think his price point made sense as a box safety. He is no longer visiting and not expected to reschedule.

- TE Jordan Karhoff (Columbus, OH) is another good player where the bidding outpaced the evaluation. I do expect the staff to address this position at one point. Remember, tight end is historically a late-bloomer position with converted QBs, oversized WRs and basketball players. For example, basketball convert Gavin Mueller rose from a three star to the #5 TE in America as a senior.

- At this time of the calendar, and with the IPF under construction, the team has been in conditioning mode. The IPF opens up next week, and football drills will pick up at the same time. We will have buzz from those workouts as they happen. But I wanted to share one name who could be a breakout candidate- LB Bobby Pruitt. He's put on serious weight and is now a full-time linebacker after dabbling at safety last year. He has an opportunity to carve out a major role as that third linebacker behind Mo Toure and Chase Smith.

 

Agree. We're about to have to watch a full season of Toure and Chase Smith playing like 80% of snaps, and its gunna be annoying as ****.

why do you consistently write off Chase Smith?

 

D$ in the video bank

"I would bet that we land ONE of those two....[this week] was the first time i heard it even floated that we could land both. That's not impossible. I thought it was impossible because of the finances but I'm told there's a chance, but most likely we're looking at one or the other"

 

I'm hoping for 2 more Edges… 1 of the big two…Then one of Rojas/Garrer/Wittenberg.

Also would you say we lead for Hyppolite @DMoney ? Or is this a dogfight with UF. No news is seldom good news with kids that are thought to be leans.

Box safety on Valarde? He looks more versatile than that…Actually you've mentioned him as a corner before @DMoney?

I don't think he's a box safety at all. He's a little smaller and has really good speed/athleticism.

The Valarde news is a bummer. He looks awesome.

 

Last year was the depth class. Just a giant roster of recruits with a lot of developmental types in the lower half of the class.

This is the all killer, no filler class with no wasted money and every bit of cap room goes to those 4-star and above types.

Good class comin, but we really need to flip a few of these players we fought hard for but just missed out on.

With 105 spots, it’s good to have a group of developmental players in each class. I don’t see that as wasted NIL allocation because they are significantly less expensive.

And they will stick around longer, not the types that expect to see the field year 1 or they will bounce.

And that’s where good evaluations are vital. You make the talent floor of your team a bunch of hard working, high potential, lower cost players who will be loyal and grind for 4 years so you don’t have to rely so heavily on the portal.

 

I’m not pinning it on anyone. Just pointing out you can’t always believe the hype.

Hype is what they do - it's their job to hype players. If they didn't do that, not many people would listen to them.

 

Assuming only one of Henderson. Glover, or Mayfield, what are people's preferences?

 

Assuming only one of Henderson. Glover, or Mayfield, what are people's preferences?

Henderson/Glover
Mayfield
Willimas

But honestly I think the gap is close and all four are legit LB targets

 

"DE, DT, LB, S, WR"

I mean, looking at it very simplistic, he pretty much laid out the dudes in the Bank...
IMO: Bryant / Jenkins / Hypolite / Woodard / One of the LB's (don't think Henderson)

With not getting a big ticket tackle this cycle, we gotta hope he HIT on the UGA transfer or that huge Juco kid... IMO we pulled a great IOL group this cycle.. we'll probably go OT whale hunting next cycle...

 

Assuming only one of Henderson. Glover, or Mayfield, what are people's preferences?

For me price has to factor into the preference, and I don’t think paying $1 million for an edge LB makes sense.

As to that price tag, I saw a breakdown yesterday of our NIL allocation by starters at each position. Henderson should be expecting 1 million based on what people are currently being paid (assuming that what I saw was accurate).
Cantwell-2 million
Toney-1.5
McCoy-1 million
Lightfoot just over 1 million

None of our starters were under $500,000

 

I know it's part of the landscape and Mario is one of the best, but I still can't get over the fact that we are openly talking about a salary cap in college athletics.

 

"DE, DT, LB, S, WR"

I mean, looking at it very simplistic, he pretty much laid out the dudes in the Bank...
IMO: Bryant / Jenkins / Hypolite / Woodard / One of the LB's (don't think Henderson)

With not getting a big ticket tackle this cycle, we gotta hope he HIT on the UGA transfer or that huge Juco kid... IMO we pulled a great IOL group this cycle.. we'll probably go OT whale hunting next cycle...

If we finish with that, I'd be very happy.

 

 

I’m not pinning it on anyone. Just pointing out you can’t always believe the hype.

Sometimes, highly talented players don’t have all the traits that bring success on game days over the course of a season. Some players never develop those traits and some finally get it after some trials. Not all young players have the total package like Toney shows on a constant basis. Jojo has the ability but he has to show he can develop the other aspects. Trader isn’t the only highly talented WR not play on game days up to his talent level.

 

Agree. We're about to have to watch a full season of Toure and Chase Smith playing like 80% of snaps, and it’s gunna be annoying as ****.

Thankfully with our schedule and the potential of the offense we should not need Toure and Smith to play that much with the exception of a couple games (Clemson and ND).

Hopefully coaches use the run up to Clemson to get Pruitt, Wiley, Bonner, and Marcelin significant reps. I had high hopes for the kid we signed from Louisville but he isn’t showing up for another couple of weeks.

 

D$ in the video bank

"I would bet that we land ONE of those two....[this week] was the first time i heard it even floated that we could land both. That's not impossible. I thought it was impossible because of the finances but I'm told there's a chance, but most likely we're looking at one or the other"

Sounds like it could hinge on what happens with Hayden Lowe?

 

For me price has to factor into the preference, and I don’t think paying $1 million for an edge LB makes sense.

As to that price tag, I saw a breakdown yesterday of our NIL allocation by starters at each position. Henderson should be expecting 1 million based on what people are currently being paid (assuming that what I saw was accurate).
Cantwell-2 million
Toney-1.5
McCoy-1 million
Lightfoot just over 1 million

None of our starters were under $500,000

Surpised to see McCoy that high, maybe you mean Moten?

 

Sounds like it could hinge on what happens with Hayden Lowe?

I'm thinking the Mark Matthews $$$ is available for a whale and its being reallocated.

 

For me price has to factor into the preference, and I don’t think paying $1 million for an edge LB makes sense.

As to that price tag, I saw a breakdown yesterday of our NIL allocation by starters at each position. Henderson should be expecting 1 million based on what people are currently being paid (assuming that what I saw was accurate).
Cantwell-2 million
Toney-1.5
McCoy-1 million
Lightfoot just over 1 million

None of our starters were under $500,000

That breakdown is entirely fake btw. Some guy with a nice website and good graphics but entirely made up numbers. “Projections.” Some of the numbers are probably relatively accurate but there’s also a lot of obvious poor guesses. I’m surprised no school has taken action yet bc it’s private information they’re claiming to have (don’t) and using everyone’s names and logos. Not defamation but acting as if they know something and publishing critical misinformation

 

Surpised to see McCoy that high, maybe you mean Moten?

1.1 for McCoy and 990 for Moten
1.5 for Wilson

 

1.1 for McCoy and 990 for Moten
1.5 for Wilson

Really surprised by that. Where was Samson?