Spoke to sources about everything around the team and recruiting. Some quick notes:

- The mood around the team is angry. No excuse-making or rationalization, even though they have a lot of respect for Wake Forest. Everybody knows the second half sucked and they need to get a lot better.

- The best way to describe the OL situation is "fluid." They need to find the best 5, and what we've seen so far isn't it. Based on what Mario said on WQAM, and what I've heard independently, the focus seems to be more on the guards than center or tackle. I would expect to see some different combinations this weekend. I've talked a lot about Ben Congdon and Jackson Cantwell, because they split the first-team RG reps all camp. But one young name to watch is Rhys Woodrow. He already has a ton of responsibility in punt protection and has C/G versatility. Canon Pickett is another guy who can get in the mix with the other three.

The concern with most freshmen (especially the big guys) is they may dominate on two reps and whiff badly on a third. And the that whiff could change the season. With that said, we aren't getting consistency from the older players, and they're only second-year guys themselves. Bottom line- this is a work in progress and I expect to see tinkering until it's playoff caliber.

- They're being extremely tight-lipped about injuries, although I don't sense a ton of concern aside from Marty Brown and Josh Moore. Those two are heartbreakers. Two names Miami wants to see step up in their place: Jordan Lyle and Somourian Wingo.

- Ezekiel Marcelin's injury was ill-timed because we need more at LB. I don't think those two starting spots are set in stone all year.

- In terms of recruiting, Miami is very purposeful in terms of watching senior film and grading their own prospects. Some guys who have really impressed: QB Israel Abrams, RB Ty Keys, WRs Nick Lennear and Eli Woodard, ATH A'mir Sears, DE Jaiden Bryant, DL Josh Johnson, LB Noah Glover and CB Sherrod Gourdine.

- There is no secret that the staff still wants to make another big splash in 2027. Three names stand above the rest: OT Mark Matthews, DE DJ Jacobs and TE Jaxon Dollar. Miami finished second for all three and will continue to push aggressively until the final whistle.

 

This is an ATM, not a bank. We knew all of this. I could have used AI to make this too!

 

- Bonner
- Damari
- Lyle
- Jacobs
- Meriweather

Would be really nice if these 5 players take steps, quickly.

I would add Wyle to that list

 

We saw a few cracks in the armor against Stanford as far as pass pro but I was waiting to see how Mensah/Dawson would respond if/when our QB started taking hits.

Once Mensah started missing reads he typically makes correctly and Fletcher went out, it seemed like he went full self preservation mode with how he called the game.

 

I guess last week was a "bye week" for finding the best 5 on the OL.

 

 

Based on what I've seen from Dawson in the past, I'm starting to think that the play calling in the second half was him basically saying, "if this is the s*** you're gonna put out there then I'm not gonna run my offense".

I would not be surprised if Dawson and Mirabal are having some strong conversations this week.

I don't think that was it. See here:



Wake planned and did well not to get beat deep, and we really didn't force the issue. To the extent there were pass pro issues on the OL, I don't think they affected Dawson's calls in the second half since we weren't interested in chucking the ball deep down the field the entire game. Outside of the 2nd down pass on the drive after our 3rd Q TD, I thought Mensah had enough time to go through his progressions.

I think during the drought, Mensah made some suboptimal reads, we didn't execute well blocking on short passes, and we got too pass happy not running the ball enough (despite having run the ball successfully for the first 2 quarters and a drive).

 

this is happening with the starters, might as well happen with the rookies that have much higher ceilings

"The concern with most freshmen (especially the big guys) is they may dominate on two reps and whiff badly on a third. And the that whiff could change the season."

 

Chill lol

 

Didn’t even know Josh Moore or marcelin were injured

Same, ******* brutal

 

I need that LB bit to be true even if I don't believe it.

It’s like the Eddie Murphy joke that white guys make

“Black guys have big ***** but I don’t believe it”.

 

Same, ******* brutal

 

 

How?

 

I can't shake the thought that not having the second portal window in addition to the long playoff run threw our portal game off. Knowing how deliberate Mario is, I keep returning to this after what we've seen so far on the IOLine.

 

- Bonner
- Damari
- Lyle
- Jacobs
- Meriweather

Would be really nice if these 5 players take steps, quickly.

Sh*t Bonner flashes every game...im not concerned with him....

Meriweather woosh....

the rest i think can handle up

 

This is an ATM, not a bank. We knew all of this. I could have used AI to make this too!

Sometimes you get what you pay for.

 

 

I’ll deal with 6’8” 340 lb guys making the occasional mistake vs a 6’ 285 lb guy that even if he’s on the right call/read is limited in what he can do because the DT has length and 30 lbs on him. And for that matter if he hasn’t learned how to snap by the end of the year a roster decision needs to be made. Use that NIL for somewhere else next year.

 

I’m in the twilight zone with their OL rationals that almost completely transport us to the DB rationals of 2024.

Hopefully, offseason whiffs and poor planning don’t wreck a season like they did in 2024.

At this rate, in that same pattern, we’d then go into the portal and sign 286 OL for next season.

its literally THE SAME THING n i was in the spring then in january of 2024 wondering why we werent being aggressive and going after starter level cbs.... DID the same this spring for the guard position.

They gave their guys a shot n bet on their own coaching developments above the obvious limitations in the players n i get it somewhat too

 

It's amazing how off our coaches have been on SJ since he has set foot on campus. All off season, we heard how BIG our staff is internally on him. Guy has been whiffing with the best of them.

Spoke to sources about everything around the team and recruiting. Some quick notes:

- The mood around the team is angry. No excuse-making or rationalization, even though they have a lot of respect for Wake Forest. Everybody knows the second half sucked and they need to get a lot better.

- The best way to describe the OL situation is "fluid." They need to find the best 5, and what we've seen so far isn't it. Based on what Mario said on WQAM, and what I've heard independently, the focus seems to be more on the guards than center or tackle. I would expect to see some different combinations this weekend. I've talked a lot about Ben Congdon and Jackson Cantwell, because they split the first-team RG reps all camp. But one young name to watch is Rhys Woodrow. He already has a ton of responsibility in punt protection and has C/G versatility. Canon Pickett is another guy who can get in the mix with the other three.

The concern with most freshmen (especially the big guys) is they may dominate on two reps and whiff badly on a third. And the that whiff could change the season. With that said, we aren't getting consistency from the older players, and they're only second-year guys themselves. Bottom line- this is a work in progress and I expect to see tinkering until it's playoff caliber.

- They're being extremely tight-lipped about injuries, although I don't sense a ton of concern aside from Marty Brown and Josh Moore. Those two are heartbreakers. Two names Miami wants to see step up in their place: Jordan Lyle and Somourian Wingo.

- Ezekiel Marcelin's injury was ill-timed because we need more at LB. I don't think those two starting spots are set in stone all year.

- In terms of recruiting, Miami is very purposeful in terms of watching senior film and grading their own prospects. Some guys who have really impressed: QB Israel Abrams, RB Ty Keys, WRs Nick Lennear and Eli Woodard, DE Jaiden Bryant, DL Josh Johnson, LB Noah Glover and CB Sherrod Gourdine.

- There is no secret that the staff still wants to make another big splash in 2027. Three names stand above the rest: OT Mark Matthews, DE DJ Jacobs and TE Jaxon Dollar. Miami finished second for all three and will continue to push aggressively until the final whistle.

it's honestly amazing how far off our staff has been off on SJ's development since he arrived to campus. All off season, we were told how BIG our staff was internally on SJ and where he was at currently. I'm not sure he would even start at Middle TN State right now with how he is playing. Not bringing in upgrades at Oline and LB via the portal may be what limits our success in the playoffs this season.