What do we really have with '21 class

And I didn’t give a run down of every recruit in the class because I honestly don’t know how I feel about all of them.

The LB’s in particular I have a lot of questions about, if TWill is here for longer than a year then I’ll be more comfortable about where they stand in terms of their potential, but until then I just don’t know what to expect.

Thomas Davis is one I really like, if he sticks at DE he reminds me of a Yannick Ngakoue type, an undersized tweener speed rusher off the edge, that will play in the same role as Roche or Trevon Hill for us.

At LB the speed is definitely there but Idk how he would project as a LB in college. He could certainly play it though, but I’m interested in seeing how we use him. He’s not really a Jess Simpson style DE, but I think that’s where he's most effective.
If TD turns out like Yannick, I’ll be one happy camper lol
 
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Firstly, there’s no way to know, only time will tell how the kids turn out.

Secondly, there are always unforeseen factors, mainly injury, that can change the trajectory of a player’s career.

On paper, we have a very good class, but development is key, some kids will thrive & excel, some may take a long time to reach their potential & some may bust, that’s the reality.

As far as the players are concerned, obviously Leonard Taylor has the most NFL potential, my comparison for him is Javon Kinlaw, does that mean he will be as good or will be 1st rounder? No it doesn’t, that’s just the player type that I see him as based on his upside, but like with every single recruit ever, it will all depend on how he’s developed.

James Williams fits the mold of the new era huge athletic Safeties like Isaiah Simmons, Derwin James, Hamsah Nasirildeen, Jayron Kearse etc, that are multi-purpose players that can moved all over the Defense & play snaps at multiple positions. Will he be as good as those guys? Maybe, maybe not, like I said earlier it all depends on how he’s developed. The talent is there but it remains to be seen how he will be coached up during his time at Miami, we shall see.

Elijah Arroyo on offense is the most polished offensive prospect we’ve recruited here in a long time, IMO he will be better than Brevin Jordan & has 1st round upside. His combination of size, speed, hands, & advanced level sophisticated route running is what separates him, especially if he plays in a conducive offensive system for the majority of his career he should be highly productive player at Miami & be the next TEU star. My comparison for him since last year is Noah Fant.

The WR’s Brinson, George & Smith are good pickups, I don’t think any of them will play much as TF’s, so we’ll see how they develop over the years, but they’re all pretty good IMO. I think Brinson & George have the best upside, but Smith can be a productive Slot-back type in the future. Brinson reminds me Ahmmon Richards, but I don’t think he’ll have the True Freshman impact that Ahmmon had. I’m still skeptical the staff will actually play any of the younger WR’s over the upperclassmen, but we’ll see.

Thad Franklin I’m probably higher on than most on the board, maybe me & D$ are the only ones who really like him. I think most people can’t see past his speed or lack thereof, but being a good RB requires a lot more than just pure track speed, he’s a shifty down hill runner with very good physicality, strong contact balance & has athletic Basketball player footwork, no he’ll never kill you with his 40 time, but he’s the kind of back you can give him the rock 25-30 times a game & he’ll end up with 140yds+. My comparison for him is Kareem Hunt, strong power runner who’s laterally quicker than pure straight line fast. He’ll be a good short yardage change of pace back that can hammer the defense late in games when you have a lead & are taking the air out of the ball. He’s a tough runner that will get extra yards just off effort alone. He’s not the flashy back people are usually enamored with, but he’s a workhorse.

I like Ryan Rodriguez a lot, he reminds me of Chris Myers, I see him as the future starter at Center in a few years, he’s a naturally strong kid with very good hands technique & has a nasty streak to’em. Smart & consistent is what you need at C, he fits that to a T.

Malik Curtis is one of my favorite recruits we signed this class, I was the first person to ever post on him & way back in January of 2020 I called him Travis Benjamin 2.0, I still feel that. Obviously, he’s starting out at CB & maybe he’s a naturally gifted athlete a lot like Phillip Buchanon who can smoothly transition from HS WR to CB, we’ll see how it goes. Regardless of whether he sticks at CB or eventually becomes a WR his natural speed & quick twitch ability standout, he should be a day 1 impact player on Special Teams as a Punt Returner. And the fact he’s an EE is a huge plus for him. Patke’s #1 job this Spring/Summer/Fall should be to keep this kid healthy & get him developed to be our primary Return man. We need a PR’er bad & he’s perfect for it as an explosive dynamic game changer with ball in his hands. Really excited to see him develop.

Chase Smith is another naturally gifted athlete that could be a future all-American at either WR or LB, he’s cut from good athletic stock & plays with explosiveness on both sides of the ball. He’ll be another one that it will be interesting to see how he’s developed, as he’s starting out at Striker, but is physically more so built like a Strong Side backer (which is essentially what the STR position replaced in the 4-2-5), but he’s not really a Hybrid Safety like most of the other Strikers we have, IMO he’s more in the mold of a natural LB. But his athletic ability will make him another Swiss Army knife to have on Defense, the Coaches have to do their fckin job & turn these kids into valuable assets.

Kamren Kinchens is my dawg & I know what he’s made of competitively. His upside is probably the most slept on in the class, he’s purebred, whenever he gets his opportunity he will excel. Elite Ballhawk with high Football IQ & good speed, the only thing is he’s walking into a crowded Safety room with a staff that doesn’t really play young guys at Safety, so he’ll be someone that maybe it will take a while for him to get on the field, IDK, I guess it will depend on how open the competitions are & whether or not Manny actually allows for players like him an opportunity.

Allan Haye is another I posted on a whole year before he even got his offer. Really nice upside, is still a raw prospect as he’s only played football for about 3 years now, was a Basketball player, but is naturally strong & has violent active hands. Built in the same mold as a Corey Liguet type, will be a developmental player that will shine down the line after some years in the S&C.

Jabari Ishmael is a kid with very good physical upside as well, with his dad being a long time strength coach at Miami I think he’ll be a kid that thrives in the S&C program. He fits the prototype of the style of Miami DE’s we’ve been recruiting since 2016, the long lean athletic types who grow into their body & have Basketball player wingspans. He won’t be called upon to play too early so he’ll have time to develop, we’ll see if he has the extra internal drive to be great, but the ability is there.

Kahlil Brantley will be a locker room leader in the future, he’s a juice guy in the locker room, meaning he gets his guys fired up & will take on that leadership role as showing guys how to do things the right way. Smart, hungry, tenacious & driven, he’s the kind of kid that gets counted out but will make you pay for it. Hard nosed competitor who gives maximum effort every rep, can be a H-Back type that you can move around, not a big prototype TE but will be more than serviceable. Won’t have to play day 1 due to depth, but will thrive in the weight room. Has some Delanie Walker to his game.

Overall, as far as how they stack up nationally, again there’s no way of knowing that, everything is based on development & exactly how driven all these players are & how well they are coached & how healthy they are & what system they play in during their time at Miami. Only time will tell, but on paper, pretty good class with some good prospects.

Now the next step is for the coaches to translate their talent to on field productivity.
This should have been its own thread! Excellent write up. I appreciate the comparisons to playing styles. Lot of people get bent out of shape, but comparing styles doesn’t mean they will have the same career output. I appreciate your work.
 
With the logjam at Safety, someone is going to end up at linebacker. My money is on Chase Smith eventually making the shift. He may play striker at first but I could see him playing Will position at around 225lbs. Also, I know James Williams has been projected at every position on defense besides tackle but he made it a point to prove he could bang near the LOS this year. I think he can make an impact at multiple spots
 
I think this is the best class in a long, long, time and will be great. The most important piece is Garcia. He’s a true gamer. This class has a bunch of dawgs that are winners and will NOT accept sucking hind teet. The hope for next season is that these young guys push the older ones that have settled for mediocrity. Bringing in a guy from Clemson who’s seen the big stage could be huge if he takes a leadership role for the defense like King did on offense. At the very least there’s talented depth and competition across the board. No offense to guys like Few, Ragone, and the lil midget, but the walk ons are relegated to the scout team now. As they should be at UM.
 
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And I didn’t give a run down of every recruit in the class because I honestly don’t know how I feel about all of them.

The LB’s in particular I have a lot of questions about, if TWill is here for longer than a year then I’ll be more comfortable about where they stand in terms of their potential, but until then I just don’t know what to expect.

Thomas Davis is one I really like, if he sticks at DE he reminds me of a Yannick Ngakoue type, an undersized tweener speed rusher off the edge, that will play in the same role as Roche or Trevon Hill for us.

At LB the speed is definitely there but Idk how he would project as a LB in college. He could certainly play it though, but I’m interested in seeing how we use him. He’s not really a Jess Simpson style DE, but I think that’s where he's most effective.
I was going to say a faster Javon Nanton.

Also River Brazil the OL who played LT for Chaminade told me Haye was one of the strongest kids on the team and the hardest DL to block. I love that kids upside in this D.

I may be way off on this but Thad reminds me of Leonard Fournette.
 
Firstly, there’s no way to know, only time will tell how the kids turn out.

Secondly, there are always unforeseen factors, mainly injury, that can change the trajectory of a player’s career.

On paper, we have a very good class, but development is key, some kids will thrive & excel, some may take a long time to reach their potential & some may bust, that’s the reality.

As far as the players are concerned, obviously Leonard Taylor has the most NFL potential, my comparison for him is Javon Kinlaw, does that mean he will be as good or will be 1st rounder? No it doesn’t, that’s just the player type that I see him as based on his upside, but like with every single recruit ever, it will all depend on how he’s developed.

James Williams fits the mold of the new era huge athletic Safeties like Isaiah Simmons, Derwin James, Hamsah Nasirildeen, Jayron Kearse etc, that are multi-purpose players that can moved all over the Defense & play snaps at multiple positions. Will he be as good as those guys? Maybe, maybe not, like I said earlier it all depends on how he’s developed. The talent is there but it remains to be seen how he will be coached up during his time at Miami, we shall see.

Elijah Arroyo on offense is the most polished offensive prospect we’ve recruited here in a long time, IMO he will be better than Brevin Jordan & has 1st round upside. His combination of size, speed, hands, & advanced level sophisticated route running is what separates him, especially if he plays in a conducive offensive system for the majority of his career he should be highly productive player at Miami & be the next TEU star. My comparison for him since last year is Noah Fant.

The WR’s Brinson, George & Smith are good pickups, I don’t think any of them will play much as TF’s, so we’ll see how they develop over the years, but they’re all pretty good IMO. I think Brinson & George have the best upside, but Smith can be a productive Slot-back type in the future. Brinson reminds me Ahmmon Richards, but I don’t think he’ll have the True Freshman impact that Ahmmon had. I’m still skeptical the staff will actually play any of the younger WR’s over the upperclassmen, but we’ll see.

Thad Franklin I’m probably higher on than most on the board, maybe me & D$ are the only ones who really like him. I think most people can’t see past his speed or lack thereof, but being a good RB requires a lot more than just pure track speed, he’s a shifty down hill runner with very good physicality, strong contact balance & has athletic Basketball player footwork, no he’ll never kill you with his 40 time, but he’s the kind of back you can give him the rock 25-30 times a game & he’ll end up with 140yds+. My comparison for him is Kareem Hunt, strong power runner who’s laterally quicker than pure straight line fast. He’ll be a good short yardage change of pace back that can hammer the defense late in games when you have a lead & are taking the air out of the ball. He’s a tough runner that will get extra yards just off effort alone. He’s not the flashy back people are usually enamored with, but he’s a workhorse.

I like Ryan Rodriguez a lot, he reminds me of Chris Myers, I see him as the future starter at Center in a few years, he’s a naturally strong kid with very good hands technique & has a nasty streak to’em. Smart & consistent is what you need at C, he fits that to a T.

Malik Curtis is one of my favorite recruits we signed this class, I was the first person to ever post on him & way back in January of 2020 I called him Travis Benjamin 2.0, I still feel that. Obviously, he’s starting out at CB & maybe he’s a naturally gifted athlete a lot like Phillip Buchanon who can smoothly transition from HS WR to CB, we’ll see how it goes. Regardless of whether he sticks at CB or eventually becomes a WR his natural speed & quick twitch ability standout, he should be a day 1 impact player on Special Teams as a Punt Returner. And the fact he’s an EE is a huge plus for him. Patke’s #1 job this Spring/Summer/Fall should be to keep this kid healthy & get him developed to be our primary Return man. We need a PR’er bad & he’s perfect for it as an explosive dynamic game changer with ball in his hands. Really excited to see him develop.

Chase Smith is another naturally gifted athlete that could be a future all-American at either WR or LB, he’s cut from good athletic stock & plays with explosiveness on both sides of the ball. He’ll be another one that it will be interesting to see how he’s developed, as he’s starting out at Striker, but is physically more so built like a Strong Side backer (which is essentially what the STR position replaced in the 4-2-5), but he’s not really a Hybrid Safety like most of the other Strikers we have, IMO he’s more in the mold of a natural LB. But his athletic ability will make him another Swiss Army knife to have on Defense, the Coaches have to do their fckin job & turn these kids into valuable assets.

Kamren Kinchens is my dawg & I know what he’s made of competitively. His upside is probably the most slept on in the class, he’s purebred, whenever he gets his opportunity he will excel. Elite Ballhawk with high Football IQ & good speed, the only thing is he’s walking into a crowded Safety room with a staff that doesn’t really play young guys at Safety, so he’ll be someone that maybe it will take a while for him to get on the field, IDK, I guess it will depend on how open the competitions are & whether or not Manny actually allows for players like him an opportunity.

Allan Haye is another I posted on a whole year before he even got his offer. Really nice upside, is still a raw prospect as he’s only played football for about 3 years now, was a Basketball player, but is naturally strong & has violent active hands. Built in the same mold as a Corey Liguet type, will be a developmental player that will shine down the line after some years in the S&C.

Jabari Ishmael is a kid with very good physical upside as well, with his dad being a long time strength coach at Miami I think he’ll be a kid that thrives in the S&C program. He fits the prototype of the style of Miami DE’s we’ve been recruiting since 2016, the long lean athletic types who grow into their body & have Basketball player wingspans. He won’t be called upon to play too early so he’ll have time to develop, we’ll see if he has the extra internal drive to be great, but the ability is there.

Kahlil Brantley will be a locker room leader in the future, he’s a juice guy in the locker room, meaning he gets his guys fired up & will take on that leadership role as showing guys how to do things the right way. Smart, hungry, tenacious & driven, he’s the kind of kid that gets counted out but will make you pay for it. Hard nosed competitor who gives maximum effort every rep, can be a H-Back type that you can move around, not a big prototype TE but will be more than serviceable. Won’t have to play day 1 due to depth, but will thrive in the weight room. Has some Delanie Walker to his game.

Overall, as far as how they stack up nationally, again there’s no way of knowing that, everything is based on development & exactly how driven all these players are & how well they are coached & how healthy they are & what system they play in during their time at Miami. Only time will tell, but on paper, pretty good class with some good prospects.

Now the next step is for the coaches to translate their talent to on field productivity.
Appreciate it dawg. You go in depth and really provide thorough responses for free... if you’re tailgating at home games or the bama game this season you eating/ drinking on the house.
 
Am I seeing this correctly...that corner out of Michigan who was begging to come here just committed?? 21 class too...

 
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LT & James Williams are the obvious headlining 5 star studs and they'll get aome measure of immediate PT, but after watching the film of each player in the 2021 class the following stood out most to me:
Arroyo
Franklin
Brashard
Davis
Chase
Kinchens
Curtis
These guys popped off the screen in virtually every play of their HUDL's.
 
I think this is the best class in a long, long, time and will be great. The most important piece is Garcia. He’s a true gamer. This class has a bunch of dawgs that are winners and will NOT accept sucking hind teet. The hope for next season is that these young guys push the older ones that have settled for mediocrity. Bringing in a guy from Clemson who’s seen the big stage could be huge if he takes a leadership role for the defense like King did on offense. At the very least there’s talented depth and competition across the board. No offense to guys like Few, Ragone, and the lil midget, but the walk ons are relegated to the scout team now. As they should be at UM.
One of the most important aspects of this class, and overlooked, is that it’s our first class in ages that is coming into a program with a full cohort of mature, experienced returning starters. that alone should count for a lot.
 
Thad is not as fast, but he reminds me of T Moss, a guy who was on his way to being a dominant feature back until his injury. I think Thad is being overlooked.
I’m high on Thad and have been since his junior year playoff outburst. I personally think he’s a better prospect than moss. Speed is overrated at RB. Franklin is a good old fashioned ball carrier. Reminds me a bit of Stephen McGuire.
 
I’m high on Thad and have been since his junior year playoff outburst. I personally think he’s a better prospect than moss. Speed is overrated at RB. Franklin is a good old fashioned ball carrier. Reminds me a bit of Stephen McGuire.
My favorite Cane as a kid. Stephen was a beast. He would’ve been Christian Okoye if not for the injuries. You guys are getting me pumped about Thad. It’s been a minute since we had a bruiser at RB.
 
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My favorite Cane as a kid. Stephen was a beast. He would’ve been Christian Okoye if not for the injuries. You guys are getting me pumped about Thad. It’s been a minute since we had a bruiser at RB.
Loved him growing up also. Went back and watched highlights to remind myself of what I thought and there were a lot of similarities in style to Thad just from the clips I watched. Not a representative sample but passed the eye test.
 
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