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IIIIIIIIIIIIIIITTTTTTTTTTTT’SSSSSSSSSSS MONDAY!!!!!!!!!!
1) Like there’s anywhere else to start. WHAT A 48 HOURS FOR THE MIAMI HURRICANES. With a number of visitors in Coral Gables over the weekend, Mario Cristobal hit a grand slam in the transfer portal. First, he reeled in one of the biggest fish of the portal in Oregon State running back Damien Martinez, who was in town on a visit. There’s your starter and new impact player on offense. The rugged back had 193 carries for 1185 yards and 9 touchdowns on the ground last year, earning first-team All-Pac 12 honors in the process. RB questions: very much answered.
2) Mario was just getting started, as he also added Louisville LB Jaylin Alderman, Marshall CB D’yoni Hill, and Houston WR Sam Brown. Four different roster areas addressed in one weekend. Truly an astonishing pull from Cristobal, I must say.
Brown was the top ranked remaining wide receiver in the portal and picked the Canes over Texas A&M. He’s got good size at 6’2”, 185 pounds and his 13.1 yards per catch average last season is rather impressive. He had his best season last year for the Cougars with 815 receiving yards on 62 catches with 3 touchdowns. He has 2 years of eligibility remaining.
3) Hill and Alderman both played for coaches on Miami’s staff at their previous schools, which speaks to the vote of confidence they undoubtedly gave to Cristobal to get them to Miami. I like that Alderman had seven tackles for loss for a ten-win Louisville team last year. Hill also saw plenty of action with 55 tackles and an interception last year. I have no idea what to expect right now, but particularly with Hill and the secondary, I welcome experience in trying to find answers to that positional group.
4) The Canes are losing a couple of players through the portal as well, it seems. Safety Savion Riley is hitting the road after arriving from Vanderbilt this offseason. I guess he wasn’t going to earn the playing time he wanted to. Interesting because he was a player who Mario spoke positively about last month during spring ball. Oh well. IOL Jonathan Denis is also looking elsewhere. Not a surprise given the offensive line depth chart. Best of luck to both of those young men.
5) Oh yeah, the draft also took place over the weekend. I was happy to see Kam Kinchens get picked by the Rams right before the third round ended. That’s actually a very good place for him, I think. He might have a chance to earn a starting job in that defense, and it’s a team that won the Super Bowl a little over two years ago and made the playoffs last year.
6) It wasn’t such good news for a couple of other Canes. Leonard Taylor went undrafted, which is baffffffffffffffffffffffling to me. What a fall from grace for that young man. His mediocre combine testing obviously didn’t help, but I thought for sure he’d still end up hearing his name called. Guess not. He signed with the New York Jets as an undrafted free agent. Javion Cohen also ended up going undrafted and signed with the Cleveland Browns as a UDFA. He’ll compete with fellow rookie Michigan G Zak Zinter for a roster spot. Another player who I thought (but with substantially less confidence than Taylor) could hear his name called.
7) James Williams also ended up going near the end of the draft with pick 242 to the Tennessee Titans. He’s listed as a linebacker, so we’ll see how exactly he fits in there over the offseason. His versatility might give him a chance to stick, either at linebacker or in the secondary.
8) Matt Lee was drafted by the Bengals in the seventh round. He will battle Trey Hill to earn the right to back up veteran center Ted Karras. I’d say he’s got a decent shot there. There are worse situations he could have wound up in.
9) While Miami’s football team added an impressive quartet, Miami hoops lost a ton of talent last week. Norchad Omier hit the portal, which really hurts. Wooga Poplar did, too which also stings. KyShawn George is headed to the NBA Draft, where he very well could be a first-round pick. Can’t blame him there. That’s tough. I know Miami is getting some reinforcements and Nijel Pack and Matthew Cleveland are returning, but those are some challenging losses to absorb and a tough look for Coach L. Hopefully he can work some magic to form a more competitive team next season.
Go Canes!
