The 2024 season is on the horizon, and Hurricanes fans hope to see a major step forward in Year 3 of the Mario Cristobal era.
As Miami keeps adding talent through high school and transfer portal recruiting, UM appears poised to be a major contender in the ACC this season.
This summer, we will take a look at a different position group each week to see who departed, who arrived and who should have big impacts this year.
We finished our preview of Miami’s offense with a look at a talented offensive line. Now we move across the trench to the defensive line.
Who left
Miami’s defensive line is going to look significantly different this season. Twelve players left either for the draft or because of graduation or the transfer portal.
Those 12 players were on the field for a combined 2,230 snaps, so the Hurricanes have numerous roles to fill this season.
Jared Harrison-Hunte played the most out of those 12 departing linemen. He had 26 tackles, three tackles for loss and two sacks. Pro Football Focus gave Harrison-Hunte a 65.6 defensive grade while he primarily played defensive tackle. Like many former Miami players, Harrison-Hunte transferred to SMU to play for former UM offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee.
The Hurricanes also lost two more starting defensive tackles: Leonard Taylor III and Branson Deen.
Taylor, a former five-star prospect from Miami Palmetto, never quite lived up to his high recruiting rankings, but he had moments of brilliance on the field. He had 19 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss and one sack last year, a downtick from his strong 2022 season. Taylor, who had a 74.8 defensive grade, left early for the draft but did not get selected, signing with the New York Jets as an undrafted free agent.
Deen played just one year with Miami after transferring from Purdue. He provided a veteran presence and made 18 tackles with 5.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks. He had a 68.4 defensive grade. He signed a free agent deal with the Buffalo Bills.
Jahfari Harvey, who played a hybrid defensive line/linebacker spot last year, was the last major contributor from last year’s team to leave. He played 313 snaps and made 23 tackles with 2.5 tackles for loss and a sack. Harvey also transferred to SMU.
Three of the other departures were veteran linemen who were rotational players last season.
Thomas Gore left one year after transferring from Southern Miss. He had eight tackles in 167 snaps. Gore transferred to Georgia Tech. Chantz Williams, a former four-star prospect, left for Charlotte after playing 127 snaps last season. Jake Lichtenstein, a Broward County native, graduated after two seasons at UM.
The five remaining departures were younger players who opted for greener pastures. Nyjalik Kelly, a Dillard alum, and Cyrus Moss departed after two years with the program, while Collins Acheampong, Jamil Burroughs and Jayden Wayne left after one season.
Kelly was expected to be a key piece of the defensive line last season, but an injury limited him to just five games. He transferred to UCF. Moss played just 27 snaps as the lanky edge rusher had a hard time gaining the necessary size. He has not yet found a landing spot.
Acheampong, a four-star prospect in the 2023 class, has promising size and tools, but he did not play on defense last year. Acheampong transferred closer to home, heading to UCLA. Wayne played in eight games and played 135 snaps, and he is headed back to the Pacific Northwest to play at Washington.
Burroughs was an odd case, joining the team after leaving Alabama following a reported altercation with a staff member. He arrived just before Miami’s season began and did not play a game. He has not found a new team yet.
Who returns
Only five scholarship defensive linemen return this season, but the Hurricanes have one of the brightest young defensive stars in football.
Sophomore Rueben Bain Jr. is the standout on the line. The Miami Central alum had a breakout freshman year, earning ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year honors. Bain racked up 37 tackles, which led Miami defensive linemen, and finished second on the team with 9.5 tackles for loss. He tied for the team lead with 7.5 sacks.
Bain had an 82.2 defensive grade with an 89.3 pass-rush grade. His defensive grade was seventh in the ACC and 47th nationally among defensive linemen with at least 300 snaps. His pass-rush grade was fourth in the conference and 25th in the nation. Among freshmen, he ranked third in defensive grade and first in pass rushing.
“He’s always asking me stuff and trying to grow his knowledge for the game, trying to see what people are giving him and how we can talk about what he’s going to deliver,” Deen said during the school’s pro day during the spring. “So I think that’s what’s really turned him elite: his knowledge for the game, knowing offense now. He’s grown in the knowledge of what offenses try to do and what they’re trying to do to him. I think that takes him to the next level. He’s so knowledgeable and so young, and he’ll get even better. He ain’t even reached his ceiling yet.”
The Hurricanes also bring back Akheem Mesidor, who missed most of last year with a nagging foot injury. However, Mesidor has shown that when he is healthy, he can be among the best defensive linemen in the conference. In his first year with the Hurricanes after transferring from West Virginia, Mesidor was an All-ACC honorable mention. He had 38 tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss and team-high seven sacks in 2022.
Mesidor missed spring practice, as well, but he expects to be on the field this year.
“Now,” Mesidor said, “me and Rueben are going to cause destruction together.”
The other returning Miami defensive linemen were rotational players last year. Former Cardinal Gibbons standout Ahmad Moten played 146 snaps (60.7 defensive grade), and then-freshman Joshua Horton played 32 snaps (69.9 defensive grade). Anthony Campbell and Malik Bryant also return; Campbell played eight snaps after transferring to UM, and Bryant was a standout prospect who is expected to play edge rusher after playing linebacker in high school.
Who arrived
With the number of linemen leaving the program, the Hurricanes needed to bring in a big group this offseason. Miami signed eight high school defensive line prospects and added five more through the transfer portal.
The five additions with college experience will likely get the chance to play right away. Edge rusher Elijah Alston (Marshall) and defensive tackles C.J. Clark (N.C. State) and Marley Cook (Middle Tennessee State) arrived in time to participate in UM’s spring practices. Fellow transfers Tyler Baron (Tennessee) and Simeon Barrow Jr. (Michigan State) arrived later.
Alston and Baron should play immediate roles on the edge. Alston had 45 tackles, 11.5 tackles for loss and six sacks for the Thundering Herd. His 91.3 defensive grade was tied for second among all edge rushers last season. Baron, who transferred to Louisville before ultimately ending up at Miami, had 28 tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss and six sacks last season. Baron’s 78.5 defensive grade was ninth among SEC edge rushers with at least 200 snaps.
Barrow, Clark and Cook add talent to the center of the line.
Barrow, a summer enrollee, had a 72.2 defensive grade, which was tied for 16th among Big Ten defensive tackles. He had 36 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks last season.
Clark faced off against the Hurricanes as a member of the Wolfpack last year. He had 22 tackles, four tackles for loss and one sack last season. Clark is entering his sixth and final season of college football.
Cook also played against Miami, taking the field against UM during MTSU’s shocking upset win in 2022. He had 22 tackles, six tackles for loss and a sack in 2023.
The eight freshmen will also provide depth, though some could see the field early.
Justin Scott, Armondo Blount and Marquise Lightfoot were all rated five-star prospects in 247Sports’ composite rankings. Scott and Blount likely project as interior linemen, while Lightfoot is an edge rusher who excelled in UM’s spring game.
Lightfoot was the one player of those three who participated in spring practices. Scott was a summer enrollee, and Blount missed spring practice as he recovered from an injury.
Miami also signed four-star edge rusher Booker Pickett Jr., who could play a hybrid linebacker/edge rusher role in defensive coordinator Lance Guidry’s defense. They also signed four-star interior lineman Artavius Jones, four-star edge rusher Elias Rudolph, three-star edge rusher Cole McConathy II and three-star defensive tackle Daylen Russell.
