Alex Donno and Liam Willerup break down which Miami Hurricanes true freshmen can compete for starting spots next season.
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00:00 I would imagine we're going to have a handful of players in this top three class who are going to
00:04 be competing for starting jobs next year. Who are some of the ones that stand out to you?
00:09 I mean, yeah, you mentioned it. Mario Crisabal has shown this even last year that he's not afraid
00:14 to give guys the chance that they're going to be the best player on the field. So with that being
00:19 said, my number one freshman that I expect to be competing and not even just competing, I think he
00:24 might just win the job outright, is going to be Zaquan Patterson coming over from Chaminade Madonna.
00:30 I was watching his tape last night. I see a lot of James Williams in him and I feel like he'd fill
00:35 that role just perfectly. The way he just is able to fly downfield, make tackles. He's a hard-hitting
00:40 player. His special teams highlight reel is insane. He's also had some abilities to be a
00:45 ball hawk as well. I feel like you throw him in there alongside the Washington transfer, Powell,
00:50 and that's a dynamic duo of mine he can run with for a little while.
00:55 Yeah, and I'm definitely going to co-sign on the competing aspect of it. I definitely want to take
01:00 a look at Savion Riley, who transferred in from Vanderbilt because he's got a little more
01:05 experience, but I think the competition could be there to be had. And I co-signed on everything
01:09 you said on Zaquan Patterson because I probably didn't watch enough high school football last year,
01:16 but Chaminade was prominently featured on television a few times, including the state
01:20 championship. And every time I watched Chaminade play, Zaquan was popping off just as much as
01:28 Jeremiah Smith and JoJo Trader. And like you said, he was making plays all over the field,
01:34 big hits, interceptions, big-time special teams plays. This is one of those, kind of like Ruben
01:40 Bain the year prior, I couldn't really figure out why Zaquan Patterson wasn't a five-star,
01:44 like what else he had to do to get there. So I could definitely see him competing. Who else you
01:50 got? Yeah, I mean, and look at his teammate. I think JoJo Trader's got a chance. I mean,
01:54 you'll kind of be at first like, well, hey, we already have his position filled with Jacoby
01:59 George, but I think he just has so much pure talent. It's going to be hard to keep him off
02:04 the field. Of course, the ex-receiver position is where Miami needs the most help with Jacoby
02:09 Young going off to Georgia, but I feel like there's going to be a way Shannon Dawson's
02:13 going to have to get this guy on the field. The way he's got an insane highlight reel
02:17 of acrobatic catches and the way he can really just get, you know, run after the catch in the
02:22 open field. This guy just has talents that not many people have. And I feel like he's got that
02:27 lightning in the bottle, able to make people miss out in the open field. I truly think that he's
02:32 going to impress people. And Shannon Dawson's got to sit down and say, you know, hey, you know,
02:39 I may have a guy like Horton, that ex-receiver that would step in in that role, but you know,
02:44 maybe I have to move some things around to be able to get a guy like Trader out there.
02:47 Yeah, he's everything that I've heard from off-season workouts. He's physically mature
02:53 and that he looks the part. In fact, I was having a conversation, I think yesterday, Luke,
02:58 with someone who's, who's kind of familiar with Miami staff and the evaluations that they're
03:03 making at off-season workouts. And I think the first guy he mentioned to me was JoJo, that the,
03:09 they're so high on, on what he's already been doing out there. What over the last couple of
03:13 weeks that he's been enrolled at Miami and that, yeah, they're, they're going to find a way to get
03:17 this guy on the field if not competing to start. So I think that that's going to be a massive,
03:22 pleasant surprise. I mean, not too surprising for those who watched him play in high school,
03:27 but I think it's always surprising to see true freshmen step up and I think he could be one of
03:31 those guys. Who else are we thinking? Yeah. One of the other ones I got is
03:36 Justin Scott. I mean, look at his physical profile. This dude already matches up to what
03:41 Leonard Taylor was. He's six foot four, 310 pounds, a multi-sport athlete, you know,
03:47 played basketball. So, you know, he's got a little bit of swim move when he's trying to
03:50 go for those rebounds. I mean, there's really no clear favorite right now to take the defensive
03:56 tackle position. And when you recruit, you know, such a high level player at that position,
04:01 you know, one of the top five defensive tackles in the class, you know, he's going to come in
04:04 and compete early and, you know, they love producing the trenches talent and, you know,
04:09 Jason Taylor's going to, he's got in himself a gem. And I think Justin Scott might be able to
04:14 get in there and compete with some of the vets that, you know, are either on the roster already
04:18 or brought into the transfer board.