Miami Football Recruiting: Grading the Hurricanes' Positional Needs from NSD

With National Signing Day gone, most of the recruits have already signed their letter of intent. I am assuming there will be a couple walk-ons or stray's that may still sign with Miami, but for the most part, what you see is what they will have come this fall.

Al Golden and staff did a tremendous job in filling the positions that needed depth.

Here is my grade of each position of the new recruits.

Quarterback

Returning Players: Stephen Morris and Ryan Williams

2012 Recruits: Preston Dewey, David Thompson and Gray Crow

Notes: With the graduation of Jacory Harris, the Miami Hurricanes were in need of getting a few quarterbacks this recruiting season. They succeeded in doing so by getting Preston Dewey, David Thompson and Gray Crow.

Out of all the quarterbacks, I believe the one with the most upside is Dewey out of Texas. He is a great athlete that can accurately throw on the run. According to ESPN, he is listed as a 4-star quarterback and ranked 21 in the country.

Crow, on the other hand, is a pure pocket quarterback with a lively arm. He was a 3-star recruit that also will add nice depth to the quarterback position.

When it comes to their third recruit, there are plenty of question marks, not because of his skill, but because of his possible baseball career. Either way, he has signed and seems to have a pretty decent arm.

Overall, I wouldn't be surprised if all three are red-shirted as they watch Ryan Williams and Stephen Morris battle for the starting position.

Final Grade: B-

Final Thought: Besides Gunner Kiel and Jameis Winston, this year's quarterback class was less than stellar. I believe Miami did a very good job considering whoever came to Miami would most likely end up as a third-stringer or a possible red-shirt.

Running Backs

Returning Players: Eduardo Clements, Maurice Hagens, Darion Hall, C.J. Holton, Darris Hughes and Mike James

2012 Recruits: Duke Johnson and Danny Dillard

Notes: The Hurricanes received horrible news late last year when Lamar Miller decided to forgo his junior and senior season's for the NFL. He was a very special running back that could have done huge things for the Hurricanes these next two seasons.

They still return Eduardo Clements and Mike James, both getting some playing time last year behind Miller.

Not to fear, Hurricane fans, as Miami recruited one of the best running backs in the country this year, Randy "Duke" Johnson.

Johnson is another tremendously talented running back that has the ability to take it to the house every time he touches the ball. He is a bit small (5'9", 180 pounds), but has terrific acceleration and great field vision to find open holes.

Once he fills out and gets better conditioning at the next level, he may become the next great Hurricane running back.

Danny Dillard was the other running back Miami recruited, and he reminds me a lot of Mike James—a bigger back that hits the holes hard.

Final Grade: A

Final Thought: Johnson is good enough of a player to make people not miss Miller too much this year.

Wide Receiver

Returning Players: Chad Barnes, Philip Dorsett, Allen Hurns, Garrett Kidd, Shawn O'Dare, Rashawn Scott and Kendal Thompkins

2012 Recruits: Jontavious Carter, Angelo Jean-Louis, Herbert Waters, Robert Lockhart, Malcolm Lewis and D'Mauri Jones

Notes: The Hurricanes took another hit at the wide receiver position as Tommy Streeter (junior), Travis Benjamin and LaRon Byrd all left Miami.

The Hurricanes are still returning some talented receivers, but definitely needed to add depth, which they were able to accomplish.

Angelo Jean-Louis is a very athletic wide receiver with enough skill to be comparable to a Benjamin.  He doesn't have the same speed as Benjamin had, but is a very shifty receiver with better hands.

With Streeter leaving early, Miami lost their tallest receiver, so Miami went after D'Mauri Jones and Jontavious Carter, both players standing over 6'4". Both are a little raw, but with a little practice, they have the size to terrorize opposing defensive backs.

Robert Lockhart may end up being the best of the bunch as he is a very elusive receiver with good overall speed. He de-commited from Virginia Tech on NSD to commit to the Hurricanes.

Malcolm Lewis is another 'Benjamin-type' player that can stretch the field with his playmaking ability.  He has good acceleration and is very elusive once he is in the open field.

Herbert Waters round out the wide receiver group as a question mark on where he will play for the Hurricanes. He played quarterback and receiver in high school, but may be a better chose for cornerback at Miami.

Final Grade: B+

Final Thought: Although only a couple are 4-star athletes, I really believe Miami picked up some great receivers. All of them stand over 6" and are tremendously athletic. 

Tight End

Returning Players: Asante Cleveland, Blake Ayles, Dyron Dye, David Perry, Billy Sanders, Clive Walford and Cory White

2012 Recruits: None

Notes: The Hurricanes really don't need a tight end as they have plenty listed on the team. Miami did have one, Brandon Hollifield, but he decommited from the Hurricanes and may play at the University of Massachusetts.

Final Grade: N/A

Final Thought: I think the Hurricanes already have a stellar group of young talented tight ends on the team and giving out a scholarship to a 2/3-star recruit was unnecessary. Good move by the Hurricanes coaching staff.

Offensive Line

Returning Players: Jermaine Barton, Malcolm Bunche, Jon Feliciano, Seantrel Henderson, Jermaine Johnson, Ben Jones, Jeremy Lewis, Brandon Linder, Eduardo Lopez, Shane McDermott, Hunter Wells and Jared Wheeler

2012 Recruits: Daniel Isidora, Taylor Gadbois and Ereck Flowers

Notes: Although the Hurricanes return a lot of starters, there are still plenty of question marks at the offensive line position. They did not play together well as a team and lost a few to graduation. 

They went out and recruited an outstanding offensive tackle in Ereck Flowers. Flowers is a very quick and agile lineman that is very good run-blocker.

Tayor Gadbois, who actually commited to Miami last year, but had to go to a prep school, is finally with the team this year.

The only other offensive line recruit was Daniel Isidora who has great size and agility for a big man (6'3", 330 pounds). He was good enough to play tackle, but will most likely fill in at guard for Miami.

Final Grade: B

Final Thought: The Hurricanes fulfilled their needs by adding three offensive linemen to an already deep position. 

Defensive Line

Returning Players: Sean Harvey, Olsen Pierre, Junior Alexis, Anthony Chickillo, Chris Dunckel, Shayon Green, Jalen Grimble, Corey King, Curtis Porter, Luther Robinson, Darius Smith and Ricardo Williams

2012 Recruits: Jacoby Briscoe, Earl Monroe, Dequan Ivery, Jelani Hamilton, Tyriq McCord, Jake O'Donnell and Dwayne Hoilett

Notes: I guess the coaching staff isn't to happy with the play of the 12 defensive returning players this year, as they went out and recruited another seven.

I would tend to agree as the defensive line was a disgrace last year. Anthony Chickillo was the only player on the defensive line that had a solid season.

This recruiting class could end up being a very good one, especially Jelani Hamilton and Tyriq McCord. The two ends had terrific high school careers and have the talent and athleticism to dominate in college as well.

Jacoby Briscoe, Earl Monroe and Dequan Ivery are big recruits that will be needed as size was a major issue last year.

Jake O'Donnell and Dwayne Hoilett are also very talented defensive ends and will add much needed depth for a so-so defensive line.

Final Grade: A-

Final Thought: Although they only got a couple of highly-recruited players (McCord and Hamilton), they needed more competition going into the fall, as the defensive line was one of the weakest links on the team last year.

Linebacker

Returning Players: Erik Akre, Ramon Buchanan, Kelvin Cain, Akil Craig, Nantambu-Akil Fentress, James Gaines, Eddie Johnson, Gionni Paul and Denzel Perryman

2012 Recruits: Raphael Kirby, Josh Witt, Gabriel Terry and Jawand Blue

Notes: Although Sean Spence is gone, the Hurricanes return a lot of young, talented linebackers, and they received four more on NSD.

Raphael Kirby has the talent to be another great linebacker that came out of Miami, as he has great field vision and hits like a truck. He is already enrolled at Miami and may even compete for a starting role—he is that good.

Jawand Blue and Josh Witt are similar to each other as they are terrific tacklers and great against the run. They will need to bulk up a little, but should be able to contribute soon.

Gabriel Terry rounds out the linebacker class and is the fastest of the group. He is quick to the ball and plays very aggressive. He seems a tad bit anxious though and needs to play with better control.

Final Grade: A

Final Thought: I think the Hurricanes already have a talented group of linebackers, and with the addition of these four players, they will be set for the future as well.

Defensive Back

Returning Players: Ray Ray Armstrong, Thurston Armbrister, Dallas Crawford, Thomas Finnie, A.J. Highsmith, Vaughn Telemaque, Brandon McGee and six others.

2012 Recruits: Deon Bush, Rashawn Jenkins, Tracy Howard, Vernon Davis, Nathan Dortch, Antonio Crawford, Larry Hope and Ladarius Gunter

Notes: The Hurricanes already had 13 players in the defensive backfield going into the 2012 season, so why did they recruit more?

The answer is simple: The defensive backfield, along with the defensive line, were the biggest problem position on the team.

That should change with the talented players they got this year.

Tracy Howard was the No. 1-rated cornerback in the country and for good reason. He has terrific size, actually played the cornerback position in high school and has great range. I think he will be just as good as Brandon Harris was with Miami just a few years ago.

Deon Bush is the other defensive back that has Miami excited. Bush is a tremendous athlete that will get great tutelage behind Ray Ray Armstrong and Vaughn Telemaque this year.

The rest of the recruits add great depth to the position.

Final Grade: A+

Final Thought: With the addition of Bush and Howard, this is by far the best recruiting position from this year's class.

Kicker

Returning Players: Matt Goudis, Ben Hopfinger, Jake Wieclaw and Alex Irastorza (both kicker/punter)

2012 Recruits: None

Notes: Jake Wieclaw is and will be the starting kicker as he finished his first starting season last year as a Lou Groza award finalist.

Final Grade: N/A

Final Thought: No replacement is needed, there is plenty of depth on the team.

Punter

Returning Players: Dalton Botts and Cameron Dean

2012 Recruits: None

Notes: Like Jake Wieclaw, Dalton Botts will continue to be the starting punter.

Final Grade: N/A

Final Thought: Botts has cemented his place as the starting punter, and Cameron Dean is a solid sophomore backup.

Overall

Al Golden and his staff did an unbelievable job at getting recruits to Miami despite the NCAA allegations and coming off a 6-6 season.

I had faith from Golden from the start and seems as though I will in the future as well.

The Hurricanes really struggled on the defensive side of the ball last year, so the coaches went out and got 19 defensive players to come to Miami.

On the offensive side, they needed to replace Lamar Miller, which they did with 5-star recruit Duke Johnson.

They needed to replace Travis Benjamin, so they got Angelo Jean-Louis.

Cornerbacks were horrible, so they got 5-star Tracy Howard.

Finally, they needed to add depth to the quarterback position, which they did with Preston Dewey and Gray Crow.

In other words, they filled every positional need, perfectly.

Overall I was so impressed with the talent they are bringing to Miami I had to give the coaching staff and A+.