How Impactful Has the Transfer Portal and Recruiting Been For Miami's Offensive Line? | Podcast
After a rough 2022 season, the 2023 Miami Hurricanes look to rebound this year. There's much optimism within the program. That begins with the retooled offensive line.
Sure, there will be several position battles in Miami's fall camp, as the video up above from Alex Donno discusses. That being said, a key element to the Canes winning again is no doubt at the line of scrimmage.
When now head coach Mario Cristobal played for the Canes, they did their jobs up front to help propel one of the best offenses in college football. To get back to that, he has taken many steps, along with other members of his coaching staff, to make that happen.
Perhaps that's why the Canes hit the Transfer Portal hard, including Matt Lee (UCF) and Javion Cohen (Alabama), and also brought in arguably the nation's top offensive line recruiting class, including Samson Okunlola and Francis Mauigoa, to compete with the returning Canes up front.
Combining those players to the competition with returning talent such as Zion Nelson, Jalen Rivers and Anez Cooper, among others, is intriguing.
Still, there are varying opinions about how good The U will be. Pro Football Focus is certainly high on the offensive line, and more so than many other publications, based on the following tweet:
PFF’s Preseason All-ACC Team: Offense🔥 pic.twitter.com/ofdarFGUTl
— PFF College (@PFF_College) July 20, 2023
Is it justified? To be objective, even Canes fans should wonder about a few questions that need to be answered before simply handing over the mantle of top offensive line in the ACC, which the PFF basically did in that prediction. These are the five questions answered in the podcast. They should also be one's Miami fans at least consider as well.
1) How good will the chemistry be?
2) Which player(s) will be not only good at blocking, but also be leaders and hold other Miami players accountable?
3) Can this unit pass protect far better than the 2022 unit?
4) In the red zone and during short-yardage plays, how good will Miami be at imposing its will on the opposition and playing power football?
5) During big games, do the Canes show up and show out?
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Fan Nation High school football recruiting analyst covering the state of Florida, as well as across the Southeastern United States and the state of Texas.