2021 Miami Central (FL) OG Laurence Seymore officially signed with the Miami Hurricanes today.
The 6-2, 295-pounder is currently a consensus 4-star recruit in the national rankings. According to the 247Sports Composite, Seymore is the #162 player nationally, #10 OG in the country, and the #23 player in the Sunshine State.
Recruiting Story
Seymore has been a sought-after recruit since he was in middle school, earning his first college offer from Miami in summer of 2017 before he even stepped foot on a high school football field. It wouldn’t take long for Seymore to lock up a spot in the class of his childhood favorite school, committing to UM and Mark Richt on a Junior Day visit in late March of 2018. Despite the coaching transition to Manny Diaz in 2019, as well as later earning offers from top college football programs like UGA, UF, LSU, and Oregon among others, Seymore stuck to his original pledge for over 2 and a half years, a rarity in the recruiting world.
Evaluation
You can say whatever you want about his height, but there’s something to be said about a lineman like Seymore who never takes plays off and loves competition to his core. He never disappoints, even when going up against the best talent in the area, and has a natural strength that is God-given. A true road grader, Seymore got work at both guard and tackle for a deep Central offensive line as a freshman, something that is not easy to do. A fierce run blocker that also has an adept initial punch to blow his man off the ball with ease. Simply just moves people wherever he wants them to go. A very technically advanced prospect that understands handwork and leverage, further giving him an advantage when working against his opponent. Can see his improvement year over year in pass protection, and I’d only expect more gains in that area once he gets college level coaching. Lack of length could hold him back from stardom, but it’s not as big of an issue working on the interior and he makes up for that in other areas of his game. Will not surpass his work ethic.
The Team
The Canes struggled at the guard spot in 2020, as starters Jakai Clark and DJ Scaife were inconsistent at best during the season. Navaughn Donaldson returned from injury to provide a spark off the bench in the final two regular season games, and he is expected to return to UM for a 5th season in 2021 to compete for a starting job. Ousman Traore operated as Miami’s third guard for most of the season with mixed results, while freshman Jalen Rivers saw time both at guard and tackle and has the most upside of anyone in this group. Cleveland Reed has yet to really make any kind of impact at Miami.
Redshirt Probability: 3/10
Miami returns four guards in 2021 that have played a lot of football for them in the past, but all of them have their warts. While it is always difficult to project a first-year lineman seeing significant time and that is never ideal, Seymore profiles as the type of prospect that could work his way into the rotation early on in his career, as he already possesses above average strength and technical prowess. Even though he will have to continue to work to shed some bad weight, he will have the ability to do just that in spring since he is enrolling early. I’m not betting against Seymore seeing at minimum a rotational role in Year 1, with the upside for more.
The 6-2, 295-pounder is currently a consensus 4-star recruit in the national rankings. According to the 247Sports Composite, Seymore is the #162 player nationally, #10 OG in the country, and the #23 player in the Sunshine State.
Recruiting Story
Seymore has been a sought-after recruit since he was in middle school, earning his first college offer from Miami in summer of 2017 before he even stepped foot on a high school football field. It wouldn’t take long for Seymore to lock up a spot in the class of his childhood favorite school, committing to UM and Mark Richt on a Junior Day visit in late March of 2018. Despite the coaching transition to Manny Diaz in 2019, as well as later earning offers from top college football programs like UGA, UF, LSU, and Oregon among others, Seymore stuck to his original pledge for over 2 and a half years, a rarity in the recruiting world.
Evaluation
You can say whatever you want about his height, but there’s something to be said about a lineman like Seymore who never takes plays off and loves competition to his core. He never disappoints, even when going up against the best talent in the area, and has a natural strength that is God-given. A true road grader, Seymore got work at both guard and tackle for a deep Central offensive line as a freshman, something that is not easy to do. A fierce run blocker that also has an adept initial punch to blow his man off the ball with ease. Simply just moves people wherever he wants them to go. A very technically advanced prospect that understands handwork and leverage, further giving him an advantage when working against his opponent. Can see his improvement year over year in pass protection, and I’d only expect more gains in that area once he gets college level coaching. Lack of length could hold him back from stardom, but it’s not as big of an issue working on the interior and he makes up for that in other areas of his game. Will not surpass his work ethic.
The Team
The Canes struggled at the guard spot in 2020, as starters Jakai Clark and DJ Scaife were inconsistent at best during the season. Navaughn Donaldson returned from injury to provide a spark off the bench in the final two regular season games, and he is expected to return to UM for a 5th season in 2021 to compete for a starting job. Ousman Traore operated as Miami’s third guard for most of the season with mixed results, while freshman Jalen Rivers saw time both at guard and tackle and has the most upside of anyone in this group. Cleveland Reed has yet to really make any kind of impact at Miami.
Redshirt Probability: 3/10
Miami returns four guards in 2021 that have played a lot of football for them in the past, but all of them have their warts. While it is always difficult to project a first-year lineman seeing significant time and that is never ideal, Seymore profiles as the type of prospect that could work his way into the rotation early on in his career, as he already possesses above average strength and technical prowess. Even though he will have to continue to work to shed some bad weight, he will have the ability to do just that in spring since he is enrolling early. I’m not betting against Seymore seeing at minimum a rotational role in Year 1, with the upside for more.
