2021 Miami Northwestern (FL) TE Kahlil Brantley signed with the Miami Hurricanes today.
The 6-2, 205-pounder is currently a consensus 3-star in the national rankings. According to the 247Composite, Brantley is the #799 player nationally, the #41 TE in the country, and the #104 player in Florida.
Recruiting Story
Brantley originally committed to Utah, his first Power 5 offer, back in October of 2018, but had been open about wanting an offer from the hometown Canes. Miami was actually originally interested in him as an athlete, and were looking at trying him out on the other side of the ball as a potential striker before settling on his natural TE position. UM decided to pull the trigger on a scholarship when Brantley was on campus at junior day in early February of 2019 and Brantley accepted on the spot, spending a week as a silent commitment before announcing his intentions a few days later. From that point onward, Brantley became Miami’s class ambassador and was instrumental in helping to bring other local talents on board this cycle. Oregon, Syracuse, and Missouri were other offers for Brantley.
Evaluation
UM wants to use Brantley’s skillset all over the field as an H-Back, fullback, and lining up in the slot. Right off the bat, Brantley shows plus concentration and hands on tape, and gives his QB a large catch radius to work with. Northwestern loves to line Brantley up all over their formation, including in the backfield as a fullback, so he is already comfortable being used as a chess piece. Brantley is a red-zone threat that comes alive near the goal-line and can score in many ways. Demonstrates the ability to blow by his man off the line and beat him with speed, and can also body up and out-jump his defender on 50-50 tosses. Brantley shows physicality and toughness as a blocker, which is something you don’t see from a lot of young tight ends.
The Team
Brantley will arrive on campus in January with fellow TE signee Elijah Arroyo, bringing the number of tight ends on the roster up to six. However, Brevin Jordan continued to perform at a high level and garner national recognition as a junior this season, so there’s a good chance he elects to go pro in the coming months. Will Mallory showed flashes of brilliance as Jordan’s backup and injury fill-in during the 2020 season, while the Canes continued to groom Larry Hodges and Dominic Mammarelli for future roles.
Redshirt Probability: 8/10
While Brantley will enroll early at UM, he still has size to gain to hold up at the college level and his style of play is similar to what Larry Hodges already brings to Miami with 2 less years of experience. That leaves Brantley on the outside looking in when it comes to seeing time as a freshman, but it’s hard to completely count out a playmaker and leader like Brantley in 2021.
The 6-2, 205-pounder is currently a consensus 3-star in the national rankings. According to the 247Composite, Brantley is the #799 player nationally, the #41 TE in the country, and the #104 player in Florida.
Recruiting Story
Brantley originally committed to Utah, his first Power 5 offer, back in October of 2018, but had been open about wanting an offer from the hometown Canes. Miami was actually originally interested in him as an athlete, and were looking at trying him out on the other side of the ball as a potential striker before settling on his natural TE position. UM decided to pull the trigger on a scholarship when Brantley was on campus at junior day in early February of 2019 and Brantley accepted on the spot, spending a week as a silent commitment before announcing his intentions a few days later. From that point onward, Brantley became Miami’s class ambassador and was instrumental in helping to bring other local talents on board this cycle. Oregon, Syracuse, and Missouri were other offers for Brantley.
Evaluation
UM wants to use Brantley’s skillset all over the field as an H-Back, fullback, and lining up in the slot. Right off the bat, Brantley shows plus concentration and hands on tape, and gives his QB a large catch radius to work with. Northwestern loves to line Brantley up all over their formation, including in the backfield as a fullback, so he is already comfortable being used as a chess piece. Brantley is a red-zone threat that comes alive near the goal-line and can score in many ways. Demonstrates the ability to blow by his man off the line and beat him with speed, and can also body up and out-jump his defender on 50-50 tosses. Brantley shows physicality and toughness as a blocker, which is something you don’t see from a lot of young tight ends.
The Team
Brantley will arrive on campus in January with fellow TE signee Elijah Arroyo, bringing the number of tight ends on the roster up to six. However, Brevin Jordan continued to perform at a high level and garner national recognition as a junior this season, so there’s a good chance he elects to go pro in the coming months. Will Mallory showed flashes of brilliance as Jordan’s backup and injury fill-in during the 2020 season, while the Canes continued to groom Larry Hodges and Dominic Mammarelli for future roles.
Redshirt Probability: 8/10
While Brantley will enroll early at UM, he still has size to gain to hold up at the college level and his style of play is similar to what Larry Hodges already brings to Miami with 2 less years of experience. That leaves Brantley on the outside looking in when it comes to seeing time as a freshman, but it’s hard to completely count out a playmaker and leader like Brantley in 2021.
