2019 Miami (FL) Northwestern 3-star LB Samuel Brooks recommitted to the Canes on Saturday night while on his Miami official visit, just days after leaving the class when Manny Diaz left for Temple.
The 6-1, 195-pounder is currently a consensus 3-star in the national rankings. According to the 247Composite, Brooks is the #724 player nationally, #45 OLB in the country, and the #97 player in The Sunshine State. His commitment moves Miami’s 2019 class ranking to #31 on 247Sports and #36 on Rivals.
The Player
It was a surprise when Brooks decommitted from Miami just a few days ago, and Brooks admitted he made a rash decision in decommitting from UM after Diaz left. His official visit to Miami was all he needed to put him at ease that UM was the best place for him and now he’ll again sign with Canes.
Brooks suffered a devastating ACL and meniscus tear in October of his junior season and Miami stuck with him through all that. Brooks led Miami-Dade in sacks as a sophomore and was on his way to doing it again as a junior before his injury. Brooks came back strong off his injury as a senior, showing little ill-effects and helping Northwestern to a state title. With another year removed from his injury, Brooks should definitely be 100% by the time he hits the field at Miami for his freshman season.
Brooks comes from a powerhouse local program that has a long-standing tradition of sending kids to Miami. On the field, Brooks takes sharp, direct angles to the ball-carrier, and he throws his body around against bigger opponents with little fear. Brooks is comfortable with his hand on the ground at the line or standing up and blitzing from a linebacker spot. He has the timing, quick feet and tight hips to make the turn and get into the backfield coming off the edge, acting like a heat-seeking missile. Brooks will need to put on some weight at only 195 right now to hold up at the college level, but that’s common for high schoolers at this stage.
The Class
Brooks' commitment brings the total class numbers to 15 (at the time), and he joins STA 4-star teammates Avery Huff and Anthony Solomon as the third LB in the class (Solomon flipped to Michigan the next day).
Miami has been recruiting as if they wanted three linebackers in Surge19 and since Solomon is not going to be in this class, UM still has one open spot here. When Solomon begun to waver on his UM commitment, Miami began contacting Plant City 3-star James Gordon IV, and Solomon’s STA teammate, 3-star Jahmar Brown, to line them up as potential replacements. Although Miami practically begged both Gordon and Brown to officially visit this past weekend, both turned UM down, which was a devastating blow to UM’s chances. Gordon and Brown are both planning on signing early as of now, so barring a last minute change of heart, they won’t be signing with Miami and will honor their commitments to Minnesota (Gordon) and South Carolina (Brown).
Miami has been slow playing Rockledge 3-star Octavious Brothers, but I expect them to start really pushing for him now that Brown and Gordon are out of the picture. Brothers has received multiple in-home visits from the staff the past few weeks but has not actually landed a Miami offer as of yet. Brothers has seen Syracuse and UNC on official visits in the past month. Since he is not signing early, Miami has time to get Brothers on campus and make a move with him.
The Team
Miami loses backup middle linebacker Mike Smith (who played a ton this year) to graduation after the season, while juniors Shaq Quarterman and Michael Pinckney have NFL decisions to make. If Quarterman and Pinckney return, Miami will return all their starters at the linebacker position in 2019, which include SAM/striker co-starters Zach McCloud and Romeo Finley.
If that’s the case, then there won’t be much playing time available for the freshman linebackers, but there’s certainly potential for them to crack the two-deep. Brooks and his classmates will fight with 2017 signees at LB (Waynmon Steed, BJ Jennings) for backup reps as true freshmen. The starting lineup completely clears out when Quarterman, Pinckney, McCloud, and Finley graduate after 2019 though, and there will be a battle royale in 2020 at all three positions. Brooks has as good a chance as anyone to win that competition and start as a sophomore.
The 6-1, 195-pounder is currently a consensus 3-star in the national rankings. According to the 247Composite, Brooks is the #724 player nationally, #45 OLB in the country, and the #97 player in The Sunshine State. His commitment moves Miami’s 2019 class ranking to #31 on 247Sports and #36 on Rivals.
The Player
It was a surprise when Brooks decommitted from Miami just a few days ago, and Brooks admitted he made a rash decision in decommitting from UM after Diaz left. His official visit to Miami was all he needed to put him at ease that UM was the best place for him and now he’ll again sign with Canes.
Brooks suffered a devastating ACL and meniscus tear in October of his junior season and Miami stuck with him through all that. Brooks led Miami-Dade in sacks as a sophomore and was on his way to doing it again as a junior before his injury. Brooks came back strong off his injury as a senior, showing little ill-effects and helping Northwestern to a state title. With another year removed from his injury, Brooks should definitely be 100% by the time he hits the field at Miami for his freshman season.
Brooks comes from a powerhouse local program that has a long-standing tradition of sending kids to Miami. On the field, Brooks takes sharp, direct angles to the ball-carrier, and he throws his body around against bigger opponents with little fear. Brooks is comfortable with his hand on the ground at the line or standing up and blitzing from a linebacker spot. He has the timing, quick feet and tight hips to make the turn and get into the backfield coming off the edge, acting like a heat-seeking missile. Brooks will need to put on some weight at only 195 right now to hold up at the college level, but that’s common for high schoolers at this stage.
The Class
Brooks' commitment brings the total class numbers to 15 (at the time), and he joins STA 4-star teammates Avery Huff and Anthony Solomon as the third LB in the class (Solomon flipped to Michigan the next day).
Miami has been recruiting as if they wanted three linebackers in Surge19 and since Solomon is not going to be in this class, UM still has one open spot here. When Solomon begun to waver on his UM commitment, Miami began contacting Plant City 3-star James Gordon IV, and Solomon’s STA teammate, 3-star Jahmar Brown, to line them up as potential replacements. Although Miami practically begged both Gordon and Brown to officially visit this past weekend, both turned UM down, which was a devastating blow to UM’s chances. Gordon and Brown are both planning on signing early as of now, so barring a last minute change of heart, they won’t be signing with Miami and will honor their commitments to Minnesota (Gordon) and South Carolina (Brown).
Miami has been slow playing Rockledge 3-star Octavious Brothers, but I expect them to start really pushing for him now that Brown and Gordon are out of the picture. Brothers has received multiple in-home visits from the staff the past few weeks but has not actually landed a Miami offer as of yet. Brothers has seen Syracuse and UNC on official visits in the past month. Since he is not signing early, Miami has time to get Brothers on campus and make a move with him.
The Team
Miami loses backup middle linebacker Mike Smith (who played a ton this year) to graduation after the season, while juniors Shaq Quarterman and Michael Pinckney have NFL decisions to make. If Quarterman and Pinckney return, Miami will return all their starters at the linebacker position in 2019, which include SAM/striker co-starters Zach McCloud and Romeo Finley.
If that’s the case, then there won’t be much playing time available for the freshman linebackers, but there’s certainly potential for them to crack the two-deep. Brooks and his classmates will fight with 2017 signees at LB (Waynmon Steed, BJ Jennings) for backup reps as true freshmen. The starting lineup completely clears out when Quarterman, Pinckney, McCloud, and Finley graduate after 2019 though, and there will be a battle royale in 2020 at all three positions. Brooks has as good a chance as anyone to win that competition and start as a sophomore.
