The Bank (11/8)

DMoney

Friday at 4:11 PM 2 min read

We’ve got a little over a month to go until Signing Day, and the Canes are pushing for a big close. Here is a quick update on recruiting:

- If you’ve been watching election coverage, you’ve heard about the battleground states. Well, there are six battleground recruits committed to other programs that Miami is laser-focused on flipping: DE Hayden Lowe (USC), CB Ben Hanks (Florida), ATH DJ Pickett (LSU), LB TJ Alford (Ohio State), DT Jarquez Carter and WR Vernell Brown (Florida). If we can flip at least three of these players, it’s a success. But the staff will push hard on all of them.

- Miami still loves uncommitted LB Kellen Wiley (Armwood) and has interest in WR Dallas Wilson (Oregon commit).

- I don’t expect too much remaining attrition in the class. There are 22 commits and I think around 20 stick, including the big names.

- The Canes are going to be aggressive in the Portal at defensive back and invest there with multiple players. They are confident in the pitch. But, as previously discussed, this needs to be a position Miami stocks up in high school.

- Other positions to watch in the Portal: potentially QB, go-to WR, a high-upside OL, multiple DL and another LB.

- The Canes believe the 2026 OL class can be an all-timer. They had a very successful unofficial visit with elite OT Jackson Cantwell (Nixa, MO). They also covet have a very real shot at OT Keenyi Pepe (IMG), IOL Breck Kolojay (IMG), IOL Grant Wise (Pace) and IOL Canon Pickett (Tampa Tech).

- A couple notes on the current team: CB Robbie Washington continues to flash in practice. And they are raving about OT Markel Bell- while they thought he had NFL talent as a recruit, some now view him as a potential first rounder in the 2026 NFL Draft.

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Comments (182)

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cway313

Saturday at 8:53 AM

Manfred_Cane said:
"Potential qb"

**** they better go get a starting QB in the portal. Period.

Setting up early for "Emory looks like a first rd pick."

DMoney

Saturday at 9:15 AM

cway313 said:
Setting up early for "Emory looks like a first rd pick."

My prediction is we end up with a transfer.

cway313

Saturday at 9:17 AM

DMoney said:
My prediction is we end up with a transfer.

We haven't given ourselves much leeway.

AtrainCane

Saturday at 9:18 AM

Problem2 said:
Whether it's Miami or Oregon, Mario has zero history of whiffing on all his targets down the stretch lmao

Predicting the absolute worst case scenerio ain't being mope, it's just being a soft *****.

I had one of our more respected posters tell me Mario was gonna wiff on all his targets at Oregon before he came here. It was so laughable that I didn’t even respond. Supposedly Lanning came in and saved the day without any head coach recruiting/closing experience. It was one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen on this site.

PRcane787

Saturday at 9:20 AM

We absolutely cannot go to Emory after watching Cam all year. That would be cruelty

TemplarCane

Saturday at 9:23 AM

The question is does Bell have the potential to improve and become a quality left tackle? Because of his size everyone wants him to be the next Bryant McKinney. That’s probably too much to ask.

D
dk72

Saturday at 9:26 AM

PRcane787 said:
We absolutely cannot go to Emory after watching Cam all year. That would be cruelty

Anyone is going to be a big step down, and even if effective, far less exciting. Who among the likely QB portal players at this time is anything more than solid or a big gamble? From the names being thrown around, all are worth bringing in to COMPETE for the starting spot, but not one is good enough to recruit out of the portal based on promises that they will be GIVEN the starting job

J
Jassid82

Saturday at 9:34 AM

TexasCane90 said:
Everyone is down on Bell like he wasn’t always supposed to take a shirt and really get into the fundamentals and learn the nuances of the position… he’s getting some great coaching and I’m gonna have to guess he went to a small school ended up at juco and got just a little bit better coaching there…

I think he has all the tools and I think if he puts in the work to make it more fluid and less robotic/cumbersome I think at worst he’s a RT here

This. A lot of people forget that when he committed..99% of the evaluation on him was that he needed a year before we could throw him into action. Revisionist history. He’s ahead of schedule if you ask me.

$LA\^/$

$LA\^/$
LA\^/

Saturday at 9:48 AM

DMoney said:
My prediction is we end up with a transfer.

Who are some potential candidates to enter the portal?

Cribby

Saturday at 10:04 AM

Our other db’s are flashing too, flashing their bare backsides chasing down wr’s

grover

Saturday at 10:52 AM

E1k said:
I was defending bell because it felt like people were nitpicking but 1st round is crazy lol

100. Good player who is getting better. Passed up McDermott and Donaldson. Isn’t quite as good as Zion yet.

grover

Saturday at 10:59 AM

Cribby said:
Our other db’s are flashing too, flashing their bare backsides chasing down wr’s

@Cribby do you think more reps improves them? Guidry seems to believe that. I don’t hence why I’d rather run with the younger guys in Zayquan, Robby, Mack, Day, Thomas. Can any of these guys be serviceable other than ZP?

Saturday at 11:36 AM

grover said:
100. Good player who is getting better. Passed up McDermott and Donaldson. Isn’t quite as good as Zion yet.

If he gets close to zion its a home run find and development

rrose8

Saturday at 11:51 AM

Squid Bumciorek said:
If UM goes undefeated in the regular season, wins the ACC, and makes it to playoff semis- do you agree that just getting the #9 or 10 class would be a little bit disappointing, especially with Cristobal’s recruiting ability and the NIL available? I think all that should merit a top 5 class.

Disappointing, but a good # of people were committed before the season started. 2026 class should benefit from this year

CholoCane

Saturday at 4:36 PM

Sorry but Markel Bell does not impress me on Game Days. Doesn’t have the intensity you want on the OL from a guy of his size.

01Canes

Saturday at 4:51 PM

CholoCane said:
Sorry but Markel Bell does not impress me on Game Days. Doesn’t have the intensity you want on the OL from a guy of his size.

His missed block on the screen to Arroyo prevented what should have been a chunk play and a red zone opportunity. We ended up turning the ball over on downs a few plays later.

DMoney

Saturday at 4:59 PM

01Canes said:
His missed block on the screen to Arroyo prevented what should have been a chunk play and a red zone opportunity. We ended up turning the ball over on downs a few plays later.

Here's my last thing on this one:

I'm not saying he's a first rounder. I simply relayed the message. But I'll bet he's going to be a very good player, and a lot of people will eat crow for nitpicking plays like this. Could be wrong, it's happened before. But I like the bet.

N
nickster

Saturday at 5:01 PM

After today's game the BANK IS CLOSED

N
nycane

Saturday at 5:02 PM

grover said:
@Cribby do you think more reps improves them? Guidry seems to believe that. I don’t hence why I’d rather run with the younger guys in Zayquan, Robby, Mack, Day, Thomas. Can any of these guys be serviceable other than ZP?

Porter has quit. He’s checked out