The Portal doesn’t reopen until after spring, but one name that’s already in the Portal may be familiar to Miami fans- USC DE and 2020 decommit Romello Height. I spoke about the Height/Miami buzz on the CanesInSight Daily Podcast:
On Miami’s interest: I can confirm from my sources that Miami has had contact with Romello Height and there's a mutual interest there. Miami is doing their homework on him now because you have the Portal opening up in a couple weeks. It's going to be crazy with names that you don't expect going in there. You obviously haven't talked to any of those kids because they're on other teams.
You want to do your legwork on the players that are in the Portal right now, so that work is done when the Portal opens. Romello Height is one of those players and Miami has identified him as someone who could potentially help this team in the pass rush rotation. Is it imminent he’s coming? No, but there's mutual interest and there's discussions.
On Height’s career: He’s a pass-rushing DE/OLB hybrid, 6’3, 230 pounds. Committed to Manny Diaz. Flipped to Auburn and got a lot of Canes fans upset in the process. At Auburn, he showed some flashes his redshirt freshman year. Pro Football Focus said he had the second-best pass rush win rate in the conference, sandwiched between two NFL players:
Auburn ends up being a mess with Brian Harsin, so he goes to USC. He starts the first two games of 2022 and then hurts his shoulder. As a rotation player in 2023, he has 21 tackles and four sacks. Now, as a 5th year senior, he’s back in the Portal.
On Height as a player: I went back to his last USC season and watched the Utah and Notre Dame games. He was always in the two-point stance, never had his hand in the ground. That role fits his frame, because he's not the biggest, longest guy. He has some nice twitch and speed. Former basketball player in high school. Very strong. He'll be a fifth-year player this year, so a strong, physically mature player.
He showed a high motor against Utah. He got a sack on a stunt, which was 100% effort. He’s not the most developed pass rusher. Limited moves, hand usage and bend. It's more effort, strength and speed. He does have a spin move which he showed in that Utah game to get a few pressures.
He kind of reminds me of Spencer Adkins, who some of you might remember. Adkins was a defensive end for the Canes from Naples. He ended up getting drafted by the Atlanta Falcons and playing a bit in the NFL. If you compare them, Height’s probably a little taller and Spencer Adkins was a little more freakish with the speed (4.48). But they have similar “bull in a china shop” styles as undersized, twitched up, strong OLB/DEs.
He's not what I'd call versatile, but he does show the ability to drop in zone coverage if needed. Against Utah, there was a play where he dropped in the flat, the quarterback scrambled and Height was able to turn and run with the back down the field. He showed surprising awareness there.
Not long enough to be a consistent edge setter but too strong for tight ends to block him one-on-one. He's also good at taking on blocks in space.
Against Notre Dame, he played much less than against Utah but was in the rotation.
On Miami’s interest: Why would Miami be interested in a player who is not an everydown player and has limited upside? A couple reasons. Miami already has Rueben Bain, potentially the best pass rusher in the country. They have Elijah Alston from Marshall, who they think could be a 10-sack guy. Similar OLB/DE to Romello Height, not as strong but more athletic and a better pass rusher. And you have Akheem Mesidor coming back. So those are three high-level guys. They're going to play the majority of the snaps, but you need more.
If you don't believe me, look at last year. By the end of the year, you had Jaden Wayne playing a ton of snaps as a true freshman and nothing behind him. We were running on fumes. Nyjalik Kelly is still hurt. Jahfari Harvey is at SMU. We have some thin, athletic young guys, but you want to make sure that room has veteran depth. This is a fifth-year player who's been in big games and who has some ability to keep that pass rush going. Mario Cristobal, when he met with the media after Tuesday's practice, talked about the importance of having waves of defense linemen, especially in the fourth quarter.
Mario Cristobal: “We are getting better, but it's never enough at that position. You watch all these games that come down to the final possession, final quarter. Typically those positions, they make a play.”
On Miami’s interest, continued: This is a potential depth move to get a mature body type with some twitch and explosiveness into a role backing up Elijah Alston. If he does overtake Alston, great. If a guy like Marquise Lightfoot overtakes Romello Height, this is not a huge investment. Height is a fifth-year player who's on his way out anyway.
The interest is real, nothing imminent, but you're going to have those conversations now while he's in the Portal and you're waiting for others to potentially jump in.
