2012 Recruit write up

[01rodric]

The annual write up on the recruiting haul courtesy of Miami-Hurricanes.com moderator Shadow
http://www.miami-hurricanes.com/forum/tm.asp?m=853626&p=1&tmode=1&smode=1

Defend Our Turf

Miami fans heard coach talk about culture change. The phrase 'State of Miami' has been thrown about. We've heard that Miami plays to win championships.

This time around it has a different feel to it, No?

Golden entered the Class of 2012 needing corners, corners, corners, receivers, linebackers, corners, corners, defensive linemen, running back, corners, corners and a pair of quarterbacks.

QB - After having two subpar options for a year or five, this group should be the the start of the competition and get Miami on the proper one-per recruiting format. Preston Dewey comes with a nice frame, solid mechanics, throws a nice looking ball with a good, not great arm. He's been hurt a bit in his career, but is coachable with a nice upside. David Thompson is the best athlete of the group and he can play the position. The downside being that even if he enrolls, the dual sport juggle tends to limit the ceiling in that second sport. Miami needs to end the shortage of arms that impacts practice, and the big frame, big arm Gray Crow is a successful recruit if he meets the "core values" and provides four years of solid reps.

RB - Duke Johnson is Miami's best recruit with great vision, great burst (best I've seen since Gore) and comes with a Portis-ish confidence to his game...or as Golden said Johnson knows what it means to be a 'Cane. If you want to win, you bring in play makers like Johnson. After some physical development Danny Dillard should be a tough short yardage back with his north-south power stlye and brings some speed to the back-up role where he will be asked to soften a defensive front.

WR - The exit of the 2008 Class, left three boys with a pulse on the roster making the receiver spot the other critical need. Robert Lockhart is the most explosive of the group with the ability to create separation and stretch the field to go with a physical style of play where Malcolm Lewis is the most consistent. Both have the ability to instantly upgrade the position. Angelo Jean Louis, may have a speed bump before he enrolls, but could end up the best of the bunch with his size, speed and burst. The wildcard is Herbert Waters, a Dade kid that doesn't jump off the scout sheet but just makes plays and loves to compete. The hopes of getting some size to create match-up problems falls to Jontavious Carter and D'Mauri Jones, where Carter brings the better athletics and Jones the better receiver skills.

OL - Miami caught Ereck Flowers early before he took that senior leap, Flowers has good size and great feet. After an off-season of UTough, Flowers should have one of Miami's tackle spots locked up for three years. Taylor Gadbois was a big kid with a mean streak that Miami felt they stole late last year, and have a mauling right tackle on their hands in a couple of years. Danny Isidora is your interior hog that excels at locking on to his guy and driving, there's all-conference potential here if the feet are there and Miami can develope his pass pro. It probably could've used one more (pulling off Avery Young would've done it), but the quality is here and I believe 2013 will bring the horses.

DE - Miami could get caught with 'tweeners for their top two, but Jelani Hamilton showed the potential to rush the passer with a body to defend the run and would fit a 3-4 End. How he handles the space on the edge will be the 4-3 question. Tyriq McCord was a coup from Tampa and brings big time speed off the edge with a real nice frame to add quality weight. He also has the athletic package to play with his hand off the ground in certain packages. Jake O'Donnell came down for the camp and was all that you heard about for a couple of weeks out of Miami with his a long frame with long arms, quickness and competiveness. Dwayne Hoilett can rush the passer and comes with natural tools to take the chance, but he needs weight to defend the run and was neutralized with pads on in two different games (played within a two yard box for the majority of the game).

DT - My sleeper for the year is Jacoby Briscoe. He comes with the inconsistent tag (**** near lazy) and that flattened his recruitment, but after he strapped it up for a playoff run, he was flooded by coaches. His size and quickness are high end material if Franklin gets him to click. Chris Ivery has the look of a nose guard that can be a big body to occupy lineman. Earl Moore is just a guy due to lack of the size potential to be a plug or pass rush potential to push the pocket.

LB - Raphael Kirby is going to be a headliner with Perryman. He flows extremely well to the ball, comes with force, moves well in space and was a 6'3 frame away from 5* billing. JaWand Blue is another kid that flows well to the ball, moves well in space and can attack downhill (all the traits of Foster's VTech linebackers), and is probably looking at a weakside future. Gabriel Terry is a high motor kid that is just getting started on the field, which makes him a RJr type that will highlight this staff's ability to evaluate, project and develop. Josh Witt would pile up the Madden awards with his physical play and seems to embody the culture that Golden wants, but he's just limited laterally and a step late in reaction to be a starter.

CB - Miami needed an entire new defensive backfield and they got some corners over here. Tracy Howard, as Miami's biggest win from South Florida in a decade, is instantly the poster boy for 'the State of Miami' under Golden. On the field, he is a physical, quick and instinctive corner that will find a spot as a starter next season. Vernon Davis is a smooth athlete and Antonio Crawford plays bigger than his size, combined they are a complete corner but separate should fill the #3 spot. If Nate Dortch can get the weight to play at the line of scrimmage, he may be the surprise of the corner group because he has speed, length and ball skills to go with a willingness for contact (Davis linked him to Kelly Jennings). LaDarius Gunter provides a two year answer to allow this group to mature physically, and brings more a nice speed/size combo but may have a bigger impact as a returner than coverage. Larry Hope brings speed and an aggressive nature, but can strong in coverage.

S - Miami is listing Deon Bush as a safety and he has the speed to play center field, but top cover corners don't come around often and Bush has the athletic traits to succeed. Rayshawn Jenkins has the athletic tools, but they may be better suited for offense.

Overall, the group has the headliners in Duke, Howard, McCord, Bush, Flowers, Lockhart, Kirby and Jean Louis and ultimately this group will become important to Golden in re-establishing the South Florida pipeline (where kids like Waters, Hope, Davis, Blue become important) and setting the tone of his program that started with Perryman, Chickillo.

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