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Canes back in the mix for 5-star DT Taylor

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Fightinibis said:
I agree, but we have to be honest....we have stellae DEs most year with lackluster DTs. When we have a dominant one like Willis for a year, he gets double teams and OLs are taught to let our DE's speed rush themselves out of the play behind the QBs.

DT is where it MUST get better. Sure, we have Greentree heroes we love there in Ford, Nasty Nesta and young unproven hopefuls...but to act like we have been as talented in the middle as others who buy the almost plug and play beasts...just not true.

Again, like last year...we come in feeling superior because of DE. Time to let them shine like they can because we are disrupting in the middle again.
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If Jordan Miller can be on the field more than 10 snaps a game, that'll be a good start. Dude is an absolute wrecking ball, but if he can't be on the field any more than he has, it's a real problem.
 
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Fightinibis said:
I agree, but we have to be honest....we have stellae DEs most year with lackluster DTs. When we have a dominant one like Willis for a year, he gets double teams and OLs are taught to let our DE's speed rush themselves out of the play behind the QBs.

DT is where it MUST get better. Sure, we have Greentree heroes we love there in Ford, Nasty Nesta and young unproven hopefuls...but to act like we have been as talented in the middle as others who buy the almost plug and play beasts...just not true.

Again, like last year...we come in feeling superior because of DE. Time to let them shine like they can because we are disrupting in the middle again.
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DT is a grunt position there is no doubt. The rigors of playing the position is enormous and requires a lot of physical sacrifice. The thing that separates the good to great DT and okay to bad ones is the ability to “get off” and threaten the OL. When this happens, more OL are required to account for the threat. Example: A DT able to make immediate threat will not allow an OG to “sink” in pass coverage. When the OL is able to “sink” in protection, he is able to create an immediate pocket in the middle of the OL (QB’s luv it). It makes it easier for an OG to pick up blitzes and help out OT when a DE changes direction to come inside. When an OL is stuck at the LOS helping out with a DT who is an immediate threat, there is no “cup” and therefore gaps are created. When there is no threat, the OL is also able to abandon a double team and get to the second level ((lb’s hate this). The point is that quality DT plays help the front seven with disrupting passes and stuffing runs.
 
pacusmc said:
Dabo figured this out quick. His last few years he’s gone after an elite qb and athletic freaks on the dt position. They’ve been like 2 deep at DT and most of them are top 100 kids ranked in the top 10 or top 5 at DT.
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Tyler Davis. Kids next in line. Wekiva isn’t a hugely Miami friendly area historically I guess but still the studs are going out of state man. At the most premium positions
 
troycbullock said:
DT is a grunt position there is no doubt. The rigors of playing the position is enormous and requires a lot of physical sacrifice. The thing that separates the good to great DT and okay to bad ones is the ability to “get off” and threaten the OL. When this happens, more OL are required to account for the threat. Example: A DT able to make immediate threat will not allow an OG to “sink” in pass coverage. When the OL is able to “sink” in protection, he is able to create an immediate pocket in the middle of the OL (QB’s luv it). It makes it easier for an OG to pick up blitzes and help out OT when a DE changes direction to come inside. When an OL is stuck at the LOS helping out with a DT who is an immediate threat, there is no “cup” and therefore gaps are created. When there is no threat, the OL is also able to abandon a double team and get to the second level ((lb’s hate this). The point is that quality DT plays help the front seven with disrupting passes and stuffing runs.
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Also an extremely underrated part of a beast DT is the immediate penetration on inside runs making the back have to cut right away and hinder his downfield vision. Making his thinking of where to go a slower process
 
305407cane said:
Tyler Davis. Kids next in line. Wekiva isn’t a hugely Miami friendly area historically I guess but still the studs are going out of state man. At the most premium positions
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He’s a monster and so is that kid breeze they just got. That dline is gonna give our team serious problems if we make it to Charlotte.
Oh and how can I forget Xavier Thomas. Recruit kids like that and your job gets a lot easier if your a coach.
 
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Stefan Adams said:
This past weekend, 2021 Miami Palmetto (FL) 5-star DT Leonard Taylor competed with some of the area’s top talent at the Under Armour All-America Miami Camp. After dominating the event, Taylor earned an invite to the UA All-America Game with a strong effort in the trenches against a solid group of offensive linemen.

“I feel like I did great,” Taylor said. “I did what I was supposed to do, showed people why I’m a five-star.”
He plays high. Has to lower his pad level. Looks to avoid blocks and not play through people. I would like to see him shoot his hands more. But he is physical when he gets to the ball.
Who was the toughest offensive lineman to go against?

“The center from Columbus (Ryan Rodriguez), he’s pretty tough,” Taylor said.

In late December, Taylor left the Miami Hurricanes out of his top 5 list he released on Twitter, and many felt that was a surprising decision considering how much he had talked up the local school over the past year. The Canes’ staff was also taken back a bit, and head coach Manny Diaz and DL coach Todd Stroud reached out to Taylor soon after.

“They told me I shouldn’t give up on them now, that everybody has turnaround seasons,” Taylor said. “They just said to keep them in my mind.”

It seems UM’s pitch worked, as the Canes were able to get Taylor back on campus again about a month later for their Junior Day event in late January.

“I was talking mostly with coach Stroud,” Taylor said of the visit. “He seems like a good person. He was teaching me about the defense they’d be running if I come out there and the relationships I could build with the coaches.

“He told me basically if I come out there, I could play any position on the line, because I have the athletic ability to do it.”

Ultimately the appeal of a program like Miami to Taylor is the tradition of the team and the proximity of the campus in relation to his family.

“Who wouldn’t want to be a Cane? There’s no place like home,” Taylor said of UM. “The coaches really interest me and it just feels like home every time I’m there.”

The schools that originally made Taylor’s top 5 were LSU, Georgia, Florida, Auburn, and Tennessee. In addition to putting Miami back in the mix, Taylor says he is also considering Texas A&M as well, and he has a few more visits planned for later this spring. The Miami Palmetto also recently took a visit to UF last week as well.

“I’ll be going to Texas A&M, LSU, Georgia, and Auburn,” Taylor said. “No dates yet, I’m going during my spring break, so really it’s whenever I have time.”

With his current plan to commit in early December before signing early, Taylor still has plenty of time to come to a decision, but he does know what he will mainly be looking for when it comes time to make his choice.

“Really it’s about the education,” Taylor said. “I want to go to the school and feel like I’m going to learn something, football is second.”

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305407cane said:
Also an extremely underrated part of a beast DT is the immediate penetration on inside runs making the back have to cut right away and hinder his downfield vision. Making his thinking of where to go a slower process
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Penetration and pressure from the outside is great, however, without a serviceable amount of penetration from the inside, outside pressure can be wasted. If I am an OC/OL coach, I would much rather scheme against a pocket that collapses from the outside then the inside. A pocket that collapses from the inside has more of a snowballing effect. The shortest route to the QB/RB is the middle so when that collapses it throws everything out of wack. When the outside collapses, there is always a pocket assuming the middle foundation is sound.
 
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It's imperative that we turn this thing around and start winning 10+ and the Coastal on a regular basis. We start getting elite DT prospects like Collins and Taylor to stay and we can do serious damage!
 
Personally I think UM has recruited poor at the CB and LB position. The Safety and DT position have been pretty good, but they need to figure out how to get some really elite guys here and there at those position. The recruiting at the DEs position is doing great and will only become better once some of our players starting getting drafted over the next year or two (Rousseau, Phillips, Roche).
 
twes.305 said:
Personally I think UM has recruited poor at the CB and LB position. The Safety and DT position have been pretty good, but they need to figure out how to get some really elite guys here and there at those position. The recruiting at the DEs position is doing great and will only become better once some of our players starting getting drafted over the next year or two (Rousseau, Phillips, Roche).
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This is pretty spot on for the defense.

On the other side of the ball, I'd say our OL recruiting has been poor (especially when it comes to passing on some of the local talent), though early indications are Coach Justice may be able to turn this one around quickly. Fingers crossed.

RB and TE recruiting has been pretty good.

QB and WR recruiting has been difficult to evaluate. Overall, pretty good on paper, but leaving much to be desired on the field. Guys like Perry, Williams, Tate, and TVD were all highly recruited guys (and bringing in King is excellent), but to this point the first three guys on that list have fallen flat to some degree. On the other hand, look at the corching. This position group never had a chance with Jon "Diamond Flyer" Wrecked and "Where's Dan" pENOS. I like our 2020 WR class's potential. 2019 WR class was light but I like Payton (and KJ as a transfer). KJ seems like he was underutilized (and underappreciated) WR, and Payton took a RS. I also really liked our 2018 WR class, but half those guys aren't here, the highest rated dude (Pope) hasn't met expectations, and the best of the group is the lowest rated (Wiggins). But again, that was back-to-back trash offensive systems and some suspect WR coaching.

There's still plenty of time, but neither QB or WR recruiting is looking great for 2021. But if Likens and Lashlee can get more productivity out of these groups and the offense performs somewhere in the top 35 this season (no reason they can't with King at QB and an uptempo spread), I think they can't turn it around before NSD and close the 2021 class strong as these groups.
 
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