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2021 Hialeah WR Fred Eaford committed to the Canes today on an unofficial visit.
The 6-0 160 pounder is currently a 3-star recruit in the national rankings. According to 247Sports, he is ranked as the #447 overall player in the nation, the #68 WR in the country, and the #69 prospect in the Sunshine State. His commitment keeps Miami’s 2021 class at the top spot in the class rankings on 247Sports.
The Player
Eaford went from unknown recruit to intriguing prospect in a matter of hours this weekend. He landed his Miami offer on Sunday after putting on a dominating performance in the UM 7-on-7 tournament on campus in front of the coaching staff. His efforts were the main reason the underdog Hialeah squad ended up making a run to win the tournament. Eaford returned to campus today for an unofficial visit with the specific intent to commit to the Hurricanes and to get some 1-on-1 time with the coaches.
As the younger brother of 2019 Oregon LB signee Ge’mon Eaford, Fred played JV at Deerfield Beach last season and transferred to Hialeah in the offseason due to the Bucks’ crowded receiver rotation. As such, he has no varsity film available, no HUDL tape at all, and his only highlights were posted on his Twitter yesterday - a 45 second clip mostly featuring Eaford at various camps. In it, you can see Eaford has a proclivity for jumping out of the gym and snagging one-handed catches. His ability to track and high point the ball is elite for a player at this stage and, while he’s going to need some refining to smooth out the finer points of the position, the Hurricanes are obviously going to take a chance on his potential after evaluating him in-person. He also posted a 4.72 40 time, a 4.84 short shuttle, and a 28.50 inch vertical at the Opening Miami Regional in February. Eaford chose UM over offers from Indiana and Louisville.
The Class
Eaford’s commitment brings the total class numbers to 10 and he is the second wide receiver commit in the 2021 class along with Miami Northwestern (FL) 3-star Romello Brinson.
As for the rest of the WR targets, Miami has spent the spring evaluation period sending out a ton of offers at the spot and has now already offered a whopping 20 WR’s in 2021. From the beginning, the Canes’ top target at the position has been Booker T. Washington (FL) 4-star Jacorey Brooks and Miami wants him badly. A haul of Brinson, Eaford, and Brooks would be incredible for new WR coach Taylor Stubblefield and that type of quality would arguably match any other WR class in the country. Brooks won’t be an easy case though, as he is slowly becoming more known as a national recruit and also has offers from Alabama, FSU, UF, UGA, Penn State, and Texas A&M. I’ve heard Georgia in particular will be a major player with Brooks.
Other offerees that have shown enough interest to make a visit to UM include Vanguard (FL) 5-star Trevonte Rucker, Lake Charles College Prep (LA) 4-star Solomon Lewis, Atlantic Coast (FL) 3-star Patrick Bryant, McArthur (FL) 3-star Damien Alford, and Plantation (FL) 3-star Jacolby George. Rucker is considered the best of the bunch at current and is a national top 50 recruit. He recently decommitted from UF last month and attended UM’s spring game in April.
Athletes such as Gulliver Prep (FL) 3-star Yulkeith Brown and Miami Palmetto’s (FL) Brashard Smith could also end up as receivers and have shown preliminary interest the Canes as well.
The Team
By the time Eaford hits campus in 2021, UM will have senior receivers Brian Hightower, Evidence Njoku, Dee Wiggins, and Mark Pope, a junior Jeremiah Payton, and sophomores in Xavier Restrepo and Marcus Fleming on the roster.
With the type of talent Miami is bringing in at WR, Eaford will have to be well-prepared both mentally and physically if he wants to crack the rotation as a freshman, as the competition will be fierce for reps at WR. While it’s unclear if Stubblefield will be as rotation-heavy as his predecessor, the philosophy under Manny Diaz seems to indicate that seniority will not matter when it comes to playing time and the best players will play, so Eaford will have a shot to see the field despite an upperclassman-laden group. Miami really is just stacking blue-chips at receiver and it’s hard to say which recruit will rise to the top, but Eaford has the potential to develop into a very good player in the ACC.
The 6-0 160 pounder is currently a 3-star recruit in the national rankings. According to 247Sports, he is ranked as the #447 overall player in the nation, the #68 WR in the country, and the #69 prospect in the Sunshine State. His commitment keeps Miami’s 2021 class at the top spot in the class rankings on 247Sports.
The Player
Eaford went from unknown recruit to intriguing prospect in a matter of hours this weekend. He landed his Miami offer on Sunday after putting on a dominating performance in the UM 7-on-7 tournament on campus in front of the coaching staff. His efforts were the main reason the underdog Hialeah squad ended up making a run to win the tournament. Eaford returned to campus today for an unofficial visit with the specific intent to commit to the Hurricanes and to get some 1-on-1 time with the coaches.
As the younger brother of 2019 Oregon LB signee Ge’mon Eaford, Fred played JV at Deerfield Beach last season and transferred to Hialeah in the offseason due to the Bucks’ crowded receiver rotation. As such, he has no varsity film available, no HUDL tape at all, and his only highlights were posted on his Twitter yesterday - a 45 second clip mostly featuring Eaford at various camps. In it, you can see Eaford has a proclivity for jumping out of the gym and snagging one-handed catches. His ability to track and high point the ball is elite for a player at this stage and, while he’s going to need some refining to smooth out the finer points of the position, the Hurricanes are obviously going to take a chance on his potential after evaluating him in-person. He also posted a 4.72 40 time, a 4.84 short shuttle, and a 28.50 inch vertical at the Opening Miami Regional in February. Eaford chose UM over offers from Indiana and Louisville.
The Class
Eaford’s commitment brings the total class numbers to 10 and he is the second wide receiver commit in the 2021 class along with Miami Northwestern (FL) 3-star Romello Brinson.
As for the rest of the WR targets, Miami has spent the spring evaluation period sending out a ton of offers at the spot and has now already offered a whopping 20 WR’s in 2021. From the beginning, the Canes’ top target at the position has been Booker T. Washington (FL) 4-star Jacorey Brooks and Miami wants him badly. A haul of Brinson, Eaford, and Brooks would be incredible for new WR coach Taylor Stubblefield and that type of quality would arguably match any other WR class in the country. Brooks won’t be an easy case though, as he is slowly becoming more known as a national recruit and also has offers from Alabama, FSU, UF, UGA, Penn State, and Texas A&M. I’ve heard Georgia in particular will be a major player with Brooks.
Other offerees that have shown enough interest to make a visit to UM include Vanguard (FL) 5-star Trevonte Rucker, Lake Charles College Prep (LA) 4-star Solomon Lewis, Atlantic Coast (FL) 3-star Patrick Bryant, McArthur (FL) 3-star Damien Alford, and Plantation (FL) 3-star Jacolby George. Rucker is considered the best of the bunch at current and is a national top 50 recruit. He recently decommitted from UF last month and attended UM’s spring game in April.
Athletes such as Gulliver Prep (FL) 3-star Yulkeith Brown and Miami Palmetto’s (FL) Brashard Smith could also end up as receivers and have shown preliminary interest the Canes as well.
The Team
By the time Eaford hits campus in 2021, UM will have senior receivers Brian Hightower, Evidence Njoku, Dee Wiggins, and Mark Pope, a junior Jeremiah Payton, and sophomores in Xavier Restrepo and Marcus Fleming on the roster.
With the type of talent Miami is bringing in at WR, Eaford will have to be well-prepared both mentally and physically if he wants to crack the rotation as a freshman, as the competition will be fierce for reps at WR. While it’s unclear if Stubblefield will be as rotation-heavy as his predecessor, the philosophy under Manny Diaz seems to indicate that seniority will not matter when it comes to playing time and the best players will play, so Eaford will have a shot to see the field despite an upperclassman-laden group. Miami really is just stacking blue-chips at receiver and it’s hard to say which recruit will rise to the top, but Eaford has the potential to develop into a very good player in the ACC.
