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Offseason Additions: Avantae Williams (2020 signee), Brian Balom (2020 signee), Keshawn Washington (2020 signee), Jalen Harrell (2020 signee)
Offseason Departures: Robert Knowles (Graduation), Keontra Smith (Moved to striker)
When the summertime hits and fans get locked into endless “Position U” debates, the Hurricanes usually get brought up quite a bit. While they have a stake at #1 in many spots on the field based on their successes from the 80's through the 2000's, the Canes have been more successful recently keeping their safety heritage alive than any other position. Miami will have six safeties on NFL rosters next season, which is more NFL-ers than they will have at any other spot. While none of those guys are world beaters like in the days of Ed Reed or Darryl Williams, the consistency of the position could soon give way to more high level talent with the current roster.
Ephraim Banda’s greatest success as a position coach came with the pairing of Jaquan Johnson and Sheldrick Redwine, who played so well together that a lot of would-be mistakes by the guys up front were quickly erased. It’s no question that Miami took a step back in that department last year while younger and less experienced safeties tried to step into the roles vacated by those two pros. Robert Knowles was the most veteran member of the corps, and, while he was much maligned throughout his Cane career, he did have some positive moments in 2019 before he graduated.
The obvious bright side of losing just one man at the position is that most of the main contributors are a year older and more experienced in the program. Amari Carter is the lone senior returning with 38 games played and 7 starts on his resume. Carter’s physicality has often made fans wishful that a move to LB or Striker was in the cards for him, but like with Knowles, the staff probably prefers his experience back at safety. He paired decently well with junior Gurvan Hall, but the growing pains for each as individuals and as a pair were obvious.
Hall came to Miami with a lot of hype and he has flashed tremendous natural ability, but he made his share of mistakes while he adjusted to being a legitimate starter. While he does a great job at finding his way to the ball-carrier when the latter gets through the first and second levels, Hall does have a tendency to take poor angles in coverage and no doubt felt the pressure of losing all those starters in the secondary as much as anyone. Obviously, as a true sophomore last year being thrown into the mix with another new starter, mistakes from Hall were expected, so one can imagine the staff still being excited to see the progress he’s made coming into his third season.
Last year’s wild card, Bubba Bolden, is probably the safety room’s biggest reason for excitement in 2020. While he had a very short introduction to Miami last year, playing just five games after sitting out the beginning of the year due to transfer issues and before getting a freak ankle injury vs. FSU, Bolden flashed both the physical and mental skills to become the best safety Miami has had in some time. He’s a willing tackler who isn’t afraid to come up and make a play, but he also has the best range of the three battling for starting spots. He should not only be able to take one of those jobs, but also elevate whoever finds himself slotted next to him.
With the move to striker of Keontra Smith, those three are the only Canes with any game action at the position, but they certainly won’t be the only safeties to see the field next year. We’ll see how the staff wants to divy up time among the four incoming safety signees, but there is no question about who the first one to get his shot will be.
Avantae Williams is one of the biggest surprise pickups in recent Miami recruiting history, and he will no doubt be a major factor in 2020. Tae’s versatile skillset could place him back as one of the main two safeties or up playing more of a nickel corner role, depending on where the needs of the secondary are. Not to overhype the youngster, but he’s the type of player who wins a job early and never gives it back, so the experienced guys in the room should be on notice.
Williams is joined in the class by Jalen Harrell, Keshawn Washington, and Brian Balom. Harrell was a later addition to the group, verballing less than a month before the early signing period. His size and potential to add a lot of good weight to his frame stand out immediately, and has many thinking a move to striker could be in the mix down the line. Getting him up close to the LOS to battle athletic TE's in coverage seems to be a good long term role for him.
Washington was a long time commit who has the versatility to play a number of different roles for Miami. In an interview with CIS last year, his HS coach said Keshawn could play any role in the back 7, but a year getting his body ready for the college game would likely serve him best.
Brian Balom is an interesting case because his play at Paradise Camp is largely what garnered him the attention of the staff. While the recruiting sites underplayed that success, there are more than a few people who think he’s one of the guys in the 2020 class who could far outperform his rankings. He likely won’t be needed to get any extended run in 2020, but if he continues to show out on the fields at UM as he did against some of the state’s best talent last year at Paradise, he could climb above Harrell and Washington for time.
Bottom Line
Having three players who have been in the fire is a great thing for Miami, even though each guy certainly has his own questions that he needs to answer for the safety position to be the strength that it can be in 2020. There’s no question that having a strong pairing on the back end has been one of the biggest reasons that Miami defenses have excelled over the past four decades, dating all the way back to Marion and Jefferson the early 80's.
If Bolden can emerge as the leader of the secondary, Hall should be able to get more comfortable, as he looked last year when Bolden was on the field. That would also allow UM to use Carter as a more versatile piece of the defensive puzzle as he was in his first two seasons. No doubt also that Avantae Williams will see significant action, though exactly where that will be on the field is something that will likely depend on the needs that develop throughout the season.
Offseason Departures: Robert Knowles (Graduation), Keontra Smith (Moved to striker)
When the summertime hits and fans get locked into endless “Position U” debates, the Hurricanes usually get brought up quite a bit. While they have a stake at #1 in many spots on the field based on their successes from the 80's through the 2000's, the Canes have been more successful recently keeping their safety heritage alive than any other position. Miami will have six safeties on NFL rosters next season, which is more NFL-ers than they will have at any other spot. While none of those guys are world beaters like in the days of Ed Reed or Darryl Williams, the consistency of the position could soon give way to more high level talent with the current roster.
Ephraim Banda’s greatest success as a position coach came with the pairing of Jaquan Johnson and Sheldrick Redwine, who played so well together that a lot of would-be mistakes by the guys up front were quickly erased. It’s no question that Miami took a step back in that department last year while younger and less experienced safeties tried to step into the roles vacated by those two pros. Robert Knowles was the most veteran member of the corps, and, while he was much maligned throughout his Cane career, he did have some positive moments in 2019 before he graduated.
The obvious bright side of losing just one man at the position is that most of the main contributors are a year older and more experienced in the program. Amari Carter is the lone senior returning with 38 games played and 7 starts on his resume. Carter’s physicality has often made fans wishful that a move to LB or Striker was in the cards for him, but like with Knowles, the staff probably prefers his experience back at safety. He paired decently well with junior Gurvan Hall, but the growing pains for each as individuals and as a pair were obvious.
Hall came to Miami with a lot of hype and he has flashed tremendous natural ability, but he made his share of mistakes while he adjusted to being a legitimate starter. While he does a great job at finding his way to the ball-carrier when the latter gets through the first and second levels, Hall does have a tendency to take poor angles in coverage and no doubt felt the pressure of losing all those starters in the secondary as much as anyone. Obviously, as a true sophomore last year being thrown into the mix with another new starter, mistakes from Hall were expected, so one can imagine the staff still being excited to see the progress he’s made coming into his third season.
Last year’s wild card, Bubba Bolden, is probably the safety room’s biggest reason for excitement in 2020. While he had a very short introduction to Miami last year, playing just five games after sitting out the beginning of the year due to transfer issues and before getting a freak ankle injury vs. FSU, Bolden flashed both the physical and mental skills to become the best safety Miami has had in some time. He’s a willing tackler who isn’t afraid to come up and make a play, but he also has the best range of the three battling for starting spots. He should not only be able to take one of those jobs, but also elevate whoever finds himself slotted next to him.
With the move to striker of Keontra Smith, those three are the only Canes with any game action at the position, but they certainly won’t be the only safeties to see the field next year. We’ll see how the staff wants to divy up time among the four incoming safety signees, but there is no question about who the first one to get his shot will be.
Avantae Williams is one of the biggest surprise pickups in recent Miami recruiting history, and he will no doubt be a major factor in 2020. Tae’s versatile skillset could place him back as one of the main two safeties or up playing more of a nickel corner role, depending on where the needs of the secondary are. Not to overhype the youngster, but he’s the type of player who wins a job early and never gives it back, so the experienced guys in the room should be on notice.
Williams is joined in the class by Jalen Harrell, Keshawn Washington, and Brian Balom. Harrell was a later addition to the group, verballing less than a month before the early signing period. His size and potential to add a lot of good weight to his frame stand out immediately, and has many thinking a move to striker could be in the mix down the line. Getting him up close to the LOS to battle athletic TE's in coverage seems to be a good long term role for him.
Washington was a long time commit who has the versatility to play a number of different roles for Miami. In an interview with CIS last year, his HS coach said Keshawn could play any role in the back 7, but a year getting his body ready for the college game would likely serve him best.
Brian Balom is an interesting case because his play at Paradise Camp is largely what garnered him the attention of the staff. While the recruiting sites underplayed that success, there are more than a few people who think he’s one of the guys in the 2020 class who could far outperform his rankings. He likely won’t be needed to get any extended run in 2020, but if he continues to show out on the fields at UM as he did against some of the state’s best talent last year at Paradise, he could climb above Harrell and Washington for time.
Bottom Line
Having three players who have been in the fire is a great thing for Miami, even though each guy certainly has his own questions that he needs to answer for the safety position to be the strength that it can be in 2020. There’s no question that having a strong pairing on the back end has been one of the biggest reasons that Miami defenses have excelled over the past four decades, dating all the way back to Marion and Jefferson the early 80's.
If Bolden can emerge as the leader of the secondary, Hall should be able to get more comfortable, as he looked last year when Bolden was on the field. That would also allow UM to use Carter as a more versatile piece of the defensive puzzle as he was in his first two seasons. No doubt also that Avantae Williams will see significant action, though exactly where that will be on the field is something that will likely depend on the needs that develop throughout the season.
