McDermott not Miami caliber? LOL That was a joke right? Kid will have offers from everyone and will be a top 100 player next year. He is already on 247's top 100. Darling is a beast as well but landed just outside the top 100. Both are studs and both will be Canes.
So he's a stud because 247 says so? John Theus was a 5* on those sites too but a lot of people (myself included) thought he was extremely overrated. If you're gonna speak condescendingly towards me at least post your own analysis. McDermott is top-heavy, bends at the waist, lacks flexibility and quickness, and he plays OG in HS. That's not a Miami caliber OL to me. Yes he's only a Soph, he's big, and he's the brother of a Cane who has great intangibles, but his highlight film is average.
I'm just sharing my opinion though. My only wish is that people like you evaluate for yourselves and stop reading those recruiting rankings uncritically.
I appreciate your take on this, and I definitely think some of your concerns and criticisms of KC are things to watch out for as he progresses over the next 2 years of HS. With that said, I'd argue that KC McDermott very much looks Miami caliber considering where he is at currently, his potential, and likely continued improvement. I see a kid that is 6'6 with a great frame, as a sophomore. To be 6'6 so young means he is likely still adapting to his new height/size and growing into his body.
You voice the fact that he plays guard for his HS as a criticism, but I think you need to contextualize it more before doing so. IMO it looks like the offense run by PBC is very run heavy (evidenced by the fact that Angelo Jean-Louis never had the stats to match his obvious talent level throughout HS). In a lot of HS run heavy offenses, the coaches will put their most talented OL at guard because of the increased responsibility with pulling, trapping, etc. McDermott pulls a lot in his tape and seems to have good feet, balance, and movement in doing so (that is all while not likely being fully grown into/adjusted to his size). IMO he looks mostly very good, yet somewhat unrefined in his run blocking. From the highlights I saw, it seemed like the most successful plays for PBC were up the middle (traps), that would also highlight the importance of the guard to this offense.
I also think PBC might simply not have the best of coaching (not fully utilizing AJL and Gabe Terry's talents IMO), which may be seen by watching both AJL and McDermott's tapes and seeing very simple plays on offense that aren't executed greatly. A lot of quick, 1 read passes and the OL not having great pass blocking technique.
With McDermott I see an OL who has great bloodlines. Both of his brothers were/are regarded as really good OL with the attitude, smarts, technique, and explosiveness, just being limited in size to different extents. I think the popular thought is that KC is a version of his brothers with the ideal size and solid athleticism. In looking at pictures and videos of him, you can see that his body has already gone through some transformation in the past year to being a leaner better built guy that is growing into his frame. You also see advancing coordination (check this video:
http://espn.go.com/college-sports/football/recruiting/player/videos/_/id/135210/kc-mcdermott)
Basically I see some of your concerns as very valid, but with full context I see reason to believe KC has awesome potential that he is in the process of realizing as well.