The Work 11-19

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Peter Ariz

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**The strength of Miami’s class right now is on the offensive line, and I feel very confident in saying that Miami will land Jalen Merrick of New Smyrna Beach as well. The Canes hold a strong lead right now for him and it is only a matter a time before he makes his announcement.

**2016 LB Zach McCloud is a big get for Miami before he blows up. He is a long, rangy athlete with plenty of versatility and the Canes are piling up quite the linebacker class between McCloud, Shaq Quarterman, and Mike Pinckney. Miami is absolutely fired up about his commitment.

**Miami felt like Shavar Manuel’s trip over the weekend was very successful. Manuel has a high interest in the Canes, but FSU will be tough to beat here. The 5-star 2016 DE was in town for the game on Saturday night and on Sunday he was shown around campus.

**2016 Columbus RB Ivan Smith (5-11, 185) has emerged onto the scene this season as an elite prospect. His size/speed combo is exactly what you look for at the position. Smith is a kid who many around Columbus have talked about over the past two years, but he has gotten his chance to shine with Amir Rasul transferring to Coral Gables and Oshton Armstrong graduating. The Explorers face Gables this week in a regional semifinal matchup.

**Florida’s firing of Will Muschamp further increases the Canes’ chances at Tim Irvin. Irvin was in Gainesville last weekend for his official visit and a source said that in a face-to-face conversation on Sunday morning, Muschamp told Irvin that he had been fired. The only chance UF has with him now is if Travaris Robinson is retained by the new coach, which is possible. Even if that were to happen, Miami is in good shape.

**Miami will need to fight to keep Michael Jackson’s commitment down the stretch. He is a legit 6-1, 200-pound corner who ran very well at Miami’s camp. The Canes thought it was the best camp workout they have seen besides P.J.Williams. His toughness is also an asset.

**I’m heading to Booker T. Washington practice tomorrow to catch-up with Antonio Calloway, Davante Davis, and others. The Tornadoes face Glades Central on Friday at 7:30 at Traz Powell. I will be calling the game on 560 WQAM alongside Wesley Carroll.

**Also, be on the lookout for a new weekly article I will be writing with Basketball team notes/rumors. It will be like The Work, but a basketball edition.
 
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**Miami will need to fight to keep Michael Jackson’s commitment down the stretch. He is a legit 6-1, 200-pound corner who ran very well at Miami’s camp. The Canes thought it was the best camp workout they have seen besides P.J.Williams. His toughness is also an asset.

i guess we did take his commitment...
 
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The only thing I gathered from this was that Michael Jackson's commitment was accepted by us.

- informed you of a future commitment from Jalen Merrick

- Assured the looming possibility that Tim Irvin looks likely for Miami

Which is great news, but no one here really thought that Michael Jackson's commitment was real, which is a little more shocking.
 
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Merrick would be huge...Besides Milo and St. Louis everyone else is JAG..

To be fair, everyone though Gadbois and Linder were JAGs too and they have both worked out so far. This staff drives me nuts with a lot of their **** but they have earned a little benefit of the doubt on the OL.
 
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Much appreciated as always, Pete. Thanks.

Excellent news on Merrick. An OL class consisting of Merrick, Milo, and St. Louis would be pretty dam good. Not a fan of the other OL commits, but those three project as future starters.

There was a thread recently started about Ivan Smith here. Didn't realize he was up to 185 pounds. Sounds like Rasul, McIntosh, and Smith should be prime RB targets for 2016. Hope we land 2 of them.

Surprising to hear that we accepted Michael Jackson's commitment.
 
Well if we pull Merrick I would expect us to drop 1 or 2 of the committed OL.

Going into next year I would think this would be the projected starting OL: Gadbois, McDermott, Linder, Isadora, Darling. That is 1 JR, 3 SO, 1 FR (depending if McDermott gets his medical).

That is a pretty young OL. Granted we only have Gall, Odogwu, Brown behind them but not sure their is a need for 7 OL. I always believe in stop piling OL and DL but not if that means not taking a better player at another position.
 
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