Miami Hurricanes wide receiver Braxton Berrios, kicker Michael Badgley and defensive end Chad Thomas are taking part in the Senior Bowl this week in Mobile, Alabama.
This is the second week in a row that Thomas is participating in a talent showcase all-star game. He played in the East-West Shrine game in St. Petersburg last week. Thomas became the third Miami Hurricanes player invited to Mobile with a late invitation.
Berrios and Thomas were both profiled as players to watch in the Orange Bowl by Pro Football Focus in their preview of the game. Berrios had a breakout season as a Senior for Miami. He led the Hurricanes in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns. Berrios set career highs with 55 receptions for 679 yards and nine touchdowns.
Thomas led Miami with 12.5 tackles for loss and had 4.5 sacks. Thomas also contributed a career high with 41 tackles. His TFLs and sacks also set career highs. Badgley is listed as the third-best prospect at kicker for 2018 by Walter Football. He holds the Miami school records for field goals made and attempted and points scored.
Braxton Berrios from the slot was a force this past season pic.twitter.com/38f4BDjyco
— PFF College (@PFF_College) January 23, 2018
PFF’s draft profile of Berrios for the Orange Bowl said:
"“Berrios was extremely efficient as a receiver for Rosier and the Hurricanes offense, hauling in 52-of-79 targets for 635 yards and nine touchdowns, while no pass targeted his way was intercepted. All told, he saw a 128.4 passer rating when targeted, or 19th-highest among all draft-eligible receivers with at least 41 targets. He was extremely valuable as a slot receiver, running 97.1 percent of his routes from an inside alignment. From there, he brought in all his receptions, yards and touchdowns, while his nine touchdowns led all draft-eligible receivers in terms of touchdowns from the slot.”"
Thomas’ stock is rising after a solid performance at the East-West Shrine game last week. PFF also profiled the promising future music producer.
"“A vastly-improved all around player, Thomas improved his run defense and pass-rushing in 2017 to the tune of career-highs in pressures, total tackles and run stops, while limiting his missed tackles. For the third consecutive year, Thomas accumulated at least 26 QB pressures, however this year, he made them count more than he had previously. He tallied 11 total pressures that brought the quarterback to the ground, by means of five sacks and six QB hits while recording multiple pressures in 9-of-12 games. He picked the best possible year to have a breakout season, as the 6-foot-6, 275-pound senior will almost certainly hear talk of his name heat up as we close in on draft time.”"
Thomas showed well in practice earlier today. In the instance below he had no trouble beating the offensive lineman.
The Mark Richt era is starting to take hold. Getting players in the NFL will help future recruiting classes. Nine Miami Hurricanes were drafted in 2017. Tight end David Njoku was the only UM player selected in the first two days. He went in the first round to the Cleveland Browns. The Browns traded back into the first round to get him.
Next: Three marquee matchups for Miami Hurricanes in 2018
While there is not likely to be a first-round pick from Miami in this year’s draft, the Hurricanes should eclipse last year’s total of just one player selected in the first two days of the draft.