The Miami Hurricanes Athletic Department announced on Wednesday morning that Junior tight end Michael Irvin II will miss up to four months after tearing the MCL in his knee. That would likely keep him out until at least the ACC Championship game.
Irvin is a Junior from St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale. He is the son of Miami Hurricanes legend Michael Irvin Sr. Irvin still has a redshirt season to use if Irvin and the Miami football staff chose to go that route.
Irvin played in 12 games in 2017, starting three of them. He caught nine passes for 78 yards as a Sophomore last season. Irvin was the only tight end on the Miami Hurricanes roster with a pass reception in his collegiate career.
Irvin was first on the Miami Hurricanes depth chart at tight end as practice began on Saturday. Irvin was in a battle to be the starting tight end with Freshmen Brevin Jordan and Will Mallory. Many expected both Freshmen to pass Irvin on the depth chart by the time the Hurricanes play LSU September 2.
Depth chart on the first day of fall camp for @CanesFootball: pic.twitter.com/r7sKwULn68
— Josh White (@_JoshRWhite) August 4, 2018
Jordan is the nation’s top tight end in the Class of 2018 and Mallory eighth in the 247 Sports composite recruiting rankings. They will now be counted on a lot more than they would have with Irvin healthy. The Hurricanes also have Sophomore tight end Brian Polendey on the roster.
Polendey played in six games as a Freshmen in 2017, mostly on special teams. He was regarded as primarily as a blocker coming out of high school. Polendey had been running with the Hurricanes second-team offense through the first four days of training camp. He was the nation’s 20th ranked tight end in 2017.
Irvin’s injury impacts the Miami depth at tight end more than it does the Hurricanes counting on him to be a big part of the offense this season. Irvin’s surgery will be conducted later this week at the UHealth Sports Medicine Institute at The Lennar Foundation Medical Center. He is expected to have a full recovery.
Know obviously, Brevin Jordan and Will Mallory arrived here with high expectations and the thought was that they'd likely pass Irvin on the depth chart, but, can't help but feel for Irvin. Camp injuries are lousy. The absolute worst. Something like that even before a game? Ugh.
— Christy Chirinos (@ChristyChirinos) August 8, 2018
This appeared to be a make or break season for Irvin as a Junior. Some thought that he failed to live up to expectations during his first two seasons with the Miami Hurricanes.
Jordan and Mallory have impressed early during training camp. Miami Offensive Coordinator Thomas Brown was quoted by Christy Cabrera Chirinos of the Sun Sentinel on Tuesday discussing his star Freshmen.
"“Brevin Jordan [and] Will Mallory are going to be really good for us, I think. Those guys are rotating and playing a bunch for us…Still got to learn what to do and got to grow up in a hurry, but they have flashes of some great plays."
This marks the second consecutive season that Miami will be short of depth at tight end. Last season Scott Patchan was moved from the defensive line to help out at tight end. Patchan moved back to defense for the 2018 season.
Before they earned playing time Jordan and Mallory were expected to learn the playbook and become reliable blockers in the running game according to Andrew Ivins of Inside the U. Now the Miami Hurricanes likely have no choice but to play Jordan and Mallory early.
Jordan and Mallory both provide the Hurricanes with a dynamic player in the passing game up the middle of the field. At tight end U that is expected. David Njoku became a first-round pick after an excellent 2016 season. Chris Herndon IV was a third-round pick in May and Miami’s second-leading receiver in 2017.