The Miami Hurricanes lost a valuable member of the 2020 recruiting class when four-star guard Jonathan Denis de-committed on Wednesday morning. Denis made his announcement on his Twitter account.
Denis is 6’3 270 pounds and the 11th ranked guard in the Class of 2020 per the 247Sports Composite. He is graded out at .8969 by 247. That put Denis 11th out of 12 commits in the Miami Hurricanes Class of 2020 before he decided to re-open his recruitment.
Denis’ decision leaves Miami without an offensive lineman committed for 2020. The Hurricanes 2020 class is currently ranked first in the country. Miami’s commits have an average ranking of .9264.
Denis ranks 312th overall nationally and is the 53rd ranked player in Florida. Denis has 14 months to go before he can sign his letter of intent. There is still plenty of time for him to recommit to play for Miami.
Please Respect my Decision🙏🏾have a blessed Day pic.twitter.com/8LSA5kpkYm
— Tow Truck❗️ (@jdenis658) October 17, 2018
By the fall of 2020, Navaughn Donaldson should be a Senior (if he doesn’t leave for the NFL following his Junior season in 2019) and Cleveland Reed will be a Junior. They will be the likely starting guards in two years. Most of the offensive lineman currently on the Miami Hurricanes roster should be there in 2020.
Miami only has two offensive linemen committed for the Class of 2019. Four-star offensive tackle Michael Tarquin is the 28th ranked player at his position for the upcoming signing class. Three-star guard Kingsley Eguakun is the 33rd ranked guard in the 2019 Class.
| Player | Class | Pos | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Navaughn Donaldson | SO | OL | 6’6 350 |
| Corey Gaynor | SO | OL | 6’4 285 |
| Venzell Boulware | JR | OL | 6’3 306 |
| George Brown Jr. | JR | OL | 6’7 300 |
| John Campbell Jr. | FR | OL | 6’5 310 |
| Zach Dykstra | FR | OL | 6’6 300 |
| Tyler Gauthier | SR | OL | 6’5 305 |
| Devin Golden | FR | OL | 6’2 280 |
| Jared Griffith | FR | OL | 6’3 305 |
| Kai-Leon Herbert | SO | OL | 6’5 285 |
| Zalon’Tae Hillery | SO | OL | 6’6 287 |
| Jahair Jones | SR | OL | 6’4 316 |
| Zachary Lerman | FR | OL | 6’2 296 |
| Hayden Mahoney | JR | OL | 6’5 295 |
| Bar Milo | JR | OL | 6’6 298 |
| Cleveland Reed Jr. | FR | OL | 6’3 325 |
| DJ Scaife Jr. | FR | OL | 6’3 300 |
| Tyree St. Louis | SR | OL | 6’5 305 |
Provided by CFB at Sports Reference: View Original Table, Heights and weights courtesy of ESPN.Com.
Generated 10/17/2018.
The Miami offensive line has been the biggest issue of concern from Mark Richt, Offensive Coordinator Thomas Brown and Offensive Line Coach Stacy Searles since they arrived in Coral Gables for the 2016 season.
Several offensive linemen have not lived up to their potential and that has hindered the offense overall. Miami is 88th in the country with 16 sacks allowed this season. The Hurricanes have allowed 40 tackles for loss to rank 81st in that category.
Against FBS opponents Miami is 54th in yards per carry against FBS opponents at 4.4 rushing yards per carry. That number dips to 3.94 YPC and 60th against Power Five opponents. The Hurricanes 140.75 rushing yards per game against Power Five opponents is 64rd against Power Five teams
All of those numbers have a lot to do with the offensive line. Until the Hurricanes can upgrade the big uglies the offense will likely continue to struggle.