Miami Football Surge ’19 recruiting class is not “screwed”

Wharton discussed the past year for Miami below. He mentions the losses off the 2018 roster, Mark Richt’s resignation and the recruiting class that Diaz inherited.

"“There may not have been a team with a rougher year than the Miami Hurricanes. The Mark Richt era failed miserably as he couldn’t identify a quality quarterback to build an offense around, and their recruiting class dipped from eighth to 36th this year. New head coach Manny Diaz looks like a progressive hire who could be the breath of fresh air they have needed for years. Unfortunately, Diaz walked back into a situation he helped create as far as a cooled recruiting class. The Hurricanes finished sixth in the ACC with a mediocre .877 rating per recruit. Barring the unexpected emergence of transcendent playmakers from this class, this cannot be the new normal for Diaz and the Hurricanes. With the loss of seven starters to graduation on top of the coaching change, there’s playing time to be earned by this freshman class. The injection of defensive talent looks healthy, but there are still roles that weren’t addressed. Adding two 3-star offensive tackles, a 3-star quarterback and just one 4-star receiver to an anemic offense won’t be enough to rebuild around in 2019 and beyond. It’s possible none of these players plays an integral role in the future. The Hurricanes may return to prominence eventually, but this class won’t help them reach it.”"

There was a lot left out by Wharton. The three-star quarterback that Wharton mentions is the recently committed Peyton Matocha. The likelihood is that Matocha is just a player to add depth at a position that badly needs it. It fails to mention the addition of Martell who could be a transcendent player for the Hurricanes.

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Martell was the 56th ranked player in the country and the number two dual-threat QB in the Class of 2017. He redshirted as a True Freshman at Ohio State in 2017. Martell received limited playing time in 2018 as Heisman Trophy finalist Dwayne Haskins’ backup.

Going by the 2019 rankings, Martell would be third best dual-threat QB. He is a major addition to the Miami football roster not being accounted for.

Losing seven starters to graduation is not a huge number. The Hurricanes return the all Rising Senior linebacking corps of Shaq Quarterman, Michael Pinckney and Zach McCloud. Miami has to rebuild the secondary and replacing Gerald Willis at defensive tackle will be impossible. Nnoruka adds stability upfront on the defensive interior.

The offensive line is definitely a concern. Class of 2017 signees Kai-Leon Herbert and Zalon’tae Hillery have not developed as much as their four-star recruiting status would indicate they would have. Richt always preached patience. He was full of hyperbole though. Richt would always say that his offense worked in the past.