ESPN ranks Miami Hurricanes offense one of 25 best in FBS

Coming off an abysmal season offensively the Miami Hurricanes have an entirely new coaching staff on that side of the ball. Manny Diaz took over as head coach and hired Dan Enos to fix the Miami football team’s offensive woes that have plagued them in the past few years.

ESPN writer Adam Rittenberg recently released a ranking of the “Future Offensive Power Rankings.” The Miami Hurricanes led by Enos surprisingly sneaked inside the top 25 with the last spot on the board. The Hurricanes have a lot of talent at running back, wide receiver and tight end.

The issue with how good Miami’s offense can is the level of play at quarterback and on the offensive line. Both of those areas have been issues for the Hurricanes over the past two to three seasons. Miami received excellent play at QB from Brad Kaaya in 2016. Since he left for the NFL the UM signal callers have been erratic.

The offensive line has struggled for the last three seasons. Virginia Tech sacked Kaaya eight times in a dominant victory in 2016. The last two-plus seasons Miami has had erratic play up front on offense. Miami has not had an offensive lineman selected in the first round of the NFL draft since Ereck Flowers in 2015.

The return of several players at running back, tight end and wide receiver give Miami a good place to start on offense in 2019. DeeJay Dallas and Cam Harris at running back, Jeff Thomas and Mike Harley at wide receiver and Brevin Jordan at tight end all showed flashes the last season or two of being key contributors.

Graduate transfer wide receiver K.J. Osborn from Buffalo is primed to be Miami’s leading receiver in 2019. After injury-plagued seasons as freshmen, running back Lorenzo Lingard and tight Will Mallory are ready to bounce back and live up to the hype they had coming out of high school.

Rittenberg likes the long-term potential of the Miami Hurricanes offense. The projection is three years out. Enos was able to work with Tua Tagovailoa and Jalen Hurts and have them improve in his one season as the quarterbacks’ coach at Alabama. The Crimson Tide also had an elite offensive line to protect them.

Ultimately, not surprisingly, the play of the skill positions other than QB is why Miami was given a top 25 ranking on offense. Coupled with those players is the long term projections for the Hurricanes offense led by Enos.

"“25. Miami Hurricanes2019 future QB ranking: 242018 future offense ranking: 17Scouting the Hurricanes: I considered several teams for the final spot — Iowa State and Memphis included — but ultimately went with Miami, which has a better three-year outlook than an immediate one.The unit clearly needs an upgrade but should get one both with coaching — Dan Enos is a proven playcaller and quarterback developer — and overall talent.Redshirt sophomore quarterback N’Kosi Perry showed improvement this spring, and Miami has options with Ohio State transfer Tate Martell and redshirt freshman Jarren Williams.Wide receiver looks strong with junior Jeff Thomas staying put, Buffalo transfer K.J. Osborn and junior Mike Harley. Sophomore tight end Brevin Jordan comes off of a 32-catch season.DeeJay Dallas, who averaged 5.7 yards per carry in 2018, could lead the rushing attack along with Auburn transfer Asa Martin and sophomores Cam’ron Harris and Lorenzo Lingard.The line remains murky but, like the rest of the unit, should improve by Year 2 of this projection.”"

The Miami passing attack should improve in 2019 with Enos installing his more modern system than the pro-style attack preferred by former head coach and offensive play-caller Mark Richt. Adding the experience of Osborn and the maturation of Thomas, Harley and Jordan are also important.

The improvement of the Miami Hurricanes offense in 2019 and beyond is ultimately going to come down to the play at QB and on the offensive line. Miami has had the skill positions players to succeed over the past few seasons. The failure at those critical positions is why Miami’s offense has been so erratic.