The returns of defensive end Jonathan Garvin and rising redshirt freshman Greg Rousseau with the addition of former Virginia Tech star defensive end Trevon Hill will give the Miami Hurricanes one of the deepest rotations at edge rusher nationally.
The Miami Hurricanes defensive line was slighted by 247Sports when the website named the “10 nastiest defensive lines in college football for 2019.” Even with the loss of five defensive linemen that were selected in the 2019 NFL Draft Clemson is ranked the fourth nastiest defensive line in college football for 2019.
The Miami Hurricanes have to replace defensive tackle Gerald Willis and end Joe Jackson from the 2018 roster. Willis is much harder to replace than Jackson. The only defensive tackle with significant experience on the Miami Hurricanes roster is rising senior Pat Bethel. Bethel shared a starting spot with Tito Odenigbo in 2018.
Clemson is the only ACC team whose front four is ranked in the top ten nationally per 247Sports. Miami led the nation last season with 10.46 tackles for loss per game. That was nearly a tackle and a half better than Clemson’s much more acclaimed front four that lost five players to the NFL after the 2019 season.
Willis was a second-team all-American in 2018 with 59 tackles, 18 TFLs and four sacks. Jonathan Garvin was just as productive on a menacing Miami front four last year. As a sophomore in his first season starting, Garvin produced 60 tackles, 17 TFLs and 5.5 sacks. Miami finished ninth nationally with 3.08 sacks per game.
The depth of the Miami Hurricanes front four is what has made them some fearsome under Manny Diaz. The Hurricanes recorded 40 sacks in 2018. Jackson led the team with 8.5. The depth is what will continue to drive the Hurricanes into opposition backfields in 2019.
Garvin, Trevon Hill, Greg Rousseau, Scott Patchan and freshman Jahfari Harvey will all make an impact. The question for the Miami defensive line in 2019 will be the production at DT. No one will be able to replace Willis. Bethel is a steady player who provides a workmanlike approach to the interior. He is not dominant like Willis.
Diaz and new defensive line coach Todd Stroud are hoping that Nesta Silvera makes a similar jump from his freshman to sophomore year that Garvin made last year. Miami also adds UCLA transfer Chigozie Nnoruka, rising redshirt freshman Jordan Miller and incoming freshman Jason Blisset who the Hurricanes staff is high on.
Hill is a force that will team well with Garvin, Rousseau and Harvey. The graduate transfer will likely start opposite Garvin at defensive end. Watch for Stroud, Diaz and co-defensive coordinators Blake Baker and Ephraim Banda to move all four defensive ends around in various formations.
Hill was dominant in three games in 2018 before being dismissed from Virginia Tech for the generic violation of team rules. He had 11 tackles, 4.5 TFLs and 3.5 sacks. Over the course of a 13 game season including a bowl game that projects to 47 tackles, 19.5 TFLs and 15 sacks.
Hill would have been second on Miami In TFLs and doubled Jackson’s sack total over the course of a whole season. If Hill gets even two-thirds of the amount of TFLs and sacks per game with the Hurricanes in 2019 than he did with the Hokies in 2018, Miami will finish the season with one of the nation’s top five nastiest defensive lines.