Will Mallory’s freshman season for the Miami football team was mostly plagued by injuries. Except for an impactful performance in a win at Virginia Tech, Mallory did not have the season many expected of him in 2018.
Will Mallory signed with the Miami football program coming from one of college football’s royal families. Mallory’s grandfather Bill was a Division I-A (now FBS) head coach for 27 years. His father Mike and uncles Curt and Doug are all former players and currently coaching football.
Mallory was one of the top tight ends in the 2018 class. The four-star signee was the 211th ranked player overall, the eighth-ranked tight end and 37th player in Florida in the 247Sports composite rankings. Now healthy and in a new offense, Mallory and Brevin Jordan are expected to cause Miami opponents matchup problems.
Mallory and Jordan are expected to be too big for defensive backs and too fast for linebackers to cover. The Hurricanes should improve significantly in the red zone with Mallory and Jordan in the game together. Rising redshirt junior Michael Irvin II is also projected to play a role at tight end in the Miami offense in 2019.
Jordan suffered an injury that sidelined him for most of spring football. That gave Mallory and Irvin chances to show they are able to step up to the first team offense and perform. Both caught touchdowns in the spring game in Orlando. Mallory spoke to the media after the game.
Miami head coach Manny Diaz us excited about the versatility that Mallory will bring to the Miami offense this fall. Diaz discussed the matchup problems that Mallory will cause for opponents.
"“Will Mallory’s just a matchup nightmare,…I mean, he’s so tall, he’s got such a humongous catch radius, great hands. Even the touchdown he caught in the red zone (in the spring game), I mean, you can be in good coverage and the quarterback can just throw it because there’s just such a large radius to throw at.”"
At 6’5 207 pounds there are not many linebackers or defensive backs who will be able to match Mallory’s height. The majority of linebackers will not come close to his athletism either. Mallory and Jordan can have a similar impact on the Hurricanes offense to what David Njoku and Chris Herndon did at tight end in 2016.
Njoku and Herndon combined for 71 receptions for 1.032 yards and ten touchdowns as Miami went 9-4 in Mark Richt’s first season at his alma mater. The Hurricanes won their first bowl game in ten years following the 2016 season with a 31-14 victory over West Virginia in the Camping World Bowl.
Herndon and Njoku showed that having two tight ends that are tough to match up with can put a strain on the defense of a quality opponent. The current NFL players part of the lore at tight end U combined for eight receptions for 82 yards and a touchdown in the victory over the Mountaineers.
New Miami offensive coordinator Dan Enos has had success with tight ends throughout his coaching career. The most notable tight end he mentored was current Los Angeles Charger Hunter Henry. Expect Mallory and Jordan to become the latest star tight ends to produce big numbers for the Hurricanes.