Miami Hurricanes position battles to monitor other than QB

Replacing Gerald Willis at defensive tackle

The departure of Gerald Willis at defensive tackle leaves a huge hole in the middle of the Miami Hurricanes defense. Willis was an unstoppable force in 2018. He finished the season with 59 tackles, 18 tackles for loss, four sacks, two pass breakups and a fumble recovery. Willis missed the Pinstripe Bowl with an injury.

In 12 games last season Willis was 13th in the country averaging 1.5 TFLs per game. Pat Bethel gave Miami a steady presence next to Willis in 2018 and is back for his senior year. Junior Jon Ford, sophomore Nesta Silvera and graduate senior Chigozie Nnoruka will rotate with Bethel at defensive tackle.

It might not matter who starts. The snaps are likely to be somewhat even. Silvera had a somewhat productive freshman season. He finished with 13 tackles and 1.5 TFLs. At 6’4, 300 pounds Ford is a physical presence who the light has finally seemed to go on for this spring. He was dominant against the Miami offensive line.

Ford played 153 snaps in 2018 to Silvera’s 101. Ford finished the 2018 season with eight tackles and two TFLs. Something clicked for him during the offseason and in spring practice. Diaz spoke about his changed mentality to Manny Navarro of The Athletic.

"“He just didn’t have that mentality to dominate and then one day the bell rings and the guy realizes, why am I letting these people block me? Jon just became a disruptive force (this spring). To see him be able to do that has been really outstanding.”"

Ford could be ready to springboard his dominance from practice to games in 2019. Willis did not put it all together until 2018 when he was named a second-team All-American.

The rotation of Bethel, Nnoruka, Ford and Silvera give Miami a good rotation at defensive tackle in 2019. It will be Nnoruka’s experience against Ford and Silvera’s talent.