When Quincy Roche announced he was transferring from Temple to Miami to partner with Greg Rousseau the expectation is a great pass rush for the Hurricanes. On Tuesday the tandem was named the top two edge rushers for the 2021 NFL Draft.
Rising redshirt sophomore Greg Rousseau and Temple graduate transfer Quincy Roche are projected to be the first edge rushers taken in the 2021 NFL Draft according to rankings by CBS Sports published on Tuesday. Redshirt junior Jaelan Phillips who was the top signee nationally in 2017 will back them up.
There is no team in the country projected to have as fierce of a pass rush in 2020 as Miami. Greg Rousseau is the leading returning pass rusher in the country in 2020. As a redshirt freshman in 2019, Rousseau finished second in the country with 15.5 sacks to Heisman Trophy finalist Chase Young of Ohio State.
Greg Rousseau was the ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2019. Roche comes to Miami after being named the American Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year in 2019 with 19 tackles for loss and 13 sacks. No team in the country can boast the accomplishments of Rousseau and Roche off the edge as Miami can.
"Edge rusherGregory Rousseau, MiamiQuincy Roche, MiamiCarlos Basham Jr., Wake ForestJoe Tryon, WashingtonXavier Thomas, Clemson“Chase Young had 16.5 sacks last season. Rousseau was right behind him at 15.5. The Hurricanes are loaded at the edge rusher positions with Quincy Roche, Jaelan Phillips and Rousseau.Basham gets skinny and uses his hands well. He allows himself to get washed out of gaps too often and needs to become more consistent."
The ACC will be ripe with edge rushers in 2020. The above list shows that four of the top five edge rushers according to CBS Sports are from the ACC. The second Miami crossover game other than Florida State in 2020 is at Wake Forest on October 9. Carlos Basham Jr. had 18 TFLs and 10 sacks for the Demon Deacons in 2019.
The Miami offensive line will have their hands full with Basham in Winston-Salem. There should be plenty of trips to opposing backfields when Miami and Wake Forest meet at BB&T Field. Miami would only meet Clemson if both teams win their divisions and advance to the ACC Championship game in Charlotte in December.
Miami finished tied with ACC Coastal rival Virginia for seventh nationally with 46 sacks in 2019. The Miami program record for sacks in a season is 52 set by the 1989 Hurricanes who won the national championship. The individual record was set by Danny Stubbs with 17 in 1986. Both records should be challenged in 2020.