Miami Hurricanes safety depth chart will be extremely deep
Safety will be one of the deepest positions for the Miami Hurricanes in 2020. Bubba Bolden and Gurvan Hall who have been the primary starters at safety with Amari Carter the last two seasons return. Carter has moved to striker partly because of the depth Miami has at safety and his skills fit well there.
Bolden led Miami with 74 tackles in 2020 and added 6.5 tackles for loss, 1.0 sack, three pass breakups and four fumble recoveries. Hall had 43 tackles, 1.5 TFLs and three pass breakups. Bolden has played 15 games with 10 starts the last two seasons for Miami. Hall has started 14 times in 36 games in the last three years.
In addition to Carter moving to striker, Jalen Harrell moved from safety to cornerback to add depth. Behind Bolden and Hall, Miami has Brian Balom, Keshawn Washington, Avantae Wiliams and 2021 signees Kamren Kinchens and James Williams. Balom had 10 tackles as the third safety in the 2020 Miami rotation.
With Avantae Williams healthy after sitting out his true freshman season in 2020 and five-star James Williams added to the roster, Balom will be challenged to be the third safety in the Miami rotation behind Bolden and Hall with Carter moved to safety. The Hurricanes are deep if mostly inexperienced at safety.
The future for Miami is bright at safety. Bolden is likely to move on to the NFL after the 2021 season. Bolden is projected as a first or second-day pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. Hall will have the option to leave for the NFL after 2021. Avantae and James Williams would potentially give Miami one of the best safety tandems nationally.
With a mostly young safety corps, Miami probably only needs to sign one or two for 2022. The Hurricanes have offered 24 safeties for 2022. Avantae Williams will be eligible for the 2023 NFL Draft. Balom and Washington will likely be on the Miami football roster with James Williams and Kinchens for the next few years.