Miami Hurricanes offensive line outlook with Jalen Rivers out for season
Miami Hurricanes Head coach Manny Diaz stated to reporters on Wednesday that starting left guard Jalen Rivers is out for the remainder of the season. The loss of Rivers significantly hinders an offensive line that has struggled through the first three games of the 2021 season. Rivers has been the best Miami OL this season.
Rivers has had an operation on his leg that will keep him out for the season. He is expected to be ready for spring. The Miami OL will start a different lineup for the fourth consecutive game to begin the season. Rivers is listed as the starting LG on the depth chart for Saturday’s game against Central Connecticut State.
Ousman Traore is listed as the backup to Rivers. The starting OL on Saturday will likely evolve in the next few days of practice before Saturday. Fifth-year senior Navaughn Donaldson played 79 snaps at LG last Saturday against Michigan State. Rivers played 14 snaps before suffering the injury.
The Miami Hurricanes have other options on the OL. After announcing last week that Jakai Clark would redshirt this season, Miami could choose to start him at LG for the remainder of the season. That would depend on Clark being recovered from a car accident that caused him to miss training camp and the beginning of the season.
Canes HC Manny Diaz shares also that OL Jalen Rivers is out for the year with a knee injury. He is expected back in the spring.
— Christy Chirinos (@ChristyChirinos) September 22, 2021
Clark started 10 games last season at LG and 11 in 2019 at RG. Miami could also choose to move Clark inside and replace starter Corey Gaynor at center. Clark is the heir apparent to Gaynor at center. Zion Nelson at LT, Donaldson at RG and Justice Oluwaseun at right tackle are listed as the other Miami starters on the OL.
Next. Future OL with plans to redshirt Jakai Clark. dark
Fourth-year junior D.J. Scaife is listed as the backup to Oluwaseun but could move inside to replace Rivers. The loss of Rivers hurts an OL already missing multi-year contributor John Campbell who is out for the season. The late addition of Oluwaseun as a transfer from UNLV has become more important with the loss of Rivers.