Miami football tough battle as finalist for 5-star OT Josh Conerly Jr.

The Miami football team faces a tough battle for five-star offensive tackle Josh Conerly after being named as a finalist on Monday. Miami did not offer Conerly until December 13. That was a week after Mario Cristobal was hired as head coach. Michigan, Oklahoma, Oregon, USC and Washington are the other finalists.

The two most recent crystal balls from 247 Sports for Conerly project Michigan as the leader. Michigan and Washington are tied in the Rivals.Com future cast for Conerly. Miami does not have a commitment from an OL in the Class of 2022. The Hurricanes will have a visit from Virginia transfer OT Ryan Swoboda on January 14.

Cristobal and new offensive line coach Alex Mirabal are making it a priority to increase the physicality of the Miami football program throughout the roster. Conerly is not making a decision until after he completes his visits in March. The only official visit that Conerly took was to Michigan in September.

Conerly is the 23rd ranked player, third OT and number one in Washington in the Class of 2022. Miami would move from 48th to 35th in the current rankings if Conerly was in their class. Cristobal and Mirabal have a lot of work to do to get Conerly to travel 3,300 miles to attend college.

The previous staff did a good job recruiting but were seldom able to sign elite offensive linemen. Oregon signed top 50 player and top 10 OL Kingsley Suamataia in the Class of 2021. Suamataia transferred to BYU after the 2021 season. Miami returns talent on the OL for 2022 but has to improve performance.

Signing Conerly would be a huge upgrade for the depth and talent of the Miami OL. Miami is also targeting Puyallup, Washington Dave Iuli. The Hurricanes are the apparent leader for Iuli according to 247 Sports. Cristobal has quickly made an impact on Miami in recruiting. Expect the OL to be a priority this offseason.