Miami football battling Oregon for 5-star DL Jayden Wayne

The Miami Football program is second to Oregon for five-star 2023 Tacoma, Washington Lincoln defensive end Jayden Wayne according to the On3.Com prediction machine as released on Wednesday. Wayne is listed with a 27.7 percent chance to sign with Oregon and 27.2 percent with Miami per On3.Com.

The other nine finalists named by Wayne in January via Twitter are Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Michigan State, USC, Texas and Washington which is 37 miles from Lincoln High School in Tacoma. USC is a distant third to sign Wayne at 14.2 percent. All of the other programs recruiting Wayne are below five percent.

Wayne is listed as a four-star prospect by On3. but five stars from the 247 Sports composite rankings. On.3 also has the fascinating projection that Wayne has a NIL valuation of $16,000. “The On3 NIL Valuation is an index that looks to set the standard market value for both high school and college-level athletes.

The NIL valuation does not act as a tracker of the value of NIL deals an athlete has completed to date. It rather signifies an athlete’s value at a certain moment in time.” Miami is poised to become one of the leaders in NIL with the opportunities that will be available to athletes in South Florida.

"“Coach Mario Cristobal gave me my first offer in 8th grade…My family and I have a great relationship with the coaches and it’s a strong family environment. They develop and push the players to be their best. Miami is a small private school with a lot of culture. Strong brotherhood.Miami is a beautiful city and the weather is nice!”"

The comments by Wayne above told to On3 seem puts Miami in a good position to compete to sign him. Miami is at a big disadvantage being 3,330 miles from Tacoma. Eugene, Oregon is 250 miles from Tacoma. What could work in Miami’s favor is that Cristobal also brought former Oregon defensive line coach Joe Salave’a with him.

Miami currently has three-star wide receivers Andy Jean and Lamar Seymore committed for 2023. Both commits are from Miami Northwestern. Seymore’s brother Laurance is an offensive lineman for the Miami football team who signed with the Hurricanes in 2023. Cristobal is expected to improve the Miami recruiting.