The Miami football program missed out on five-star defensive tackle David Stone when he committed to Oklahoma on Saturday night. Stone reportedly did not decide to commit to Oklahoma until moments before announcing his decision live on ESPN. Stone stated his family wanted him to attend Miami.
A commitment from Stone would have arguably given the Miami football program the best defensive line group in the 2024 class. Even without Stone, Miami has an elite group of defensive line commitments. Earlier this month, Rivals named the 2024 Miami DL commitments the fifth best nationally.
Miami has commitments from four-star defensive ends Marquise Lightfoot and Elias Rudolph, tackle Artavius Jones and three-star end Daylen Russell on the 2024 defensive line. Rivals ranks Lightfoot as the 78th overall prospect, the third player in Illinois and the fourth weakside DE in the 2024 Class.
Rudolph is the 225th-ranked prospect, 35th player in Ohio and 13th WDE who Miami flipped from Michigan earlier this month. Jones is not ranked in the Rivals top 250 players nationally. The 247 Sports composite rankings have Jones as the 148th prospect, 21st defensive lineman and 23rd in Florida in the 2024 class.
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Earlier this week Jones was named among “The 2024 Freaks List: Ranking 50 of the freakiest college football recruits.” Jones is the type of player scouts love who could exceed his recruiting ranking. It’s possible Jones could move up in the recruiting rankings by the time he signs in December.
Jones is the 148th prospect, 21st DL and 23rd recruit in Florida per the 247 Sports composite rankings. Russell is the 1179th prospect, 114th defensive lineman and 157th recruit in Florida in the 2024 class per the 247 Sports composite rankings. Expect Miami to see commitments from two to three more DL in the 2024 class.
In the two classes under Mario Cristobal, Miami has been busy in the transfer portal on the DL. The Miami defensive coaches will continue to recruit Stone hard. Defensive tackle will be a priority for Miami in the 2024 class with or without Stone. Jones, Lightfoot, Rudolph and Russell provide the 2024 Miami DL with a good foundation.