Mario Cristobal should be feeling good about where Miami stands with DL target

It's another Hurricanes vs. Gators recruiting battle. 

The prize is in-state defensive lineman Josh Johnson, a 6-foot-4, 270-pound interior prospect from Key West. Mario Cristobal has been very high on Johnson, a local prospect that he believes can develop and grow into being a difference maker for the Hurricanes. Johnson is torn between the 'Canes and the Gators, but his comments seem to hint that he's leaning towards Miami.

"They do make me feel like a priority," Johnson told Gaby Urrutia from 247Sports. "It's definitely going to be hard to go play somewhere else."

Johnson has visited both Miami and Florida during the spring and has an official visit to Coral Gables scheduled for June 5 and to Gainesville a week later. Even though Johnson says he's down to the Hurricanes and Gators, it's fair to believe that out-of-state schools will jump in and have shown interest. Johnson is getting a lot of Big Ten interest with Iowa, Wisconsin and Nebraska all making him a priority recruit. The lineman has an official visit scheduled for Wisconsin on May 29, but there's no guarantee he will still take that trip.

This is an interesting recruitment because it's not going to get the fanfare of some of the biggest targets that Cristobal and the Hurricanes staff are going after, but this is an important recruit for him. Johnson is a local player that has a lot of upside and, even in the NIL/transfer portal era, Cristobal wants to have a strong foundation of locally-grown players that can be developed through the program. Expect Miami to continue to aggressively pursue Johnson, and it wouldn't be a surprise to see him make a decision sooner than later. 

Miami is back in the top 15 with its 2027 recruiting class. The number has been boosted by the recent commitment of five-star wide receiver Nick Lennear. All five Hurricane commits are local prospects from Miami-Dade, Broward or Palm Beach County.