No. 1 overall player and Miami commit deserves the hype

Jackson Cantwell put up an impressive showing in the weight room on Tuesday. The Miami commit benched 225 for 32 reps. That total that would have tied for second-most reps by an offensive lineman at the 2025 NFL Combine. Cantwell also humbly noted he's still aiming for his dad's all-time personal record which he indicated is 72 reps.

To put those 32 reps in perspective, at the 2025 NFL Combine, the highest bench press attempts for OL ranged roughly in the between 31-33 reps. The official Combine record, regardless of position, is 51 reps, which is mind-boggling. But more importantly to this story, the average rep range (31-33) is nearly out of range for most college athletes. Cantwell on the other hand, looks like he'll hit 40 reps at some point in his senior year of high school.

Cantwell isn't new to the extraordinary lifts. At just 17 years old and from Nixa High School in Missouri, he already bench-pressed 505 pounds in training and has maintained incredible athleticism for his super-sized frame.

His strength isn’t just raw numbers as it translates to performance (which should be obvious considering he is the No. 1 recruit in the Class of 2026). Cantwell recently earned the distinction of MaxPreps Male National Athlete of the Year, excelling in both football and shot-put. In shot put, he threw the third-longest high school throw ever, and dominated the discus with a throw over 210 feet.

In the age of reclassification, it almost feels like Cantwell is doing something — playing his senior year of high school football — that we don't always get to see from a top recruit. It should be safe to say that Cantwell is ready for the next level and will have an impact on the Hurricanes offensive line right when he steps on campus.