Miami football falls in 247Sports team talent composite rankings from 2023

The Miami football team fell from 12th in 2023 to 14th in the 2024 247Sports Team Talent Composite Rankings. Miami fell primarily because transfers are still graded by their high school rankings. Quarterback Cam Ward was unranked coming out of high school and remains that way in the 2024 rankings.

Cooper Petagna wrote "Team Talent Composite 2024: Familiar names atop list of most talented teams, but parity is here" and Brad Crawford penned "Ranking college football's 25 biggest brands entering the 2024 season" for 247Sports. Miami is mentioned in both articles about the Team Talent Composite rankings.

Michigan became the first team outside of the top 10 of the Team Talent Composite Rankings to win the National Championship during the College Football Playoff era. The Wolverines were ironically ranked 14th in the 2023 Team Talent Composite Rankings. Teams ranked highly in the Team Talent composite rankings usually succeed.

The biggest outlier was Cincinnati who was 54th in the 2021 Team Talent Composite rankings when they made the playoffs that season. Miami was ironically at its lowest in the Team Talent Composite Rankings at 20th in 2017 when the Hurricanes were 20th. The Team Talent Composite Rankings have been kept since 2015.

"Miami won't get the four-star credit for signing Cameron Ward, who was not rated out of high school...Miami (14): The Hurricanes have never strayed outside the No. 10 to No. 20 range in a decade of talent rankings. Miami hit a low of No. 20 in 2017 but has consistently been between No. 12 and No. 14 for the past four seasons..consistent waves of high-end talent in every recruiting class makes the roster...impressive. Headlined by defensive lineman Justin Scott, a whopping eight of Miami's top-10 players from a recruiting ranking perspective are true freshmen.
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- Cooper Petagna and Brad Crawford, 247

Petagna stated a possible formula for determining the best teams and who could appear in the 12-team playoff could be "identifying the programs with experienced,NFL-caliber talent, a quarterback that you can win because of and not just with, and a schedule that can provide your team with some favorable opportunities."

Miami fits most of the above criteria. The addition of Ward gives Miami a QB they can win with and because the Hurricanes have a very favorable 2024 schedule. Florida State is the only team ranked in the preseason Miami will play in 2024. Most of Miami's NFL-caliber talent is young or new transfers added this season.

Ward, edge rusher Tyler Baron, linebacker Francisco Mauigoa, cornerback Darryl Porter Jr., running back Damien Martinez and wide receiver Xavier Restrepo are some of the Miami players to watch as potential 2025 NFL Draft picks. Baron, Martinez and Ward are transfers to Miami. Mauigoa, Porter Jr. and Restrepo are all 2024 returnees.

Miami ranks ninth with five five-star signees on its 2024 roster and 18th with 34 four-star high school signees and in blue-chip players total. Baron and defensive tackle C.J. Clark are the only Miami transfer additions who were blue-chip signees out of high school. Five Miami transfer additions including Baron received a four-star transfer grade.

Offensive tackles Francis Mauigoa and Samson Okunlola and edge rusher Rueben Bain who were 2023 signees for Miami are the only players on the 2024 roster outside the top 10 who were not part of the 2024 class. The dip from 2023 is not concerning. Players like Ward and Martinez are far better than their high school rankings.

With Mario Cristobal leading Miami, the Hurricanes will likely climb the team talent composite rankings in 2025. Miami is trending to sign a third consecutive top 10 class in 2025. Miami is currently 10th in the 2025 class rankings. If Miami has the season they are expected to, the Hurricanes should rise in the recruiting rankings.