Miami football has built depth to absorb Nyjalik Kelly transferring
The Miami football program has built exceptional depth at edge rusher since Mario Cristobal was hired in December 2021. Miami can absorb the transfer of edge rusher Nyjalik Kelly, as initially reported by Hayes Fawcett of On3 on Tuesday morning.
Kelly played in all 12 Miami games as a freshman in 2022. Kelly suffered a season-ending injury in 2023 after five games with three starts. Miami returns starting defensive linemen Rueben Bain and Akheem Mesidor, added former Marshall edge rusher Elijah Alston and signed an elite group of DL in the 2024 class.
Kelly had 11 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss and four sacks as a true freshman in 2022 in 183 defensive snaps. Kelly had eight tackles, one TFL, one sack and one pass defended in 2023. Miami signed Kelly in the 2022 class out of Fort Lauderdale Dillard.
Kelly was the 90th prospect, 14 defensive lineman and 14th prospect in Florida in the 247Sports 2022 composite rankings. Kelly's decision to transfer comes a week before the spring portal is open from April 16-30. Miami needs to shed five more players from its 2024 roster to get down to the scholarship limit of 85.
BREAKING: Miami EDGE Nyjalik Kelly plans to enter the Transfer Portal, he tells @on3sports
— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) April 9, 2024
The 6’6 260 EDGE totaled 19 Tackles, 4 Sacks, and 1 PD in his 2 years with the Hurricanes
Was ranked as a Top 95 Recruit in ‘22 (per On3)https://t.co/RqIAPCWVXM pic.twitter.com/76BynDKqMS
Bain and Mesidor are the projected starting edge rushers in 2024 for Miami. Kelly was expected to receive a significant amount of snaps. Alston is also projected to be a factor. Miami signed five-star DL Armondo Blount, and edge rushers, five-star Marquis Lightfoot, four-star Elias Rudolph and three-star Cole McConathy in the 2024 class.
The transfer by Kelly should allow Blount and Lightfoot to compete to be the fourth edge rusher in the 2024 Miami rotation. Bain, Blount and Mesidor can all play end and tackle. McConathy has reportedly been impressive this spring. Rudolph will arrive later this year.
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Miami could pursue another transfer DL. Former Miami commit Romello Height recently visited Coral Gables. Height has played for Auburn and USC. Expect several more Miami players in the portal in the next week. Miami has to get down to the 85 scholarship limit by the beginning of the 2024 season.