Hope you all are having a great weekend. I know I have been, basking in the glow of the Miami Hurricanes’ first playoff appearance in program history. The Canes’ playoff genesis begins next weekend against the Texas A&M Aggies, and it should be an exciting weekend of football for Miami fans. I mean, considering it’s […]
Hope you all are having a great weekend. I know I have been, basking in the glow of the Miami Hurricanes’ first playoff appearance in program history.
The Canes’ playoff genesis begins next weekend against the Texas A&M Aggies, and it should be an exciting weekend of football for Miami fans. I mean, considering it’s the biggest game since the Fiesta Bowl, that’s pretty obvious.
However, before we get into Texas A&M mode, I wanted to take a look back and see how Miami fared with Pro Football Focus at the conclusion of the regular season. I’ve been doing a 5 up, 5 down in recent weeks to see how my layman eyes and memory matched up with who PFF says was the best and worst.
Well, without a game this weekend, I figured I’d look back at the regular season and see if it matched up with my brain. I was using a baseline of 20 snaps per game before, so I’m going to go with a minimum of 175 snaps here, to account for some games missed.
Top 5 Canes
1) DE Rueben Bain, Jr. – 92.7
2) DE Akheem Mesidor – 92.1
T-3) WR Malachi Toney – 90.3
T-3) CB Keionte Scott – 90.3
5) OT Francis Mauigoa – 85.7
Next up: S Jakobe Thomas – 85.0
Is there any surprise here? The Canes have run through their talented defensive front this year in an extremely improved unit, and Bain and Mesidor have been the gold standard for a defensive end duo in the entire country. Someone noted in my All-Americans piece yesterday that Mesidor deserved to get some credit, and by God yes, he does. I agree.
Toney, Scott, and Mauigoa all got some level of All-American tabs last week, and they were all deserved. And man, I would have loved to have seen a full season of Scott, who hopefully can find his way back next weekend against the Aggies. The Jim Thorpe Award was always going to Ohio State’s Caleb Downs, but Scott would have been a worthy finalist.
I also wanted to mention Thomas here, who has flat-out kicked ass in his one year after coming over from Tennessee. Johnny on the spot in coverage and a hard hitter, he’s been a star on this defense in 2025.
All chalk here for the top-graded Canes as far as I’m concerned.
Bottom 5 Canes
1) LB Mohamed Toure – 52.8
2) TE Alex Bauman – 53.2
3) WR Joshisa Trader – 58.0
4) TE Eljia Lofton – 61.7
5) DL Armondo Blount – 62.8
I did not expect to see Blount on this list, but perhaps that’s because my mind is skewed by the Canes’ overall week-to-week dominance up front. And 62.8 doesn’t scream bad, but among the players with significant snaps, I didn’t expect to see him among the bottom five.
Miami got a ton out of Elijah Arroyo at the tight end position in the passing game, but the same production hasn’t been there this year. Bauman and Lofton have combined for 268 less receiving yards than Arroyo had by himself last season. Their run blocking grades aren’t anything to write home about (Bauman 56.1 and Lofton 61.0), but then again, neither was Arroyo’s last year. Trader had an opportunity with CJ Daniels on the shelf, but he couldn’t quite pull it in – and yes, I’m making reference to the bobbled catch/interception against SMU there. You probably could tell, but still.
So, what do you all think? Anyone else you were expecting to see on either list?
Category: General Sports
