Intro welcome back to another episode of rock boys football predicting what this Hurricane's depth chart is going to look like come week one of the 2024 season now we've taken deep Dives in every single position room for this hurricanes program have talked about the position battles haven't really given our full predictions on how these position battles shake out want to give those to you guys right now really excited to get into this one before we do and as always just want to say thank you to you you guys in a massive shout out to the Miami Hurricane fans you guys continue to show a ton of love a ton of support cannot thank you guys enough if y'all do enjoy the content consider subscribing to the channel and much more importantly the best part about doing these kind of episodes is learning from you guys would love to hear some names that you guys have as starters that I might have left off my list I went back and forth with multiple different positions when I have my dep chart in front of me so let me know in the comments section how you guys are feeling again it is a blast I learned from you guys I love talking ball with you guys in the comment section so let me know without further Ado let's get into this one and I mean Depth Chart off the top this depth chart that we have in front of us right now the one I have on my Note sheet is the one with the transfers it's my predictions the one that we see on the screen doesn't have the true freshman doesn't have the transfer editions and I'll say this right now I got a lot of true freshman that are injected into this starting lineup so bear with me on that we'll fill it out as we go along the quarter back spot right that's a no-brainer we're going cam Ward and I think what excites me the most and this is about the highest I've been on this Hurricane's program in a while and I was pretty high on them going into last year and I think the real story was this was you guys heard me say this a lot during the 2023 season that was a very good Miami Hurricanes team top for bottom but when you don't have consistent quarterback play it's really hard to win those big games and I think what makes me so excited about this Hurricane's team in 2024 is this depth chart is just about as talented if not more talented it's certainly deeper but what I think sets this team apart is they have quarterback play that is going to be some of the best in the country now getting into the more interesting conversation I think you can have is what does this wide receiver room shake out to be and I hear a lot of Miami Hurricane fans saying we need a wide receiver one in the transfer portal I don't know how many better wide receivers that you can find in the country than Xavier rrao and I I get he's not necessarily the prototypical quote unquote wide receiver one but you talk about top 10 wide receivers in the country I'm not sure if you're seeing many lists that are leaving out what Xavier Restrepo has done over the last couple years and I think what excites me the most about what this offense looks like specifically with Xavier Restrepo is Cam Ward loves to go to his slot wide receivers we saw that all over the Washington State film now cam Ward comes to Miami and he has one of if not the best slot wide receiver in the country in Xavier Restrepo in the preseason I like to take a look at what are the best quarterback wide receiver batteries that we're going to see I don't know how many better batteries you're going to see than cam Ward and Xavier Restrepo heading into 2024 I'm really excited about that connection now on the boundary I have jacobe George still as a starter I think what excites me the most about him is I think he was probably the guy that was hurt the most in terms of the lack of consistency they had at the quarterback spot but when you go back to the film jacobe George and what he can do after the catch is truly it's special and now he's going into the senior year I think the the the the one word that you want to see from jacobe George in 2024 is consistency right we've seen the flashes we know what he's capable of now I want to see you play at your highest level on a more consistent basis right eliminate the focus drops eliminate the stupid mistakes and Kobe George can do that you're looking at another very good wide receiver in this room now the last starting wide receiver the more I read the spring practice notes the more I'm drinking the Kool-Aid and I'm going to go JoJo Trader as our starting wide receiver this is a guy that not only is really good after the catch but you see the movement skills from some of the clips that you see in Spring practice or just go back and watch the senior film this is a guy that is not just a freak athlete he's a very polished wide receiver and I think that's what excites me the most I think that's why I'm so confident that he's going to get on the field as a freshman many of you guys know by now I'm not necessarily a guy that's banging the table to start true freshman but I think JoJo Traders a little bit different and you talk about a different caliber athlete at this wide receiver room in fact an athlete that I don't think Miami has seen in that wide receiver room in a really long time I think that's JoJo Trader so I have Xavier rreo on the inside jacobe George and JoJo Trader on the outside and that's not necessarily a knock on a guy like Isaiah hordon I think Ray Ray Joseph probably gets on the field a lot as well but if you're asking me for my starting three wide receivers that's how it shakes out you go to the running back room this is going to be another run it's a room that's going to be a committee and that's exactly how you want a running back room to look yes you want an alpha dog as your running back and I think that certainly can be Mark Fletcher but you want multiple guys that you have confidence in in terms of tot and The Rock Mark Fletcher Henry Paris I thought a Jay Allen actually played some really good football and you talk about guy like Jordan Lyall or Chris Johnson the burner a lot of different wide receiver or running backs excuse me with a lot of different skill sets and I think that's what excites you the most about this Hurricane's running back room but I'm not going to cop out I'm going to give you guys my starting running back and that's Mark Fletcher I think he leads this team in carries I think he leads this team in rushing yards give me Mark Fletcher as the running back one now the tight end position I'm gonna go with a little bit of a curveball here and I'm gonna go Riley Williams going into his second year and the reason I'm going Riley Williams is one I was extremely impressed with what Riley Williams could do as a blocker as a freshman right we saw the film on Riley Williams coming out of high school this is a guy that is is a natural pass catcher he's a big body that moves fluidly I think he can be a weapon in the passing attack but I think set Riley Williams a part and what I am so excited for him in terms of going into year two is you don't normally see freshman tight ends come in and block like Ry Williams did so you know you got a good blocker and I think you got a guy with some massive upside as a pass catcher now I will say Elijah Royo certainly excites me but I want to see it before I believe it I'm going to go with Riley Williams and I don't think it's crazy to say Riley Williams might have a higher upside than Elijah ooyo as well last position group we have to talk about is the offensive line now there are not a lot of questions that we have we'll get off we'll get get out of the way the kind of bonafide starters right Jaylen Rivers at left tackle I think Center Zack Carpenter the transfer from Indiana ANZ Cooper Francis Maui NOA on the other side I think that one question we have is all how is that left guard position going to look I know I read the message boards Lou chrisol getting work with the ones during spring camp that I would be extremely surprised if that holds until 2024 week one I think you got Samson o canola that's the guy I have locked in at that left guard spot and I think at the end of the day you look at what you have to do on the offensive line and that is all about getting your best five players on the field and yes is Samson OK canola a tackle certainly is I think he has a future playing tackle at the college football level but when you have Jaylen rivers in Francis Maui know it's hard to get on the field as a tackle and so I think you got to try to get a guy like Samson okola on the field and let's just be kind of honest like Luke chrisal is not a power five starting offensive lineman you guys know I don't drag players consistently on this podcast but Luke christall he's a backup guy and I think samok can Lola gives exactly what Miami needs on that offensive line you talk about what Mario chrisal wants to do what the DNA is going to be of this offense yes you have Cam Ward yes you have really good receivers they're going to want to control the line of skirmish they're going to want to run the football and I think Samson okola with the power that he has is certainly going to be a guy that fits exactly what the Hurricanes want to do on that offensive line give me pancake hono starting as your left guard now going to the defensive side of the football and starting with this defensive line this Defensive Line is going to be a really interesting unit to see how it shakes out and I think what excites me the most about this Hurricane's defensive line is not necessarily the star talent in which you certainly have star Talent right Ruben Bane is going to be an All-American caliber player I think AEM eador is an all ACC guy when healthy you go back to the 2022 film he was very good but I think what excites me the most about this defensive line is the depth and rotation that they're GNA have and you go across the country and you look at some of the best defensive lines over the last couple years Michigan in 2023 Georgia in 2022 and 2021 what was so special about those offensive lines is yes they had to start tal but they had that they could rotate guys in and out through four quarters in and out through 15 games of the season that's what Miami has heading into 2024 so now predicting my starting defensive line you got a Keim mesidor and Ruben Bane on the outside I think you're looking at two really good Edge rushers there who are also phenomenal in the Run game and you have guys like Jayden Wayne like Niger Lee Kelly like Maris lifea as a true freshman that I think could certainly come in and play some really good reps but those are going to be your Stu starters and then on the inside I'm going to go Jared Harrison hunt and I think it's really easy to get caught up in true freshman Justin Scott and guys in the trans rep portal Jared Harrison hunt you have to give him all the credit in the world he kind of paid his dues I think he consistently has gotten better that was by far the best football that we've seen from Jared Harrison hunt in 2023 I think he's going to be one of your starters on the inside the other starter I'm G to go with CJ Clark a guy that I think is Elite in the Run game and then on those third and long situations then you see a guy like Justin Scott or Marley could come in and really get after it but again the depth that they have on the inside very intriguing I think this defensive line is poised to be one of the more dominant groups that we see in the country moving to that linebacker spot I don't think there's many question marks here I think if you have a question mark about this linebacker room it's a little bit more the depth than it is your starting guys Francisco maoa is an absolute stud at that linebacker spot I thought it was massive to get him back for one more year and then Wesley saying played some really good football in 2023 I think those are your starting linebackers and I think the question is all right what is the depth look behind those linebackers is it a true freshman like cam puit is it Chase Smith who's kind of paid his dues within this program that's more the question that I have because I think you got two Bonafide starters at that linebacker spot and then the last really tricky conversation and this is where I would really like to hear from the hurricane fans in terms of all right how do we put together this secondary and I'll say this before we get into it this is probably the group there's not a lot of holes in this Hurricane's roster I've been pretty vocal about that if there is one thing I have a lot of question marks about it is in the defensive back now they're really hurt heading into spring practice not a guys not a lot of guys are practicing but I don't think the experience nor the depth is there and I wouldn't be surprised if the Hurricanes go out to make a Big Splash in that defensive back room but getting into my projected starters right now before they add any transfers on the outside I think have Daryl Porter and deari brown now they have deari brown as a nickel on the screen he's too long in athletic to play in the nickel I think you're looking at a really really good boundary quarterback I think that's probably where he's most comfortable in so Daryl Porter and deari brown on your outside I'm gonna go with Mesa Powell as your nickel back he played a lot of nickel for Washington I think what's so good about Mesa Powell and I think we're gonna do a film breakdown on him is he can do so many different things and you look at Miami maybe in a little bit of a tricky spot in the secondary you got a guy like Misha Powell who's played so much football at so many different positions that's massive for the Hurricanes heading into 2024 now at the safety spot I'm gonna go with two newcomers right Savon Riley coming over from vanderville I think he is super talented I think he physically checks off a lot of boxes and then I'm gonna go with the true freshman zaquin Patterson very similar conversation to Jojo Trader I think one zaquan Patterson is physically ready to play and I think that's the two things that really inhibit true freshman from playing a lot early is one the physicality of the game right do they need to put on weight do they need to change what their body looks like they might have all the athleticism in the world but they got to put on the weight that normally keeps them off the field and more importantly knowing the Playbook but you look at zaquan Patterson and you look at what's special about zaquan Patterson one very physically developed and two phenomenal instincts this guy is a very smart football player that I think allows him to get on the field and again there's a lot of opportunity to get playing time at that safety position and I think zaquan Patterson is going to be a very hard guy to keep off the field for the Hurricanes that'll do it for my projected starting lineup for the Hurricanes heading into 2024 would love to hear from you guys on where I got it wrong with some players that I might be sleeping on heading into 2024 appreciate you guys as always for rocking with the fellas if y'all do enjoy the content consider subscribing to the channel and we'll talk to youall later peace