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Spring Football Position Previews: Defensive Linemen

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Miami Hurricanes Defensive Lineman - Leonard Taylor III | Getty Images

The Hurricanes lost starting defensive tackle Darrell Jackson Jr. via the transfer portal to the Florida State Seminoles during the off-season. The transfer portal gives and it takes and well… Miami added two defensive linemen from that very same portal in Branson Deen from Purdue and Thomas Gore from Georgia State.

Branson Deen was considered one of the premier pass rushers in the Big Ten Conference during the 2022 season according to Pro Football Focus, Deen was graded as the 36th best pass-rusher overall in the country. Gore on the other hand, has recorded 76 quarterback pressures during his time at Georgia State, despite being considered undersized for the defensive tackle position.

The returning key players on the defensive line? Leonard Taylor III, Akheem Mesidor, Jahfari Harvey, Nyjalik Kelly, Jared Harrison-Hunte and Chantz Williams. Both Taylor and Mesidor tied for a team leading 10.5 tackles-for-loss, while Mesidor led the team by recording seven sacks during both of their 2022 campaigns. Harvey would record five and a half sacks, second best on the team, in addition to Kelly flashing moments of greatness on the field as a freshman with four sacks to his name a season ago. Harrison-Hunte will be competing for a starting spot on the interior line this spring, while Williams will be looking to move up the rotation of defensive ends.

Upon further film review of the Hurricanes new defensive coordinator in Lance Guidry, the rotation among the entire defensive line will likely see a shortening of snaps shared among the group going forward. Miami’s fans on the other hand will likely be happy about that news, considering they voiced their disagreement during the 2022 season about taking Leonard Taylor III off the field so often, who many consider to be Miami’s most talented defensive lineman. Unfortunately for Taylor, he will not be a full participant for spring practice with an undisclosed injury.

Two other returning defensive linemen with hopes of cracking the playing rotation this spring are defensive end Cyrus Moss, who was highly touted as a national recruit in the 2022 recruiting class and defensive tackle Ahmad Moten, Moten played his prep days at local powerhouse Chaminade-Madonna Prep. Defensive lineman Jabari Ishmael has played minimally during his first two seasons as a Hurricane but could be another to make an impression on newly promoted defensive ends coach and Miami Dolphins legend Jason Taylor.

The freshmen who have been on campus for off-season workouts and spring football are defensive ends Jayden Wayne, Rueben Bain and Collins Acheampong. Wayne, Bain and Acheampong were all considered highly ranked four-star prospects coming out of high school for the class of 2023. Hurricanes fans are very familiar with Bain, who recorded an astounding ’59’ sacks during his final two seasons at State Title winning Miami Central High School. While Wayne and Acheampong have very stiff competition at defensive end, Bain on the other hand could find his way onto the field earlier due to his versatility to shift inside on third down packages as a defensive tackle.

A bit of a surprise here, although freshman Malik Bryant’s position is labeled as a linebacker, he did display during his high school career at IMG Academy and Orlando Jones High School that he is a highly-proficient standup pass rusher on defense. A wrinkle that new defensive coordinator Lance Guidry likes to employ on his own defense.

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