A six-pack of Miami Hurricanes notes on a Tuesday:
▪ Dozens of draft prospects who attended high school or college in South Florida will gather at the Dolphins’ facility on Friday, as they always do on a Friday in early April, to participate in on-field workouts.
The goal: try to impress coaches and executives. In other words, make them remember you.
Some of the better prospects of the bunch will be asked to join Dolphins officials at a dinner on Thursday evening. That’s also customary; that happened with previous general manager Chris Grier.
But the Dolphins’ new regime supplemented Friday’s local day with something a bit different: Some of the Canes’ top prospects – including Rueben Bain Jr., Akheem Mesidor, Keionte Scott and others — collectively spent several hours at team headquarters on a Tuesday in late March, taking a tour of the facility and meeting with coaches and staff.
In some cases, they visited that day instead of working out on the team’s local day on Friday. In other cases, they had schedule conflicts with the local day.
Top Canes prospects who couldn’t make it to local day also sometimes visited the Dolphins on a different day under the previous regime. But a close associate of a Canes player said the top Canes who visited Dolphins offices the day after UM’s Pro Day, two weeks ago, really liked the group visit concept and the amount of time that Dolphins officials spent with them.
The Dolphins have had more players from UM than from any other school.
While the new regime obviously cannot base decisions on what college a player attended, several Canes could be in play for Miami this year — Bain and Francis Mauigoa at pick No. 11, Akheem Mesidor if he drops to 30, perhaps Keionte Scott at No. 43 or certainly in the third round if he surprisingly drops there. Perhaps Jakobe Thomas in the third or fourth round, and several offensive linemen (Anez Cooper, Markel Bell) on day three of the draft.
▪ You might have grown tired of hearing about Bain’s short arms, considering his ability to dominate and his elite production. But it’s a big talking point — and a concern to some teams — because his arm length (30 7/8 inches) is shorter than any edge player ever selected in the first round of the draft.
Whether those arms will keep him out of the top 10 — and on the board when Miami picks 11th — is one of the fascinating subplots of this draft. ESPN’s Matt Miller said this week he now won’t be surprised if Bain falls out of the top 10.
ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. framed it this way: “It’s easy to say I don’t care; I’m going to take the outlier. I’m going to through caution to the wind. Disciplined general managers don’t do that. Let somebody else take that guy. Maybe he’s going to be great; I’m not taking that 2 in 10 chance. We believe what we believe in. We have parameters. If he’s outside the parameters, we don’t take him. If he gets to 15, 20, 25, it’s a different ball game.
“It’s going to be a lot of fun from the cheap seats to say who takes Bain in top 10? That’s a gutty organization. Someone is going to take those shorter arms. His forty time was not that impressive. Who is going to take that leap of faith [in top 10]?”
Kiper makes clear that he’s a fan of Bain: “Love him. He wants to be great. But how much hesitation comes from arm length and 40 times?”
Miller said of Bain’s arm length: “I talked to a GM about him, and they said, `We will let someone else be smarter than us, will let someone else believe he’s the outlier against those measurables.’ That’s something that will be a conversation point. He’ll go first round, just maybe not pre-Senior Bowl, pre-Combine when the conversation was `does he go 2, 3.’ Now we’re more in that 9, 10 range for him — Cincinnati, Kansas City, that’s a better spot.”
ESPN’s Marcus Spears counters that Bain makes up for the substandard arm length with exceptional leverage and football intelligence; Spears has studied tape with Bain in Texas in recent weeks. But some teams will consider the arm length issue a nonstarter.
▪ Unlike most analysts, Kiper doesn’t view Mesidor as a likely first-round pick, based on what he’s hearing from his front-office friends in the league. So it’s possible he could be an option for Miami at 30 if he slips.
But there are others who believe he will go in the 15-to-25 range. Though he’s 25 (advanced for a draft prospect), his pass rush production (12.5 sacks, 58 pressures), combined with good work against the run, warrant a first-round selection.
“Mesidor is fascinating,” Miller said. “On tape you would have him up there. But he’s not the biggest guy and the fact he’s 25 years old could push him down. I haven’t personally heard a ton of talk about him as a lock first-rounder; it’s more `If there’s a run he can sneak in.’”
▪ In his seven-round mock draft, ESPN’s Miller has Mauigoa going third.
“Mauigoa is a lock to go in the top 10, maybe top 5; I think Arizona at 3 is really likely for him,” Miller said on an ESPN conference call. “He’s such a good player and has been my top tackle in this class wire to wire. I know there’s been guard talk for a while; I think he put that to rest with how well he played this year. And measuring like he did with over 33-inch arms was huge for him.”
Miller mocks Scott at pick 45 (two slots after Miami’s second rounder); quarterback Carson Beck going off the board with the first pick in round three, at No. 65, to Arizona; guard Anez Cooper and safety Jakobe Thomas coming off the board in the fourth round (110 and 121); and receiver CJ Daniels and offensive tackle Markel Bell both being selected in the sixth round (208 and 215).
Miller said of Beck: “To come back from the UCL tear, and do as well as he did, deserves a ton of credit. But ball placement is not great and in the pocket he gets erratic at times. In a muddy pocket he has a hard time not locking onto defenders and misses things downfield.”
▪ Cristobal’s comments Tuesday on a few topics on offense: He said freshman receiver Somourian Wingo has a minor injury and that he’s “a guy that shows he will be a factor as long as he keeps pushing and progressing.”… Malachi Toney continues to show up at 5:15 a.m. every day…
The offensive line (which is being anchored by tackles Jackson Cantwell and Matthew McCoy and center Ryan Rodriguez) has impressed: “I like the way they’re gelling,” Cristobal said. “Have to find more guys – you want to be at eight, nine or 10 by the time the season rolls around. Our size, girth, mentality from a regiment blueprint [standpoint], culture — it’s a very aggressive form of O-line play.”
▪ Cristobal’s comments Tuesday on a few topics on defense: He’s happy with the team’s most experienced linebackers, Mo Toure and Chase Smith, but said “I want to see more out of the young linebackers, see physical, rugged, responsible, accountable. An understanding that this game is for grown men. … We’re going to force it upon them. We’re going to run downhill on them every single day we possibly can. Because they have to get off blocks, have to strike people.”….
Freshman safety JJ Dunnigan “shows maturity on and off the field in everything he does,” Cristobal said. “He approaches it like a pro at a very young age. Those guys are rare. Malachi Toney is all about that stuff. … JJ lives in the weight room. Every rep is full speed.”…
Freshman cornerback Camdin Portis “has flashed. He has a great skill set. He needs to be hammered on discipline, on accountability on a consistent basis. But he has all the tools. I just think it’s too early to overpraise certain guys at this time. He has to learn how to work. Good player, can really help us. His trajectory is awesome and he’s a good person.”