A six-pack of Miami Hurricanes notes on a Tuesday:<\/p>\n
\u25aa Dozens of draft prospects who attended high school or college in South Florida will gather at the Dolphins\u2019 facility on Friday, as they always do on a Friday in early April, to participate in on-field workouts.<\/p>\n
The goal: try to impress coaches and executives. In other words, make them remember you.<\/p>\n
Some of the better prospects of the bunch will be asked to join Dolphins officials at a dinner on Thursday evening. That\u2019s also customary; that happened with previous general manager Chris Grier.<\/p>\n
But the Dolphins\u2019 new regime supplemented Friday\u2019s local day with something a bit different: Some of the Canes\u2019 top prospects \u2013 including Rueben Bain Jr., Akheem Mesidor, Keionte Scott and others \u2014 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.<\/p>\n
In some cases, they visited that day instead of working out on the team\u2019s local day on Friday. In other cases, they had schedule conflicts with the local day.<\/p>\n
Top Canes prospects who couldn\u2019t 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\u2019s Pro Day, two weeks ago, really liked the group visit concept and the amount of time that Dolphins officials spent with them.<\/p>\n
The Dolphins have had more players from UM than from any other school.<\/p>\n
While the new regime obviously cannot base decisions on what college a player attended, several Canes could be in play for Miami this year \u2014 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.<\/p>\n
\u25aa You might have grown tired of hearing about Bain\u2019s short arms, considering his ability to dominate and his elite production. But it\u2019s a big talking point \u2014 and a concern to some teams \u2014 because his arm length (30 7\/8 inches) is shorter than any edge player ever selected in the first round of the draft.<\/p>\n
Whether those arms will keep him out of the top 10 \u2014 and on the board when Miami picks 11th \u2014 is one of the fascinating subplots of this draft. ESPN\u2019s Matt Miller said this week he now won\u2019t be surprised if Bain falls out of the top 10.<\/p>\n
ESPN\u2019s Mel Kiper Jr. framed it this way: \u201cIt\u2019s easy to say I don\u2019t care; I\u2019m going to take the outlier. I\u2019m going to through caution to the wind. Disciplined general managers don\u2019t do that. Let somebody else take that guy. Maybe he\u2019s going to be great; I\u2019m not taking that 2 in 10 chance. We believe what we believe in. We have parameters. If he\u2019s outside the parameters, we don\u2019t take him. If he gets to 15, 20, 25, it\u2019s a different ball game.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s going to be a lot of fun from the cheap seats to say who takes Bain in top 10? That\u2019s 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]?\u201d<\/p>\n
Kiper makes clear that he\u2019s a fan of Bain: \u201cLove him. He wants to be great. But how much hesitation comes from arm length and 40 times?\u201d<\/p>\n
Miller said of Bain\u2019s arm length: \u201cI talked to a GM about him, and they said, `We will let someone else be smarter than us, will let someone else believe he\u2019s the outlier against those measurables.\u2019 That\u2019s something that will be a conversation point. He\u2019ll go first round, just maybe not pre-Senior Bowl, pre-Combine when the conversation was `does he go 2, 3.\u2019 Now we\u2019re more in that 9, 10 range for him \u2014 Cincinnati, Kansas City, that\u2019s a better spot.\u201d<\/p>\n
ESPN\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
\u25aa Unlike most analysts, Kiper doesn\u2019t view Mesidor as a likely first-round pick, based on what he\u2019s hearing from his front-office friends in the league. So it\u2019s possible he could be an option for Miami at 30 if he slips.<\/p>\n
But there are others who believe he will go in the 15-to-25 range. Though he\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cMesidor is fascinating,\u201d Miller said. \u201cOn tape you would have him up there. But he\u2019s not the biggest guy and the fact he\u2019s 25 years old could push him down. I haven\u2019t personally heard a ton of talk about him as a lock first-rounder; it\u2019s more `If there\u2019s a run he can sneak in.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
\u25aa In his seven-round mock draft, ESPN\u2019s Miller has Mauigoa going third.<\/p>\n
\u201cMauigoa is a lock to go in the top 10, maybe top 5; I think Arizona at 3 is really likely for him,\u201d Miller said on an ESPN conference call. \u201cHe\u2019s such a good player and has been my top tackle in this class wire to wire. I know there\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
Miller mocks Scott at pick 45 (two slots after Miami\u2019s 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).<\/p>\n
Miller said of Beck: \u201cTo 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u25aa Cristobal\u2019s comments Tuesday on a few topics on offense: He said freshman receiver Somourian Wingo has a minor injury and that he\u2019s \u201ca guy that shows he will be a factor as long as he keeps pushing and progressing.\u201d… Malachi Toney continues to show up at 5:15 a.m. every day…<\/p>\n
The offensive line (which is being anchored by tackles Jackson Cantwell and Matthew McCoy and center Ryan Rodriguez) has impressed: \u201cI like the way they\u2019re gelling,\u201d Cristobal said. \u201cHave to find more guys \u2013 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 \u2014 it\u2019s a very aggressive form of O-line play.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u25aa Cristobal\u2019s comments Tuesday on a few topics on defense: He\u2019s happy with the team\u2019s most experienced linebackers, Mo Toure and Chase Smith, but said \u201cI want to see more out of the young linebackers, see physical, rugged, responsible, accountable. An understanding that this game is for grown men. \u2026 We\u2019re going to force it upon them. We\u2019re going to run downhill on them every single day we possibly can. Because they have to get off blocks, have to strike people.\u201d….<\/p>\n
Freshman safety JJ Dunnigan \u201cshows maturity on and off the field in everything he does,\u201d Cristobal said. \u201cHe approaches it like a pro at a very young age. Those guys are rare. Malachi Toney is all about that stuff. \u2026 JJ lives in the weight room. Every rep is full speed.\u201d…<\/p>\n
Freshman cornerback Camdin Portis \u201chas 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\u2019s 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\u2019s a good person.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A six-pack of Miami Hurricanes notes on a Tuesday: \u25aa Dozens of draft prospects who attended high school…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":860069,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2049],"tags":[49347,38915,217,8017,12,7,7779,7337,216,251,2972,2087,4002,6,32194,3235],"class_list":{"0":"post-860068","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-miami-dolphins","8":"tag-arm-length","9":"tag-bain","10":"tag-dolphins","11":"tag-draft-prospects","12":"tag-espn","13":"tag-football","14":"tag-francis-mauigoa","15":"tag-matt-miller","16":"tag-miami","17":"tag-miami-dolphins","18":"tag-miami-hurricanes","19":"tag-miamidolphins","20":"tag-mock-draft","21":"tag-nfl","22":"tag-rueben-bain-jr","23":"tag-the-dolphins"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116366668466826117","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/860068","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=860068"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/860068\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/860069"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=860068"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=860068"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=860068"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}