The CaneSport On3: Miami Hurricanes players under the most pressure as season approaches

A year ago at this time we wrote a column analyzing the Miami players under the most pressure with the season approaching … and a couple on the list responded with strong seasons (OG Anez Cooper, CB Daryl Porter, Jr.) while others didn’t so much and have since transferred (Jacurri Brown, Jaleel Skinner, Colbie Young, Henry Parrish, Jahfari Harvey).

Which brings us to this year. With the season around the corner, we identify nine players that have the pressure on that Miami needs to have perform to their capabilities.

We are ranking them in order of how we see the pressure meter bearing down on them:

9. RB Damien Martinez

Does the Oregon State transfer NEED to have a great year? Not really, considering he has two years of eligibility remaining. And he’s assured of the feature back role after Miami grabbed him out of the transfer portal. So why is he on this list? Well, because he’s already stated his goal is to be one-and-done and leave as a first round NFL pick. So that pressure is on him, from himself, and he can’t allow himself to get frustrated if there are games where some teams are able to take him out of his rhythm. He has to be a team-first guy who does all the little things, including blocking and serving as a decoy in the run and pass games.

8. QB Cam Ward

See above. Like Martinez, Ward isn’t on this list because he isn’t going to be the full-time starter. He’s on here because the expectations have been so ratcheted up he almost HAS to break the school passing TD record of 29 to live up to them. He’s 10 ^th in Heisman preseason odds and got a hefty NIL deal for his one remaining season of eligibility. His goal is to turn himself into a first round draft pick after he was likely to go around the fourth round this year. So yeah, the pressure is on for him to not just live up to the NIL $ he’s making but also to turn this offense into a dynamic machine. He led the nation’s No. 4 passing offense at Washington State last year, and Miami also has a running game to complement him. The sky’s the limit, but even a decent season might be viewed as failure by Hurricane fans at this point. He has to be great.

7. DT Simeon Barrow

Barrow is a talented Michigan State arrival who we fully expect to start inside, likely next to NC State transfer CJ Clark. So why is Barrow on this list and not Clark? Well, Barrow left the team in late May before deciding to return, so he really has to show this fall that his departure was a one-off and that he’s all in on this Miami Hurricanes team, that he’s buying into the Mario Cristobal “how you do anything is how you do everything” culture and is a team-first guy. Barrow has to continue to earn his teammates’ vote of confidence.

6. Safeties Markeith Williams and Jade n Harris

We are predicating this on Washington transfer Mishael Powell moving from nickel, where he spent the spring, to a safety position that doesn’t have much depth or proven talent. Powell played both for the Huskies, and if he does move to safety – which we think has a good chance of happening – then it will be unproven Markeith Williams and Jaden Harris competing for the spot opposite him. Neither really stood out in the spring, and we think Williams may have a slight advantage (and he had a solid bowl game performance with eight tackles). So both these redshirt sophomores could be in a bigtime fall battle to determine the starting job.

5. OL Samson Okunlola

A former 5-star, Okunlola missed most of his 2023 freshman year injured, but now he’s right in the mix to fill the one open spot on the line alongside Jalen Rivers, Francis Mauigoa, Anez Cooper and Zach Carpenter. He has to hold off Matthew McCoy and Markel Bell, and there’s no reason Okunlola can’t shine … after all, we saw Mauigoa emerge as a 5-star starting freshman last year. So the pressure is on for Okunlola to not just step up and grab the starting job, but to live up to his 5-star potential and make this a really strong Miami O line.

4. LB Wesley Bissainthe

A year ago Miami brought in KJ Cloyd out of the transfer portal from Louisville, and Cloyd beat out Bissainthe for the starting job in fall drills … although Bissainthe won it back early in the season and then held onto it. But now Miami’s brought in another Cardinals transfer to compete with Bissainthe for the starting OLB job – Jaylin Alderman. Alderman started and was effective for Louisville last year, whereas Cloyd had been a career backup. So Bissainthe has his work cut out to show coaches he can reach his potential after a pair of up-and-down seasons. Yes, the pressure is on.

3. DL Akheem Mesidor

Mesidor showed in 2022 the kind of impact he can make as an end and tackle, finishing with a team-high seven sacks and being extremely disruptive inside and outside. But last year he missed all but the first two games due to torn ligaments in both feet that require him to play in special cleats. He can’t let the injury define the rest of his college career, and if he’s a step slow he can at least make a difference at a tackle position without much depth. He’ll compete to start at end, although the likely first-teamers will be Rueben Bain and transfer Tyler Baron, and at tackle he can try to beat out transfer arrivals CJ Clark and Simeon Barrow. Mesidor has his work cut out to not only try and start, but to prove he’s back off the injury and can still be effective.

2. WR Sam Brown

Brown led Houston in receiving yards last year with 815 as the go-to guy there, but now he’s at a Miami program where he might be a third, fourth or even fifth option with Xavier Restrepo and Jacolby George back at WR and a talented tight ends room led by Elijah Arroyo and Elija Lofton. Brown will also be pushed in fall camp for that third starting receiver spot by Isaiah Horton and JoJo Trader. So the pressure is certainly on Brown to produce in his final year of eligibility.

1. TE Elijah Arroyo

There were high hopes each of the last two years that Arroyo would emerge as that next great tight end out of Miami. But both seasons never got on track due to injury. This spring Arroyo was back and looked none the worse for wear, and he has the starting tight ends job … but could have TE targets snatched by freshman H-back phenom Elija Lofton. So if Arroyo is going to finally start living up to his potential he has to stay healthy and prove he deserves pass game targets on a team with plenty of offensive weapons. If Lofton shows out then Arroyo could be spending the rest of his career at Miami as the team’s No. 2 tight end target.

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