INTENSITY: Miami Hurricanes DBs SHUT Down—Jontavius Wyman, Xavier Lucas Make Statement in Spring Practice

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There were some standouts today in the second Miami Hurricanes Spring football practice,

and we got to start with the defensive backs.

You are locked on canes.

We're daily podcast on the Miami Hurricanes, part of the locked on podcast network.

Your team every day.

I just got back from Miami Hurricanes practice.

I have a lot of thoughts and notes.

I am Alex Dono and on today's episode, we'll talk about the rising freshmen because there

are some, you know, 18 year olds out there early in rollies, we're making impressions.

We'll talk about the tight end room because I got a good look at that unit today.

And let's talk standouts.

So you can see the intensity and the physicality out there despite the fact that pads are not

on yet.

I don't think the pads are going to start coming on until this weekend.

This was practice number two from Miami practice one was on Tuesday, practice three is going

to be on Friday, practice four on Saturday.

They might be in pads by Saturday.

We'll find that out later on this week.

But folks, when we talk about the defensive backs, a handful of them made,

just highlight where the plays today in some one on one drills and some seven on seven

drills.

And I was thoroughly impressed by true freshmen, defensive back, John Tavius Wyman.

He had a great practice today all around and this is during the media viewing period.

We don't get to watch the 11 on 11s.

So I'm not sure what happened after the media, you know, got sent out.

But he had a particular interception, John Tavius Wyman, a one handed grab where he jumped

around.

It was a beautiful play and it got everyone in the facility hyped.

Wyman was someone who stood out to me today wearing the number 36 Xavier Lucas.

You know him already, you love him already.

Number six continues to just really be so detail oriented and really so tight in his

coverage.

He's someone who's always a tough cover when you're doing these one on one drills against

wide receivers.

He had an interception today as well.

He's on everybody like glue and another good interception that I saw today was from Ethan

O'Connor, who's one of Miami's top reserve cornerbacks.

He had a pick in the corner of the end zone today.

I think that was on a throw by Darion Coleman.

If I remember correctly, you know, Coleman, he continues to look tremendous with the

arm talent.

That's the true freshman quarterback that we've been raving about.

You know, he had a couple and these are in drills.

So the context he is really important.

He did have a couple of interceptions today, but I look at it as freshman growing pain type

of stuff.

He still has that prodigious like arm talent that we've seen from him time and time again.

So I thought it was a good day for the defensive backs, JJ Donegan.

We're going to be talking about him a lot, another true freshman.

He looked good in some of these drills, ball tracking drills that Miami was running with

the DBs practicing their interceptions.

But you know, moving on to the tight end room, I got to watch them quite a bit today because

they had some good, good drills that were happening right in front of media viewing.

I'm really high on Gavin Mueller, the true freshman tight end that a lot of people have

been talking about.

You remember shortly before spring started, you know, he posted like a photo of himself

and like his weight room gains talking about those like Mueller physically.

I can't emphasize this enough at every position group, including tight end.

Miami seems to be doing a really good job, not only in the strength and conditioning program,

which Mueller has been in for the past few months since he arrived here, but just in recruiting

players who have those like future NFL type of body types, you know, just, you know, covering

spring practices for so many years here at South Florida, you know, if I compare what

this Mario Christobal roster has looked like, especially the last two years compared to,

you know, some of the rosters before he took over and was recruiting guys like the demon.

And even a few years ago when he was still kind of overturning and building his roster,

the physical maturity and just the depth and the caliber of NFL type bodies, it's very

noticeable.

You know, any national media guys are watching this and if you cover different programs

around the country, you know what I mean, that there are, there are several programs.

Miami isn't the only one that set themselves apart with just the physical specimens that

they have.

It's like Mario Christobal has referred to it as Jurassic Park with the way he collects

these guys.

And Gavin Mueller is another one of those really good.

He's nimble.

He's got very good footwork to go along with his size.

I like the way that Mueller takes instruction from his coaches because, you know, he and

Israel Briggs and Briggs looks like he's filling out a little bit adding more size, which

is great.

You know, they're the new guys there.

They're still kind of learning the routines and practice and everything, taking instruction

really well from their coaches and really being perfectionist when it comes to the simple

things.

When you're working on these footwork drills and route running, you want to be precise

like by the inch when you do these things.

And, you know, I've got to figure out who like the assistant tight ends coaches, like

we all know Mike Vidi, the new tight ends coach from Army who's really fun to watch.

He gets very animated and everything.

But there was like an assistant tight ends coach who I don't think I've seen before.

I'm not sure who he is who was working with his group and I just thought he was doing

a great job with his details and with his instructions.

So I got to figure out who the assistant tight ends coaches and give him a little nap on

this show because he seems to be doing a really good job.

Luca Gilbert, I thought I noticed him a little bit more even today than I did on Tuesday

in the first practice.

I thought Gilbert, number 88, who has like the best size in that room.

He's like six seven.

He's a giant.

I had a really good practice today.

He's another one who stands out physically.

A man his size is not supposed to be able to move the way that he does.

And also another one who's looking good to me coming off a really serious injury from

last year is Jack's carver.

The carver has always been like a release.

I don't know, he's like six five six six.

He's really tall.

Used to be lankier, but it looks like carver is adding just more size to his frame, which

is really good.

And it's great to see him back with no restrictions coming off that knee injury from last year.

Watching Cole McCarthy as well, he looks good physically.

He's working out with the tight ends.

He just changed position from defensive end to tight end.

I didn't notice him making any catches today in drills.

I might have missed it.

It's hard to see everything that's happening at once.

So I haven't noticed him make, make any catches yet, but he's working on it after making

that transition.

And he definitely has the body type, does McCarthy where he should be a very capable blocker

when he's used in those situations.

So we'll see how that goes.

But man, everyone wants to know about the quarterbacks and about the wide receivers.

I want to talk Darian Mensa when we come back.

And there's also one of the freshmen receivers who like, you know, didn't stand out to

me as much on Tuesday.

I thought had a really, really good day today in the second practice on Thursday that I

want to talk about.

Guys, we have so much, so much to get to following the second practice of spring ball.

And we're nowhere near done yet.

You want to keep it locked right here.

We're only getting started on this brand new episode of Locked on Canes.

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Thank you so much for making us your first listen here on locked on canes all right so

let's get to quarterbacks and receivers because everyone wants to know how is Darry and

Mensa performing.

This was another tremendous day for Mensa like I thought I've said this about a couple

of guys and I'll say it for Mensa as well.

I thought Darry and stood out me even more today than in the first practice.

That might have been like just the nature of the drills that they ran in the media viewing

period because we got like what looked like maybe an extra seven on seven period that

we didn't get in the first practice you had more competitive situations out there within

the media just to take you behind the curtain we get to watch the first seven periods of

practice which is usually around 45 minutes and then they do like the second half of the

practice is mostly outside they're nice the media we like air conditioning so the portion

of the practice we get to watch is usually inside and then they do a lot of the really

competitive stuff outside but they have like an extra competitive drill during the media

viewing today and I thought Mensa really stood out you know in fact I don't I don't think

he put a throw wrong today from what I saw like there were no interceptions from Mensa

and like anything that was incomplete was usually either a drop or you know a competitive

rep from a defensive back like when Mensa throwing routes throwing to receivers were running

routes on air like with no DB everything's completely on point so the only drops that

may happen are when you've got a DB draped all over you so I I didn't notice Mensa putting

anything wrong there one of the highlights from Mensa he threw a tremendous touchdown to

Dre Jacobs van Dreebies Jacobs and drills corner of the end zone to good throw but maybe

an even better catch by Jacobs and Jacobs he's been a consistent standout so far and when

we talk about how competitive that wide receiver room is there's a lot of different guys like

you know of course Jacobs cam van is practicing well he's made noticeable plays the first

couple of days you know we're huge fans of Josh Moore as well we're going to talk about

a couple of the freshmen receivers of course Malachite Tony continues to thrive he you know

is always a standout in an alpha in fact we probably we don't talk about Malachite enough because

the expectation is already so high that it's like when Malachite makes great plays out there

it's like nobody's surprised to see it and it's not necessarily the first thing in my notes

but Malachite definitely made plays today I got some good looks at Cooper Barcade today you know

Barcade of course the one who transferred in with Mensa from Duke he definitely when it comes to

just the fluidity of how Barcade runs his routes it's just very polished the body types are not

the same he's a little a little bigger and and thicker but he you know he does kind of remind me

a little bit just in terms of like the precision route running of Xavier Restrepo like they have

the same sort of attention to detail so I think that there is kind of a similarity there and he

doesn't even play the same position he's going to be an outside guy Restrepo was the slot guy but

you know you get what I'm saying that the way the way he runs his routes and the way he is very

precise reminds me a little bit of that I thought Luke Nichol and Judd Anderson also practice really

well today you know I mentioned Coleman couple of you know interceptions and drills nothing I'm concerned

about just timing and ball placement little things and it's one on you know sometimes with these

one-on-ones it's like 50 balls in some cases I'm not I'm not down on that at all you continue to see

the arm talent is through the roof from Darion Coleman and as a true freshman he's going to have

plenty of time to learn and grow you know when we talk about I mentioned a young receiver who I

thought took a really good step today and had some good moments was Tyran Evans number 83

he he's got kind of a skinny frame Evans he probably needs to pack on some more weight but he's

in like the 6465 range and the thing that really impressed me about Evans on a couple the catches

that he made I don't know what the young man's wingspan is but he is catch radius from his long

lanky arms he knows how to use it and his catch radius looks great so I'm I'm really going to be

looking for Tyran Evans is someone you know not just this coming season but the next few years

I think can really be a weapon in this receiving core because of his length and because of the way he

uses it now something I want to note because I get a lot of questions about how fast these guys are

like people will ask me hey can you can you see that four three speed from Vance Bafford right how fast

Tyran Evans and Milan Paris and stuff just based on the nature of drills that they're doing in these

first couple of practices and what we're able to watch it's really hard to gauge somebody's speed

like they're not you know we're not watching 11 on 11's yet probably won't see one of those

until the spring game so it's like it's really difficult if you ask me the question I can't give you

a good answer on like hey does this Vance Bafford look as fast as he as he is coming in like I can't

really answer that yet but I thought Tyran Evans he had a great touchdown catch from Judd Anderson

today good throw great catch and Luke Nichol had a really good touchdown pass to Milan Paris I thought

he had a good day and Paris was able to haul in the catch despite being held by the DB then

he held on to the football and then they have referees out of practice the referee through a flag

after the fact on that play and you know Spafford his route running does look good so I did enjoy

what I saw from Vance Bafford today and I I think he could maybe end up being a factor on special

teams as well now when they run some special team drills we've seen some punt return stuff being

run the first couple of practices they rotate so many guys in those reps that like I can't tell

you like hey so and so it's going to be the number one kick returner or punt returner I mean I

I think Malakitoni might end up being the punt returner again I know some people don't want him

do that because of how important he is on offense but he's just so dangerous there but this time of

year they rotate a lot of different guys into those roles let's see mentioned Cooper Barcai

there there were a couple of moments today and I enjoyed it because this to me is a big part of

coaching where offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Shannon Dawson got very animated and

sometimes who get animated when he really liked something that he saw other time will get animated

when somebody didn't run the route quite right in a drill or the quarterback didn't place the

football exactly where he wanted it because again there's such attention to detail on these drills

when they're practicing slants or tunnel screens they want every route in every ball to be like

precise by the inch and Shannon Dawson if he sees something he's not liking he was getting

pretty animated today and I appreciated that from him coach was fiery and then on the positive end

there were a couple of moments I noticed early in practice in some of the early drills when Dawson

after Darian Mensa executed well on a drill this happened a couple times Dawson would tell his

other guys that's how it needs to look which is also a testament to Mensa you know just being

an experienced essentially a professional out there with the way he conducting himself so I like

that Malachi Tony I mentioned you know we take him for granted because we all know how good he is

had another alpha type of practice had had some competitive reps actually at first I was like

which did he is that that was on him Chris you all to junior had some really competitive reps

with Malachi Tony where he was going step for step with him that was a really good battle today

I want to talk a little bit more about the defensive backs when we I want to talk about some of

the recruiting situations from the last couple of days and there was at least one big time there

a lot of visitors today but big time guy who was on campus today and also the feedback that we got

from Tuesday from six foot eight three hundred pound rugby turned offensive line prospect

nef gui who is really high on the you you want to keep it locked right here my friends we're not

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to get a free month of the every day or club so all right I was looking at the the defensive

backs today both of the transfer DBs are looking solid to me so far Omar Thornton and Conrad

Hussie Hussie he's bigger than I expected he'll thicker than I expected and again it's a you know

a testament not only to his hard work but to the strength and conditioning program freshmen safety

JJ Dunnigan you talk about guys who look physically good out there you know he's had a change

I think just based on like his size and you know how sharp he's looked so far and we heard good

feedback about him during the off season workouts as well Dunnigan might have a chance to work his

way into the rotation you know I know he's here to compete that's what his dad told me James

senior JJ knows Miami has a lot of a lot of bodies in there but he's good he's able to compete

took a little glimpse at the linebackers today Zikiel Marcelin I think is someone who had some good

reps one of those like younger ascending linebackers because that that's going to be to me um

the linebacker room is a room that has a lot to prove this year uh and of course losing

Wesley Be saints to big loss on field and leadership and I think you know Mohamed Torrey can step

up even more to compensate for that and then the tight end room is also you know a big one when

it comes to having something to prove and I talked about the tight ends earlier and really

appreciating the size and the caliber of bodies in that room um I'm very hopeful

for a big bounce back at that position group because last year they were

barely a factor in the passing game I think that can absolutely change um you know I know I

didn't mention the name Elijah Lofton earlier and that was not you know not any slight on him

Lofton continues to to go out there and compete and he's probably the best pass catcher right now

in that room um and Lofton Lofton is such a versatile Swiss army knife type of guy that I think

there's going to be a lot of times when Lofton is on the field and there are two tight ends on the field

and Luca Gilbert could probably be that other guy who gets most of that work and then someone like

Gavin Mueller or Jackson Carver will have opportunities to get on the field as well so I

think tight end can have a big bounce back year and I'm hoping I'm hoping linebacker has a really

big year you know Torrey had a great postseason last year he led Miami in tackles uh

Kamal Bonner is someone that is looking good so far in practice and it seems like people are

pretty hot on him uh and you know Marcelin as well is someone that I'm seeing making plays you

guys know I'm very high on telling Wiley Jr who's another one I think they can step up so

linebacker is a group that I made an effort to watch a little bit more of today um you know

one of the cooler features of today's practice was and this is not the only time that they've had

like elementary classes or probably elementary football teams like young kids visiting I do have

we do see that a lot it's pretty common at Miami but whatever group of kids that was today and if

if their coach or their teacher is listening to this please leave me a comment with what school

that that was that was in practice today because you guys brought so much enthusiasm like these are

kids probably a little older than my son who's eight years old it like it makes me wish I'd

drop my kid with me to practice today because there was this elementary group there and every time

someone made a play they just went crazy like they got hyped they're they're yelling they're

screaming they're cheering there was a moment when Malachitone got into the end zone for a touchdown

and the kids are screaming out gavos gavos and just a note on that for a second um that to me is

an illustration on how important someone like Malachitone and of course you know people like Ruben

Bain before him and someone like Nick Lanier who's gonna be here after Malachitone when you have

these local South Florida legends that are in your program they inspire the next generation of

Miami Hurricanes like you think about these kids these eight nine-year-old kids who are watching

practice today you know they're getting they're three feet away from Malachitone when he scores a

touchdown and they're yelling out gavos like those kids who are gonna be you know they're gonna be

looking for their colleges in what eight nine years it's like they're gonna remember that they're

gonna remember Malachitone he put it on for the 305 they're gonna remember Ruben Bain they're

gonna remember the Nick Laniers and all the great South Florida legends of you know of their

generation that are coming through this program and that's how you lay the foundations for future

recruiting and future Miami Hurricanes and it reminds me like a full circle type of moment you

know that picture a few months ago was going around with Mark Rick when he was the coach at Miami

you know eight nine years ago and he was posing with a very young like I don't know how elementary

school age Malachitone at a football camp and then several years later Malachitone is at Miami

and now Tony is inspiring the kids that were his age when he took that picture with Mark Rick so

this is how you mold the culture and this is how you build future canes in the program so that's

a beautiful thing and I hope those those kids seem to have the time of their lives in their today

watching practice and they really made the environment a lot of fun they were going crazy I love it

so like the I think the biggest named recruit that was at practice today I didn't get to see him

personally but Julius Jones Jr. excellent receiver from St. Thomas Aquinas now like my Miami

I think they're they're fighting an uphill battle for this one because you know his dad was a

Notre Dame player he's a legacy the Irish are on him heavily a bunch along with a bunch of other

programs but I I think he does seem to be giving Miami like a legitimate sincere look and it is the

hometown school for him so hopefully you know I haven't heard any interviews with him yet

since his visit but hopefully Miami is making some progress with Julius Jones even though that's

going to be a tough one to pry away from South Indiana and you guys remember we covered this on

Tuesday six foot eight three hundred pound rugby phenomenon Neff Guia was visiting Miami and I

got a couple quotes that he shared with Luke Cainy of CainSport.com and Luke is crushing it with

his coverage that's a good friend of mine going back a few years Guia said about Miami's practice the

intensity the grit the finer details that I see with coach Mirabal the online coach the online

players he's really pushing the guys to perfection and they have a lot of young players that are

freshmen and stuff like that but you can tell they're obviously building something special here

he's taking visits they note this month with Georgia Clemson South Carolina Michigan state

in Tennessee so he's been to some heavy hitters already but he says he has a lot to think about

following his Miami visit he says we're just seeing what our options are in general because obviously

the last couple of days as well a lot of other schools have reached out he said so it's kind of

just seeing what works best a lot to think about a lot of factors in it as well just try and make

right decision you know it seems like based on what some of the national analysts are saying as

well it sounds like Miami made a strong move with Guia and if he assesses the situation I know he

got to meet Mark Helbell this week and he's like the same height as Bell which is you know Josie he's

legit six eight pushing six nine if he looks at what Miami just did with Bell with a similar body type

and Miami's track record of developing raw but talented offensive line then because that's also

what Bell was Bell was very raw when he came over from junior college I think I think Guia should have

a lot to think about and you would expect Miami has to be among the strongest of contenders for him

knowing he can come here without having ever played competitive American football or even practiced

American football in pads before that if you're looking for a place that can help you develop to get

to the NFL you can't do better than Miami with Alex Merrival and Mario Cristobal so that should be

giving him a lot to think about if I were you I'd think about smashing that like button and

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