STATE OF THE U 2020: 2017 class analysis
STATE OF THE U: 2016 class analysis
OPINION: Diaz attacked problems and State of the U should benefit
STATE OF THE U: Where does program stand in college football landscape?
CaneSport is taking a closer look class by class at UM’s haul since 2016. Today’s focus? The Class of 2017.
NO LONGER WITH PROGRAM (14)
Trajan Bandy turned pro after a junior season in which he earned All-ACC Honorable Mention recognition with a team-high eight PBUs and three sacks. He signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers as an undrafted free agent.
Deejay Dallas turned pro after his junior season - last year he started all 10 games in which he played (he missed the end of the season due to injury) and had a team-high 693 rush yards on 115 carries, averaging 6.0 yards per rush, along with eight rushing touchdowns. Dallas added 14 receptions for 140 yards with two receiving touchdowns. He was a fourth round draft pick of the Seattle Seahawks.
Zach Feagles was UM"s former punter who transferred to Rutgers after the 2018 season. He had way too many shanks, and he was basically ushered out of the program (he was benched in favor of a walkon after struggling in 2018). Feagles also struggled as a freshman in 2017. Had 38.6 yard average in Year 1 and 38.9 in Year 2. He redshirted in 2019.
Deonte (DJ) Johnson transferred to Oregon after the 2017 season. Johnson was homesick and left after playing in eight games off bench that first year. He sat out at Oregon his first year per NCAA transfer rules, and in 2019 at DE had 2 sacks as a backup. He has now moved to tight end.
Jhavonte Dean is a former JUCO arrival CB who graduated. He was not physical enough against the run and struggled in coverage, so he saw spot duty. After arriving from junior college, Dean played sparingly in 2017 and had 11 tackles. In 2018, as a senior he had 17 tackles and three INTs. He was not drafted.
Dee Delaney was a CB graduate transfer who started and graduated. Delaney arrived from The Citadel for his senior year and had 39 tackles and an interception in 10 games (six starts), missing three games due to injury. He was not drafted.
Zach Dykstra was mired down the OL depth chart and left the team in the spring. He never contributed and was a clear miss in recruiting.
Jonathan Garvin turned pro after his junior season and was a seventh round pick of the Green Bay Packers. He had 37 total tackles (21 solo), nine tackles for loss and five sacks as a starter opposite Gregory Rousseau last season.
Evidence Njoku was a backup WR who had one catch in his first two years, was hampered by injury, then left during last season when he continued to be mired down the depth chart.
Brian Polendey was a recruiting miss who entered the transfer portal in January and enrolled at Colorado State.
Derrick Smith entered the transfer portal in 2019 and enrolled at Illinois. He actually showed some promise but was behind Romeo Finley at Striker and wanted a different opportunity - he sat out last year per NCAA transfer rules.
Jeff Thomas had an up-and-down Cane career, with more downs than ups. At one point he left the program, but when Manny Diaz took over as head coach he was talked into coming back for 2019. He turned pro early after a junior year in which he had 31 catches for 379 yards. Thomas never lived up to his physical ability, and he was signed by the New England Patriots as an undrafted free agent.
Cade Weldon transferred to East Tennessee State University after the 2018 season. A former Mark Richt guy (his father played for Richt), it made sense for Weldon to leave when new coaches took over. At UM he redshirted in 2017, then played garbage minutes in four games in 2018 (hit two of three passes and had a rush TD). He missed last season at ETSU due to an injury suffered in the opening fall scrimmage - he threw only three passes before going down.
De'Andre Wilder missed the 2018 season with a serious neck injury and left the team in July, 2019.
ANTICIPATED STARTERS (3)
Navaughn Donaldson has 34 career starts, and while he's a step too slow to play tackle he's a reliable guard. But he has a lot more potential to live up to, and coming off injury late last season that cost him the spring's sessions he also needs to work hard to drop some weight. He might need to redshirt this season.
Jon Ford got his first starting experience last season and will have the same role this year. He's not going to wow you, but Ford is an adequate rotation guy - last year he had 18 tackles and three sacks.
Mike Harley is a great team leader ,but hasn't really shined on the field. While he has good enough speed he's not physical. Still, coaches like to start him because he's a steady performer who knows what to do in every situation. Last year he started four games and had 485 receiving yards.
BATTLING TO START (1)
Amari Carter has made seven starts the last two years, finishing 2019 with 37 tackles and a sack. He's likely to be the primary backup behind Gurvan Hall and Bubba Bolden, but will push to start.
ANTICIPATED BACKUPS (6)
Robert Burns overcame some injury issues to play a role last season when Deejay Dallas was injured and Cam Harris either needed a breather or was banged up. He had 116 rush yards (4.0 YPC); Burns is not the fastest or most powerful, but he can give you some spot duty here and there.
Kai-Leon Herbert has been a backup to this point of his career, and that's likely to be the case once again. He worked in as the second team RT in the spring.
Zalon'tae Hillery just hasn't really made strides in his Cane career, and he needs to really focus more to move up the depth chart. This spring he was working in as the second team left tackle.
Bradley Jennings, Jr. was a backup his first two seasons and then missed last year due to injury. He will have to prove himself to get into the two deep, but Manny Diaz does like him.
N'Kosi Perry lost the starting job last season to Jarren Williams after winning it two years ago. He wound up getting some action last year with Williams either hurt or struggling, but was up-and-down. With D'Eriq King on board, it will be a backup role for Perry this year,. Even if he remains at UM for his senior year ,it's very possible a younger player like Tyler Van Dyke will pass him by. Perry has accuracy issues, hitting on 50 percent of his throws two years ago and 53 percent last year - overall in 2019 he had 1,045 passing yards, eight passing touchdowns and three interceptions, adding two rushing scores.
Waynmon Steed has suffered two major knee injuries and you have to think he'll wind up - at best - helping to provide some depth.
RIVALS100 S. FLORIDA PLAYERS THAT GOT AWAY (4)
National Rank; Name
19. Jerry Jeudy, 5-star signed with Alabama. A two-time first-team All-SEC pick, Jeudy left to turn pro early and was the 15th overall pick in the first round of the NFL draft. Last year , Jeudy led 'Bama with 77 receptions (1,163 yards, 15.1 per) and scored 10 times. This was a major loss.
33. Trevon Grimes, 5-star signed with Ohio State, then transferred to Florida. Started 11 games last season and had 33 receptions on the season for 491 yards and three touchdowns.
56. Stanford Samuels, 4-star signed with Florida State. Started every game and had 60 tackles, including 1.5 for loss, with two interceptions and seven pass breakups. He was an onorable mention All-ACC selection.
67. Vandarius Cowan, 4-star signed with Alabama, then transferred to West Virginia for 2018. He sat out after transferring per NCAA rules, then last season suffered a season-ending knee injury after two games (he was a backup).
ANALYSIS
Nine players in this class joined the "no longer with the program" list in the last 12 months, bringing the total number in that category to 14. By comparison only 10 of the original 24 signees are still on the team. That is a second straight recruiting disaster under Mark Richt.
This is the group that is entering its fourth year at UM, so it's supposed to be the veteran unit that leads the way this season, taking on the challenge of helping the Canes to a Coastal Division title.
Could there have been better development for some of these guys? Probably. But at the end of the day you need a lot of talent, and this group didn't have enough of it.
Navaughn Donaldson, Jon Ford and Mike Harley are the guys we project as the three starters out of this class, and can you point to one of those three and say they are ready for big-time performances?
Not really.
If there is one player we have listed as a projected backup that we think might actually improve with new coaching, it would be Zalon'tae Hillery. He has all the tools to succeed, just has to get rid of his lackadaisical attitude and really get after it. They need a guy like him to step up and help out.
To us this was a major weak-link class that cost the team last season - even the players that left early to turn pro weren't high level selections at the NFL level. The talent was simply lacking.
And ... in a fantasy world ... how different might things have been if Jerry Jeudy and Trevon Grimes stayed closer to home, a problem that continues to hold the program back from making progress on the field?
Hmm.