Miami Hurricanes: Week One Depth Chart

allCanesBlog guest columnist Scott Alan Salomon breaks down the Miami Hurricanes’ first depth chart of the season, the loss of a key running back and some personnel changes due to the departure of many key Canes from last season.

The Hurricanes released their first depth chart heading into the opening game this Saturday against Bethune-Cookman. This is subject to change during the week as position battles will be on-going through out the week.

One player noticeably missing from the depth chart is running back Gus Edwards. Edwards will miss the entire season with an unspecified foot injury that had been bothering him all week. It was originally thought that he might miss a few games, but it has now been announced that he will miss the entire 2015 campaign and will receive a medical redshirt.

“Gus worked extremely hard for the last nine month to prepare for this moment,” said head coach Al Golden. “He set a high standard and did a great job leading and being unselfish. We are tremendously disappointed for him, but we will be there with him on the road to recovery and anxiously await his return.”

Edwards was the team’s third-leading rusher in 2014 as he rushed for 349 yards behind Duke Johnson and Joe Yearby. He also scored six touchdowns, averaging 5.7 yards per carry.

This opens up additional playing time for Trayone Gray, a second-year player who was going to buried on the depth chart. He will see plenty of playing time now behing Yearby and incoming freshman Mark Walton from Booker T. Washington High School in Miami.

One battle on the offensive line that needs to be addressed is the status of KC McDermott. He is currently the second team left tackle and Sunny Odogwu is the starter at right tackle. It is possible that McDermott, if he does not unseat Trevor Darling at left tackle, could supplant Odogwu at right tackle and inherit that starting position. He has worked at both positions in the offseason and played both positions in high school.

Lawrence Cager, a true freshman, has cracked the two-deep lineup on the depth chart and is listed as the backup to Rashawn Scott at the x-position.

Stacy Coley was the last receiver to break the two-deep that quickly and had a productive season in the slot his freshman year. It will be surprising to see Cager get those kinds of reps with the receiving corps that Miami returns, but if the depth chart remains true to form, he will be in a position where he can make a lot of plays.

Another player that appears on the depth chart after a year away from the school and the game is Al-Quadin Muhammad. He is listed as the third-team outside linebacker, but he will move up the chart this week and will see a lot of action. He will be counted on to bring pressure on the quarterback from the OLB position and will see plenty of reps as a stand-up linebacker and could also put his hand in the dirt and line up at rush end in different sets.

The university also announced on Monday morning that the school inked senior linebacker Zach McCloud to a grant-in-aid agreement on Monday.

McCloud, who is listed at 6-foot-2 and 220 pounds, is a rated as a 4-star recruit by ESPN and 247Sports.com. He also is rated as the No. 13 outside linebacker in the country in the ESPN Top 300 rankings.

McCloud, from Lake Worth, Fla., is in his senior season at Santaluces High School after he posted an impressive junior campaign where he tallied 119.5 tackles, six sacks and nine forced fumble.

Following his junior campaign, The Palm Beach Post selected him to the Super 11. PBGameTime currently rates McCloud as the No. 2 player in Palm Beach County. The Sun-Sentinel named him to its Super 11 two weeks ago as one of the top players in Palm Beach County.

At the Dolphins’ High School media day three weeks ago, McCloud said that he was committed to Miami, but was planning on still taking visits. It is undetermined as to how this will formulate his future planning on taking visits, but it gives the school unbridled contact with him and they can mention him by name in interviews and discussions. There is also no black-out period where they cannot speak with him.

This is not a letter of intent. All that this means is that the school is guaranteeing him a scholarship on National Letter of Intent signing day. McCloud can still sign with another school and spurn Miami like Dalvin Cook did last season when he signed a grant-in-aid agreement with Miami, FSU and Florida.

McCloud is the fourth senior to sign a grant-in-aid agreement with Miami this year and is the third ESPN Top 300 recruit slated to join Miami in the fall of 2016.

The depth chart for this weekend’s season opener against the Wildcats:

OFFENSIVE DEPTH CHART

Wide Reciever
#11 Rashawn Scott 6-2, 203- R-SR
#18 Lawrence Cager 6-5, 215- FR

Left Tackle
#73 Trevor Darling 6-5, 316 – SO
52 KC McDermott 6-6, 310 – SO

Left Guard
#67 Alex Gall 6-5, 312 – JR
#74 Tyler Gauthier 6-5, 315 – FR
#64 Hunter Wells 6-6, 316 – R-SR

Center
#68 Nick Linder 6-3, 302 – SO
#54 Hunter Knighton 6-5, 300 – R-SO

Right Guard
#63 Daniel Isidora 6-4, 325 – JR
#55 Joe Brown 6-4, 322 – R-FR

Right Tackle
#66 Sunny Odogwu 6-8, 318 – R-SO
#78 Tyree St. Louis 6-5, 312- FR

Tight End
#5 Standish Dobard 6-4, 261- JR
#88 Jake O’Donnell 6-6, 252 – R-JR
-or-
#87 Jerome Washington 6-5, 264 – FR

H-Back
#23 Christopher Herndon 6-4, 259- SO
#86 David Njoku 6-4, 244 – R-FR

Fullback
#40 Gage Batten 6-0, 235- JR
#44 Walter Tucker 6-0, 226- JR

Quarterback
#15 Brad Kaaya 6-4, 210 – SO
#12 Malik Rosier 6-1, 212 – R-FR

Running Back
#2 Joe Yearby 5-9, 202 – SO
#1 Mark Walton 5-10, 195 – FR
#32 Trayone Gray 6-2, 216 – SO

Slot
#3 Stacy Coley 6-3, 188 – JR
#8 Braxton Berrios 5-9, 180 – SO
#9 Malcolm Lewis 6-0, 190- R-JR

Wide Receiver
#6 Herb Waters 6-2, 198 – SR
#3 Stacy Coley 6-3, 188 – JR

DEFENSIVE DEPTH CHART

End
#47 Ufomba Kamalu 6-6, 297 – R-SR
#9 Chad Thomas 6-5, 275 – SO
#80 RJ McIntosh 6-4, 291 – FR

Nose
#93 Calvin Heurtelou 6-3, 315 – SR
#7 Kendrick Norton 6-3, 318 – FR
#11 Michael Wyche 6-4, 325 – Sr

Tackle
#92 Courtel Jenkins 6-2, 311 – SO
#95 Anthony Moten 6-4, 299 – SO

OLB
#58 Darrion Owens 6-3, 247 – SO
#17 Tyriq McCord 6-3, 241 – SR

ILB
#56 Raphael Kirby 6-1, 238 – SR
#23 Terry McCray 6-3, 228 – R-FR

ILB
#5 Jermaine Grace 6-1, 221 – JR
#13 Marques Gayot 6-1, 222 – SO

OLB
#33 Trent Harris 6-2, 251- SO
#31 Demetrius Jackson 6-5, 248 – R-FR
-or-
#8 Al-Quadin Muhammad 6-4, 256 – R-SO

Cornerback
#3 Tracy Howard 5-11, 192 – SR
#29 Corn Elder 5-10, 183 – JR

Safety
#25 Dallas Crawford 5-10, 200 – R-SR
#26 Rayshawn Jenkins 6-1, 208 – R-JR

Safety
#2 Deon Bush 6-1, 205 – SR
-or-
#6 Jamal Carter 6-1, 209 – JR
#4 Jaquan Johnson 5-11, 190 – FR

Cornerback
#1 Artie Burns 6-0, 197 – JR
#22 Sheldrick Redwine 6-1, 196 – FR

Nickel
#29 Corn Elder 5-10, 183 – JR

SPECIALISTS

Punter
#16 Justin Vogel 6-4, 210 – JR
#15 Michael Badgley 5-10, 185 – SO

Field Goals
#15 Michael Badgley 5-10, 185 – SO
#43 Jon Semerene 6-0, 197 – RFR

Kickoffs
#43 Jon Semerene 6-0, 197 – RFR
#16 Justin Vogel 6-4, 208 – JR

Holder
#16 Justin Vogel 6-4, 210 – JR
#12 Malik Rosier 6-1, 212 – R-FR

Long Snapper
#39 Jordan Butler 5-11, 202 – FR
-or-
#55 Frank Gabriel 6-3, 210 – R-JR

Short Snapper
#55 Frank Gabriel 6-3, 210 – R-JR
#39 Jordan Butler 5-11, 202 – FR

Punt Returns
#8 Braxton Berrios 5-9, 180 – SO
#3 Stacy Coley 6-3, 188 – JR

Kickoff Returns
#3 Stacy Coley 6-3, 187 – JR
#1 Mark Walton 5-10, 195 – FR

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