Rivals Camp Series Miami: Thoughts from the sidelines
MORE RCS MIAMI: Prospects that earned their stripes | Five teams that should be pleased
HIAHLEAH, Fla. – The Rivals 3 Stripe Camp Series presented by adidas made a stop in South Florida this past weekend, with top talent from the Sunshine State descending on the city. Three members of the Rivals.com National Analyst Team were on hand and each provides their thoughts on the day’s proceedings.
ROB CASSIDY, FLORIDA RECRUITING ANALYST
New Miami head coach Manny Diaz was in attendance at Sunday’s camp in a fatherly capacity, as his son Gavin was a participant. Still, it’s not as though he was forced to block out the rest of the elite prospects in attendance. Instead, Diaz was able to get an up-close and exclusive look of the action. He wasn’t able to recruit or speak to prospects at the event, but the evaluation opportunity provided to the Canes’ new coach shouldn’t be overlooked. After a regression in 2018, Miami needs any advantage it can get right now, so the fact that Diaz and company were able to gain a perfectly legal one on Sunday was a blessing.
Clemson seems to be zeroing in on running back Jaylan Knighton. If history is any indication, the Tigers will eventually get their man. Clemson extends few offers and runs an incredibly efficient recruiting operation, signing most of the targets in which it invests significant time. On Sunday, Knighton spoke at length about the Tigers and seems to heavily favor Dabo Swinney’s program.
Freshman Julian Armella has an incredibly bright future. One of the best young prospects at Sunday’s event, The Saint Thomas Aquinas High School freshman took home the offensive line MVP award and looked absolutely dominant in the process. His big day is good news for Florida State, as Armella’s father played for the Seminoles. The Seminoles seem to be the front-runner to land the future star, who already holds a handful of offers.
ADAM FRIEDMAN, MID-ATLANTIC RECRUITING ANALYST
The stars this weekend in Miami were along the offensive line, not the skill positions. The headliners of the group were Rivals100 prospect Marcus Dumervil, four-star Jovens Janvier, Kentucky commit Gerald Mincy and major 2021 prospect Marcus Tate. Dumervil is a physical specimen. He didn’t finish the camp because he was sick but did take one rep of one-on-ones and it may have been the best of the day from any offensive lineman. Freshman Julian Armella was outstanding and absolutely deserved to win the MVP award. He is going to be a name everybody in the recruiting world knows before he signs his National Letter of Intent. The same thing goes for Tate. Miami has a very good interior lineman commit in the 2021 class with Laurence Seymore. Janvier won’t blow you away when you first see him but he has great feet and a solid base.
I had really high hopes for four-star South Carolina commit Issiah Walker because there has been a lot of news surrounding him but he had a rough day. He has quick feet and a big frame but has a long way to go with his technique and lacks the physical strength to be considered a top-flight prospect.
It’s always surprising to see how few major quarterback prospects are in South Florida. The top signal callers in the area are good but they are, at best, low Power Five prospects. The last time a big-time quarterback from South Florida panned out was Lamar Jackson in the 2015 class and before him was Teddy Bridgewater in the 2011 class. Those are the only two quarterbacks from South Florida that were ranked at least four-star prospects and actually panned out. With all the transferring going on at the high school level right now it is surprising that we don’t see any major high school quarterback prospects ending up in South Florida.
WOODY WOMMACK, SOUTHEAST RECRUITING ANALYST
This year was another classic year for wide receiver talent at RCS Miami. The group was headlined by Marcus Rosemy, who reminded me of past dominant Rivals Camp performances by Jerry Jeudy, Calvin Ridley and others. He was joined by Bryce Gowdy, who would have won the MVP at pretty much any other regional camp with the way he played on Sunday, as well as four-star Marc Britt. One prospect that I think will be in that conversation next year at this time is 2021 wide receiver Bralon Brown. He has the look of a special prospect, as he glides down the field with ease.
I was really impressed with the depth along the offensive line. There have been times at the Miami camp in the past where it’s tough to even find more than a couple high Power Five options. On Sunday, there were nearly 10 linemen that I think have a chance to play at a very high level, with 2022 prospect Julian Armella outperforming them all to win the MVP. Line play is vitally important to on-field success, and the Florida schools absolutely must keep these type of guys close to home in order to get back to their lofty heights.
