No, this does not mean that the Miami Hurricanes from 2000-2004 are back. It would be veryhard to replicate what those Miami teams did in terms of athletes being drafted.
When it comes to the NFL Draft, the University of Miami holds records for the most playersselected in the first round (six in 2004), as well as the most first-round draft picks in a two-year(11 from 2003-’04), three-year (15 from ’02-’04) and four-year (19 from ’01-’04) span.
From 1995-2008, Miami set a record for consecutive NFL Drafts with at least one playerselected in the first round.
As of late, Miami has not necessarily had the same talent level in Coral Gables. Since 2004,when Miami had six players selected in the first round — nine total — they’ve only once topped that in total players drafted. That year was 2006, which saw six players go through the first three rounds.
Over the past three years, however, only 9 players have been drafted from Miami, four of whichwere first-round picks.
Today, The Miami Herald is reporting that a scout, who has visited the University ofMiami a lot, told them “this is Miami’sbest class in five years.”
The scout added, “I really like the quarterback. Heck, last year, the best prospect was a guyplaying basketball! Now you’re looking at several early-round picks, a real solid group ofprospects.”
The player the scout was referring to is Jimmy Graham, a former athlete at Miami. Graham finished his only season with the Hurricanes with17 catches for 213 yards and 5 touchdowns.
Because the ACC is often scrutinized as being less physical and more speed oriented than othermajor conferences, the Hurricanes’ upcoming game with Ohio State will serve as a scale. Thescout also noted that “this is a benchmark game because the ACC isn’t as physical as the BigTen. NFL people will put a lot of stock in this game.”
(Side note: The sport’s experts admit to gauging talent by conference. Does this give validity tothe SEC-being-dominant discussions? Leave a comment; I digress.)
According to both ESPN‘s Todd McShay and the featured scout, the Miamiplayers that will be closely followed are defensive end Allen Bailey, cornerbackBrandon Harris, offensive tackle Orlando Franklin, linebacker ColinMcCarthy and receiver Leonard Hankerson.
Another two scouts added that they will be watching several other players, including runningbacks Damien Berry and Graig Cooper, and cornerback DeMarcus VanDyke.
He still has a few years to go, but Ray Ray will be right up there as well. Dude is special.