In this installment of the Recruit Notebook, we meet the next player who looks to continue Miami’s longstanding history of excellence at his position: TE Brian Polendey.

Bio

A 6’4” 230lb standout from Denton (TX) Guyer HS, Brian Polendey has the size and build of a prototypical Tight End. Polendey ended his HS career by playing his junior and senior seasons at Guyer, but had moved around the country previously due to family work opportunities.

Polendey is one of 10 Canes early enrollees, coming to campus in early January, so he’s already officially at school and on the roster. Polendey committed in the summer of 2016, seemingly out of the blue. After taking 2 TEs in 2016, adding Polendey in 2017 is a good move for Miami. And, the added bonus is that since Polendey is (basically) a TXHSFB player — even if he didn’t live there his whole life — Miami has the chance to get a little foothold in the rich recruiting grounds of TX. To that end, several top recruits in the 2018 and 2019 classes (including Polendey’s HS teammate 2019 RB Noah Cain) have early interest in Miami. So, even if Polendey isn’t a breakout player, he could pave the way for Miami to get one such standout from Texas in future years. Win-win, IYAM.

Recruiting Ranking

On the 247sports composite, Polendey is a 3-star prospect, the #20 TE in this class, #68 in the State of Texas, and #504 recruit overall. Like I said before, Polendey has good size at 6’4” 230lbs. What he doesn’t have much of, however, are stats. Denton Guyer runs the ball like 90-95% of the time, so passes are few, and passes to the TE are fewer. But he has good size and projectable skills, so I think his rating is fair.

Polendey committed to Miami over 10 other offers, including Colorado, Arkansas, Duke, and Houston.

Polendey as a player

Polendey totaled 16 catches for 177 yards and 3 TDs in his junior and senior seasons COMBINED. So, he’s not necessarily the 2nd coming of David Njoku as a pass catcher right now, to say the least.

But, Polendey does a nice job with the few routes he’s asked to run. He can improve that option route (you know, the one route Jason Witten, or Antonio Gates, or Tony Gonzales used), and be consistent with his hands. Many of the catches on his HLs are wide open, but TEs at this level will have to make catches in traffic.

Polendey is very advanced as a blocker. With his HS team running more than 90% of the time, Polendey’s main task was blocking for the run game. Not only has Polendey done well blocking DEs and LBs from his in-line TE spot, he also played some OT as a senior due to injury attrition.

2017 Outlook

Brian Polendey has good size, a nice frame, and some good skills for the TE position. He’s not really an explosive athlete, but he should be able to develop nicely. However, due to the fact that he’s still developing as a pass catcher, and the fact that there are 3 (if Jovani Haskins stays on the roster) players in front of him on the team, Polendey’s greatest contributions may come in seasons after 2017.

Chance for a redshirt: 10/10

Yeah, I really don’t see Polendey playing this season.

That’s it for this installment of the Recruit Notebook.

Go Canes