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Two days down. Ninety-Seven to go.
To recap, on days ninety-nine and ninety-eight, we featured two UM pass-rushers (Winston Moss & Jerome Brown). Today, the trend continues as we highlight former Hurricane DE Adewale Ojomo and incoming Freshman DE Jonathan Garvin.
Adewale Ojomo is not a household name for even the most die-hard of Hurricane fans, so let me give a little back story. Ojomo, a 3-Star Defensive End from Hialeah HS, drew heavy interest from ACC rivals NC State and Pitt, but decided to stay close to home and play for Miami. Ojomo redshirted his freshman year, primarily became he only had one year of experience at Defensive End in high school. As a freshman, Ojomo looked promising, playing in eleven games and recording three sacks. In 2009, as a sophomore, though, Ojomo broke his jaw in preseason, and was held out the entire year. While Ojomo was injured, Freshman standout Oliver Vernon took Ojomo’s spot and excelled. Although Ojomo was always shadowed from the spotlight, he did sign as an undrafted free agent with the New York Giants in 2013. The Giants would eventually waive Ojomo, and with off-field issues, he never had the chance to play in the NFL again.
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Not to demean Ojomo’s contributions to Miami football, but he does not stack up to Moss and Brown. One player who could, though, is incoming Freshman Jonathan Garvin.
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Jonathan Garvin, from Lake Worth HS, has a real chance to be an impact freshman and has the potential to be one of college football’s best pass-rusher within the next four years. In his senior season, Garvin ended the year with 98 tackles, 59 tackles for loss, 18 sacks, and earned 1st Team All-State Honors. Although Garvin was a 4-Star Defensive End, there wasn’t much buzz around him. I consider Garvin to be one of the most underrated and overlooked players from our class. Much of this is because of the current depth already at the position. Also, Garvin only weighs 235 pounds, which is much less than counterparts Chad Thomas (275 lbs) and Joe Jackson (260 lbs). Still, Garvin has the quickness, vision, and motor that can make for another Manny Diaz and UM premier defensive end. Richt said Garvin had a phenomenal spring, and I project him to be in the rotation this upcoming season.