Miami Hurricanes 2018 Senior Profile: OT Tyree St. Louis

It’s high praise when you’re considered a staple at your position. Throughout much of his time as a Hurricane, the most consistent player along the offensive line has been offensive tackle Tyree St. Louis. Having locked down both the left and right side, St. Louis has been one of the few constants at a volatile position for the Canes. In an ACC conference loaded with premium edge rushers, St. Louis has been up to the challenge of not only protecting the QB, but helping to pave the way for Miami’s run game.

Before the U

Tyree St. Louis was a much-sought-after recruit back in his postsecondary days. Attending local football factory IMG Academy, the tackle warranted plenty of attention from the premier programs in the country. What impresses you from watching his highlight reel is his ability to ride edge rushers out of the path of the QB in pass protection, leaving a pristine pocket for the signal caller to operate out of. The next aspect of St. Louis’ play that stood out was his ability to shuffle his feet to stay in front of defenders, allowing him to keep his balance and strike with a punch/shove when the rusher exposed their hands.

St. Louis was regarded as one of the best tackle prospects in the country. Rated as a four-star recruit by most reputable recruiting services, St. Louis fielded offers from programs USC, Florida, Florida State and, of course, your Miami Hurricanes. St. Louis gave his verbal pledge to join the Hurricanes on July 29th, 2014, although he did continue to visit other programs and draw offers.

Life as a Cane

As you come to learn if you’ve followed college football for a prolonged period, high school star ratings have little bearing on how productive a player will be in college. Even though, St. Louis was one of the gems of the his recruiting class, there’s a big jump in responsibility and competition at tackle going from high school to the ACC. It’s part of the reason why, in 2015, St. Louis spent most of his freshman season working on special teams. Easing the tackle into the water was a sound method, one that would payoff the following season.

St. Louis’ first start of his career came against Florida A&M in Miami’s 2016 season opener. After the Canes cruised to the win in that game, St. Louis didn’t see action in again until October against North Carolina. It would be the first of eight consecutive starts to the season at right tackle for the Tampa native. After the move, St. Louis was an integral member of a Hurricanes’ offense that averaged over 400 yards, thereby cementing his grasp on the starting tackle position. St. Louis was part of an offense that was able to put up 31 points and 363 total yards against West Virginia to end the program’s six straight bowl losses, winning the 2016 Russell Athletic Bowl.

There was positive movement for both offense and program as St. Louis became a junior in 2017. While most of the optimism surrounded the skilled talent on offense, St. Louis was viewed as one of the foundational pieces for a promising offensive unit with conference championship aspirations. Tyree was a ‘set it and forget it’ player on Miami’s offense, in the sense that there wasn’t much worry for the big man on the right side, given his production the season previous.

With the addition of Navaughn Donaldson as the starting right guard, Tyree served as a quasi-mentor to the freshman. The duo formed one of the best tandems in the country that saw the offense average 29.1 points a game, rush for an average of 5.05 yards-per-game and achieve 6.24 yards-per-play in 2017. St. Louis served as a staple on the offensive line at right tackle, starting in all 13 games for UM.

St. Louis would continue his consecutive start streak in 2018; however, it wasn’t at right tackle. After the graduation of KC McDermott, St. Louis made the switch to left tackle, essentially protecting the blind side of the QB. The move wasn’t as seamless as everyone had hoped, though. The ACC is chock-full of capable edge rushers, so there have been times when the senior has struggled to hold his ground. That said, Tyree still remains one of the better options at tackle that the Hurricanes have, based on his wealth of experience and knowledge. The latter traits are specifically integral given the youth on the right side of Miami’s offensive line in Donaldson and freshman tackle DJ Scaife.

247 Sports

If St. Louis continues to be the pillar of consistency that he has been, he will have started in 34 consecutive games at tackle for the Hurricanes in the span of three seasons. We give our thanks because of that dependability and his contributions for the betterment of the program, we give our thanks Tyree St. Louis.

Salute to you, Tyree!