In this installment of The Recruiting Notebook, we meet a player with good size and a high ceiling for the future: DT Jason Blissett.

Bio

Jason Blissett is not your typical University of Miami recruit. Apart from having a different hometown than most players at The U — Brooklyn, NY — the 6’3.5” 271lb Blissett wants to be a federal agent when his playing career is over.

“My parents made it their mission to make sure I understand it’s not all about football,” Blissett said in an interview with Manny Navarro of The Athletic earlier this year. “When I was younger, I used to watch a lot of crime shows, like ‘Law and Order’. I still watch them to this day. I like the adrenaline rush of it all. It just excites me. My uncle is a cop. My aunt is a cop. My other aunt was in the Navy. It just spoke to me.”

But, before Blissett chases down criminals, he’s developing his skills at chasing down Quarterbacks and Running Backs.

Blissett burst onto the recruiting radar for Miami after attending Paradise Camp in July. Blissett, who was a 3-star kid without much fanfare or recruiting caché at the time, put on a spectacular performance in front of DL coach Jess Simpson and earned a scholarship offer based on that strong performance. While many Miami Hurricanes fans said “who!?” at the time, Blissett has more than proven his worth on the field.

Playing in New York, a location with plenty of athletes but not the same kind of recruit grooming pedigree as South Florida, Blissett was a dominant force for Poly Prep. He totaled 77 tackles –18 for a loss – 5 sacks, 4 forced fumbles and 2 fumble recovers in nine games while totaling 447 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns on offense doubling as a running back.

Not only did Blissett impact games on offense and defense, but he did so all while staying solid to Miami, and trying to help the Canes get inroads with other talented players from the Empire State.

Yeah, I like this kid already.

Recruiting Ranking

On the 247sports composite, Blissett is a 4-star prospect, the #22 DT nationally in this class, #2 in the State of New York, and #319 recruit overall. Blissett is the #10 DT and #203 overall on 247sports’ individual (non-composite) rankings so he could end up seeing his composite ranking rise by traditional signing day in February.

Blissett committed to Miami over several P5 offers, including Boston College, Minnesota, Florida, Syracuse, and Tennessee.

As a Player

Blissett is an athletic tackle who is quick off the ball and moves very well. As evidenced by the fact that he doubled as a big back for his HS team — imagine being a 5’9” 155lb DB trying to tackle the 6’3.5” 271lb Blissett as he rumbles downhill.....YIKES — and wasn’t just a novelty in doing so.

The thing with all HS DTs is there needs to be physical and technical development. A measure of “grown man strength” that comes from chronological maturity as well as additional time in the weight room is truly necessary to compete on the interior of a collegiate line. Additionally, footwork and hand technique invariably need to be developed as well. Blissett does a lot of things well naturally, but he’ll need to push himself to the next level in college

Strengths

• Height/length
• Athleticism
• Intellect (Poly Prep is a top institution so Blissett has had to hone his mental acuity for years)

Weaknesses

• Needs some “grown man strength” (yes, even at his size)
• Hand technique
• Block shedding technique

2019 Outlook

Jason Blissett has the size to be a nice player at Miami. He could fit into the Gerald Willis III 3-technique spot and use his athleticism to great advantage.

But, even if he’s able to do that, Blissett’s youth, relative lack of strength, and developing technique probably mean that he’s a year away from being a major contributor on the Canes’ D.

Chances for a redshirt: 5/10

Miami needs DTs, and Blissett has the makings of a good one. But, more talented players have RS’d in years past, though that happened with a better and more settled DT position in front of them. In any event, I could see Blissett playing Special Teams mostly with some rotation snaps as the year goes on, or I could see him RSing and developing his body to be ready in the future.

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

Go Canes