Miami Hurricanes Recruiting: 2018 Rivals250 Final Update

Following 247Sports, Rivals released their final rankings update of the 2018 cycle last week.

As always, there were plenty of movement within the latest Rivals250. University High’s Lorenzo Lingard remained UM’s top ranked recruit by Rivals at #13 overall, while 12 total Hurricanes made the list, up from 11 in the December update. Mark Richt’s new QB signee Jarren Williams swapped in for decommit and Alabama signee Josh Jobe, while American Heritage DT Nesta Silvera continued his upward trajectory in the Rivals250 with a standout performance at the U.S. Army All-American Bowl.

In addition to Silvera, Brevin Jordan and Brian Hightower were the other Storm18 members that shot up the list and improved their standing in the minds of the Rivals’ analysts after dominating their respective all-star games. Silvera went from outside the rankings to #121 overall, while Jordan moved into the top 50 at #49 overall, and Hightower cracked the top 200 with a 27 spot leap (#190 overall).

Besides those three though, everybody else in Storm18 within the Rivals250 fell, although they were mostly small changes. The only significant move downward came from Gurvan Hall, who lost 30 spots of ground down to #221. Hall participated in the Under Armour Game and apparently didn’t make much of an impression on the staff at Rivals.

Below you can find a handy little chart of all the changes, up and down, of Miami commits within the final Rivals250.

Thoughts

• Silvera was throwing offensive linemen around like ragdolls at the Army Bowl and Rivals’ analyst Rob Cassidy says Silvera proved his huge senior season “was no fluke during all-star season, as he was up to the task against other blue-chip prospects.” The Rivals team liked him enough to move him inside the top 10 at the DT position in the class. Silvera’s first step quickness also catches guards off-balance and he has an incredible opportunity to earn early playing time with the hole in Miami’s DT depth chart. He’s looking around at Tennessee and Florida, but Miami is confident he will sign next week, while also hoping Silvera can influence his American Heritage teammates to ink with the Canes as well.

• While it seems his height at 6’3” held him back from 5-star status, Jordan got high praise and an Evan Engram comparison from Rivals’ Adam Gorney. The new #2 TE in the nation has the type of speed and athleticism that is rare at the tight end spot and makes him a tough matchup for any defender. Gorney went on to add that Jordan is “physical enough not to get pushed around by linebackers and he’s an absolute nightmare because he can stretch the field like a wide receiver. Plus, the Miami signee has such phenomenal hands he can make the tough catch”. Jordan is locked in with the Canes and, even though he won’t be in Coral Gables during the spring, is probably the odds-on favorite to win Miami’s starting TE job in 2018.