In this installment of The Recruit Notebook, we meet a versatile defender who could find a home at a couple different places on Miami’s defense: DB Keshawn Washington.

Bio

After missing out on several players from Homestead (FL) South Dade in recent years, the Miami Hurricanes made the sage move to prioritize the 2020 prospects on the Bucs roster. And, in doing so, they were able to secure an early commitment from DB Keshawn Washington as a junior.

A tall, lithely built 6’2” 177lbs, Washington is easily identified on the field by his long dredlocks. An opposing teams saw plenty of those ‘locks through the 2018 season as Washington helped South Dade to a playoff berth.

After Miami stumbled to a 7-6 record in 2018, Washington and fellow commit/teammate DB Jaiden Francois decommitted when Mark Richt announced his retirement. This is notable because the pair, thought to be a package deal, originally committed to Miami on the same day.

When Manny Diaz was named Miami’s head coach, his first order of business was to re-recruit many of the players that were commmitted to Miami under Richt who decommitted when the elder coach retired (6 players decommitted on one day last January, so that gives you a little idea of the job Diaz faced). Early on in his Miami tenure, Diaz was able to get both Washington and Francois (among others) to commit to Miami for a 2nd time. And for Washington, that commitment stuck to and through today’s signing of his NLI.

While his teammate Francois would decommit from Miami a 2nd time at the beginning of the 2019 season, ostensibly to evaluate if not pursue other options, Washington remained steadfast in his pledge to the hometown Hurricanes. And, in doing so, kept a versatile and dynamic defender committed to Miami’s #Category20 recruiting class, a group that views itself as the one to lead a future resurgence of The U.

Recruiting Ranking

On the 247sports composite, Washington is a 3-star prospect, the #34 S nationally in this class, #60 in the State of Florida, and #367 recruit overall.

Washington committed to Miami over offers from Florida State, Auburn, and Georgia from his list of 15 scholarship offers.

As a player

A tall and long defender at 6’2” 177lbs, Washington plays S in HS and is viewed by Miami as a “defensive athlete” who can line up in a number of positions. While S is probably where Washington is going to start his college career due to his thin build, STRIKER — the hybrid OLB/S position Romeo Finley has held down for the past 2 years — is where Washington may end up down the road.

Washington was an in-the-box player for South Dade this year, which basically mimics the STRIKER position that Miami has built into their defense. Washington was more of a force moving forward as a blitzer or in run support than he was in pass coverage. But, due to his size and length, Washington is able to affect the passing game between the hashes.

Washington is a big kid, but he’s not the quickest or fastest player. He could be taken advantage of when matched up with faster or quicker players, say from the slot of the opposing offense, or a running back on a swing route, for example.

Strengths

• Downhill playing style
• Tackling
• Height/Length
• Versatility
• HAIR

Weaknesses

• Lithely built
• No defined position
• Can he keep up with faster players?

2020 Outlook

Washington has the height and length to be a very good STRIKER in time. The thing that stands between where he is now and where he needs to be is his physical development. Once Washington has the chance to gain weight and strength, then he’ll be able to contribute at this level.

Chances for a Redshirt: 9/10

Again, Washington needs another mango season to develop his body before he’s ready to compete and be a rotation player at STRIKER for Miami. He could stick at Safety, but his body is already trending toward being bigger, so I think Miami should have Washington enjoy some protein drinks and heavy weight lifting and see what kind of beast he can turn into down the line.

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

Go Canes