Nesta Silvera Ready For Breakout Sophomore Season

You look at him play on the field, watch him during interviews or interact on social media and one thing is clear, Nesta Jade Silvera epitomizes what a Miami Hurricane is.

Nasty down in the trenches of the defensive line, and not afraid to speak his mind, this defensive tackle is primed to take a huge leap in 2019 as a sophomore.

A product of Pembroke Pines in South Florida, Silvera has been a Canes household name ever since his legendary quote when he announced he was coming to Miami.

One of the top defensive tackles nationally in the 2018 recruiting class, Silvera’s swagger and talent is something that people are excited about in the coming years.

Historically, Miami has produced legendary players at the DT position, such as Warren Sapp, Russell Maryland, and most recently Gerald Willis.

Now that Willis has moved onto the NFL, Silvera is the next guy in line to replace him, and keep the dominating factor of the Canes defensive line intact.

Though he didn’t play as much during his freshman year in 2018, Silvera still managed show enough that Miami fans and its coaches are ecstatic about what he could do in 2019.

Silvera is apart of a defensive tackle unit for Miami that, for the most part, is unknown and unproven. Pat Bethel and Jonathan Ford are coming back from last season, plus the Canes add transfer Chigozie Nnoruka from UCLA to increase depth, and then several incoming freshman. But when you look at the group as a whole, their career accomplishments won’t jump at you.

A few things really jump out to me about Silvera’s game, first being his ability to shed blockers, which is something that Willis did great at last season on his way to 18.0 TFLs in 2018. If Nesta is able to duplicate that this upcoming year, then the Hurricanes defensive line will be in great shape.

Silver’s sheer force at the line and tenacity to move offensive lineman is another huge plus side to his game. While playing at American Heritage in high school, we saw exactly how powerful Silvera is with blockers.

Finally, and it’s something that’s already been touched on and well documented during his time at Miami so far, but Silvera’s aggression is a great finishing touch to his dynamic skills on the football field.

The pride that he has for the UM program is very evident in the way that he plays, and also the way he carries himself. Matt Doherty, former Director of Player Personnel for Miami told reporters last year, “Nesta Silvera is an animal. He is just a mean dude. I have never met a meaner high schooler in my life. I love that about him. No BS in his body.”