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Two 2021 commits for the Miami Hurricanes made national headlines this week, as 5-star safety James Williams and 5-star defensive tackle Leonard Taylor were selected to Sports Illustrated’s SI99 All-American Preseason List.
The list is the top 99 high school seniors in the country, and frontrunners for the 2020 SI All-American first team.
Williams was #19 on the list, with Taylor right behind him at #20.
Last season at Davie Western, Williams totaled 62 tackles and 6 interceptions. In July, Williams was named first-team 2020 Preseason High School All-American by MaxPreps. Williams will play his senior season at American-Heritage in Plantation.
Canes Family! Show love to our Canes commit, James Williams @Begreat_20. He is going to do big things as a Hurricane, check out the rest of the video in the link below #LovoProductions #2Rings1Chainhttps://t.co/Yrwv72qheA pic.twitter.com/gpZLXorkTd
— Gabriel Lovo™ (@Lovooo_) August 22, 2020
247 Sports has Williams ranked as the #1 ATH in the country, #3 player in Florida, and #12 player nationally, regardless of position.
2021 S James Williams with a pick-6 https://t.co/GFNpylKR6e pic.twitter.com/LlEwlQQxVK
— Luke Stampini (@LukeStampini) August 10, 2019
At 6-5 and weighing 218 pounds, Williams has drawn comparisons to a younger Issiah Simmons, the former Clemson star, who was drafted #8 in the 2020 NFL Draft by the Arizona Cardinals.
Playing at Miami Palmetto, Taylor finished his 2019 season with 26 TFLs and 11 sacks, and accepted an invitation to play in the All-American Bowl, along with Williams.
Miami Palmetto 2021 5 ⭐️ Leonard Taylor @56reasons_ against 4 ⭐️ OL Jullian Armella @ArmellaJulian in 1 on 1s at UA All-American Camp pic.twitter.com/hyy6ljFWa8
— The Crib South Florida (@TheCribSouthFLA) March 8, 2020
247 Sports has Taylor ranked as the #1 2021 defensive tackle, #2 player in Florida, and #4 player nationally, regardless of position.
#Canes DT target Leonard Taylor making it look easy pic.twitter.com/0fniVcbYHl
— Stefan Adams (@stefan_adams305) March 8, 2020
With his tremendous interior pass-rushing skills, Taylor is a playmaker at defensive tackle, and has been compared to Quinnen Williams, who was an All-American at Alabama, before being selected #3 overall in the 2019 NFL Draft by the New York Jets.
Several 2021 targets for Miami also made the list, 5-star linebacker Terrence Lewis at #27, 3-star running back Amari Daniels at #70, and 4-star defensive lineman Tyreak Sapp at #76.