Miami Hurricanes 2021 Player Profile: Tight End Will Mallory

The Hurricanes are returning tons of talent in 2021 from last season, though one key player that is now gone is tight end Brevin Jordan. While Miami will definitely miss his production, the Canes’ replacement for Jordan is not too shabby.

Of all the weapons that Miami has on this offense, D’Eriq King, Charleston Rambo, Cam’ron Harris, I believe one of the biggest weapons the Hurricanes have is Will Mallory. Entering his fourth season at UM, Mallory is now the starting tight end with Jordan gone, and expectations are always for a Miami tight end. While Jordan had a great career at UM, I think we’ll see Mallory put up even bigger numbers in 2021.

Just like Jordan, Mallory was part of the 2018 recruiting class for Miami, and the two provided a dangerous duo at tight end for three years. While Jordan was the starter, Mallory stepped in several times when Brevin was hurt, and last season was no different.

In 2020, Mallory had his best season as a Hurricanes, with 22 receptions, for 329 yards and 4 touchdowns. In games against NC State or Pitt, D’Eriq King made Mallory a priority in the passing game, finding him for 3 touchdowns in those 2 matchups.

Since Jordan left early for the NFL, it’s Mallory’s turn, and I couldn’t be more excited. I’ve been a big fan of Will ever since he was a freshman, Then when Rhett Lashlee was hired in January of 2020 as Miami’s new offensive coordinator, Mallory was a player who I instantly thought of, and a player who could benefit from Lashlee’s system.

If you watch Mallory play and look at his film, I think he could be used similar to how Lashlee used Kyle Granson at SMU. In Lashlee’s last year there in 2019, Granson had 43 receptions, for 721 yards and 9 touchdowns. While Mallory is a little bit bigger in size compared to Granson (245 lbs vs 235 lbs), Mallory has similar athleticism, and just like Granson, is very versatile at tight end. Mallory has very good speed for a tight end, thanks in large part to his track days in high school His average of 15 yards per catch last year tells you Mallory can be very effective in this offense, if used correctly.

Last season, I think Lashlee’s offense under-utilized the tight ends, whether it was Mallory or a healthy Jordan. The tight end would be a big part of a gameplan one week, they’d play great, and then for the next three weeks they’d make one reception per game.

My thing is, especially since the Canes receivers haven’t always been consistent, why not get Mallory at least 6-7 catches a game? I want to see Miami throw the ball a lot more in 2021, and a pass-catching trio of Mallory, Mike Harley and Charleston Rambo, could create some serious problems for opponents.

If you give him enough targets, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Mallory put up 650-700 receiving yards and at least 8 touchdowns, he absolutely has that potential.

And if that happens, his NFL Draft stock is going to shoot up quickly. Mallory has already been named to the Mackey Award Watchlist for the 2021 season. If Miami makes Mallory a priority in the passing game, I think we’ll see a big difference in this offense and on the scoreboard.