Miami football season preview 2020: Record predictions, depth chart analysis, breakout players

Who will take a big leap forward for Miami football this season?

If Miami wants any hope of getting to Charlotte to face Clemson in a rematch of redemption in December, the Hurricanes will need more than All-ACC First-Team seasons out of graduate transfer newcomers D’Eriq King and Quincy Roche. Fortunately for Manny Diaz, there are a handful of players who have breakout season written all over them.

Looking back on their depth chart, Miami’s most likely breakout stars are to come from the receiving corps offensively and in the trenches on defense. It’s only fitting that these position groups will benefit tremendously from King and Roche’s arrival on the Coral Gables campus. Look for any of these Hurricanes to have big breakout seasons this fall.

With a name like Nesta Jade Silvera, you know this defensive tackle means business in the middle of the Hurricanes defensive line. The junior defensive tackle is 6-foot-2 and 305 pounds out of Pembrook Pines, Florida. He missed the first four games of the 2019 season due to having foot surgery in the offseason but rebounded to play in the Hurricanes’ final nine games of the year.

Silvera will be a run-stuffer in the middle of this defense, eating up space to allow guys around him like Roche to make all the plays in the world they would want. Though he may not be the superstar player on this defense, his improvement this offseason will do wonders to allow Miami to dictate terms in the trenches this fall.

Though he is slated to backup Brevin Jordan in the tight rotation, offensive coordinator Dan Enos is never afraid to role out two tight end sets. One player who could have a big breakout year for the ‘Canes is tight end Will Mallory. The 6-foot-5, 245-pound tight end from Jacksonville is ready to make noise in his junior season with the Hurricanes.

Last season saw Mallory haul in 16 grabs for 293 yards and two touchdowns. If he were to approach 500 receiving yards and five touchdowns, that will go a long way towards Miami challenging for one of the two spots in the ACC Championship game this season. His rapport with King will be critical to the offense’s overall success in the passing game.

It’s not just Mallory at the tight end position who will benefit from having King spiraling him the football. His No. 1 target outside the numbers this fall might be junior wide receiver Mark Pope. At 6-foot-1 and 172 pounds, the local product is poised to finally have his breakout season in Miami uniform, or at least that’s what the Hurricanes are hoping for.

Pope had 18 catches for 266 yards and two touchdowns last season as a sophomore. His numbers are eerily similar to what Mallory has at the tight end position. If he surpasses 500 yards through the air and approaches 750, Miami might have the passing attack necessary to hang tough with the very best teams in the ACC this year.

Ultimately, Miami has to prove it on the gridiron this year. The Hurricanes are getting a lot of buzz entering this season they probably haven’t earned up to this point. While Diaz continues to recruit at a high level, 2020 is the year where he needs to get a signature win or two to illustrate to us that Miami will get back to being “The U” once again. It’s going to be challenging, but what isn’t?

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