With one of the top WR on Miami’s board committing elsewhere, here’s a look at where Miami will look to round out their receiver class in 2017.

Just minutes ago, one of the worst-kept secrets in the entire recruiting world became public: 4-star WR Jerry Jeudy (Deerfield Beach, FL) announced his commitment to Alabama.

Jeudy has had Alabama in front of his recruitment for months, if not longer. Prior to his 2015 transfer to Deerfield Beach, Jeudy was teammates of 2015 Bama signees WR Calvin Ridley and S Shawn Burgess-Becker. Ridley remains in Tuscaloosa as the focal point of the Tide offense, while Burgess-Becker has transferred to UCF.

The point of all that is that Jeudy has been high on Alabama’s radar for years, and that connection was a 2 way street. With Ridley playing in Tuscaloosa and excelling at WR, it’s easy to see why Jeudy wanted to commit there and follow his footsteps, much like he has at the HS level.

And, just to address the thoughts of some: Jeudy was never coming here. Per Peter Ariz of CanesInSight.com, Miami NEVER CONTACTED Jeudy until the new staff was hired. That means, for 2 years since he was known as a top player, Al Golden’s staff never even reached out to the kid. So no, he was never coming here.

The fact that Jeudy was never coming here doesn’t make this any less of a miss. Obviously, having a player of this caliber from the Tri-County area hurts, and is the exact thing that the new staff is working to minimize moving forward. Jeudy is arguably the best WR recruit in America this cycle. Yeah, he’s that good. So, this is a recruiting loss, and a big one. But, it won’t be a crippling loss, depending on what Miami does to fill this spot moving forward.

Now, with Jeudy publicly committing to Alabama, the question for Miami is where do the Canes go at WR to round out the 2017 recruiting class?

Miami is not in a bad place regarding WR recruiting in 2017. With 4-ish commits: 4-star ATH DeeJay Dallas (who could end up at another position), and 3-stars Kevaughn Dingle, Evidence Njoku, and Rodney Scott, there is depth and talent already in this group. But, Miami is looking for an alpha dog in that group, and that’s what the Canes are after.

Leading the way here is 5-star WR Devonta Smith. The Amite, LA native attended Paradise Camp and was one of the standout performers. Smith recently named Alabama, LSU, and Miami as his top/final 3. Several Recruiting Analysts have said that LSU is on the list for show, and this is a 2-team race between Alabama and Miami. Smith was once committed to Mark Richt at Georgia, and continues to maintain the point that he’s high on Miami. Obviously, recruiting against Alabama is tough, but this is a battle that figures to go on for a while.

4-star WR Jeremiah Holloman recently released a top 12 list with Miami on it. I know that list doesn’t engender positivity, but Holloman said in multiple interviews that he’s high on Miami, and will visit Coral Gables in the future. Holloman was on the same 7on7 team as 2017 commit/class ambassador DeeJay Dallas, so you can be sure there is some peer-level recruiting going on there.

Holloman is a very talented receiver with a good combination of size and speed. Georgia is thought to be the favorite here, but with Dallas working the peer-level recruiting, and if Holloman takes a visit (unofficial or official, just get to campus), then Miami could make a move here.

While he’s only rated a 3-star prospect at current, St. Thomas Aquinas WR Mike Harley (Ft. Lauderdale, FL) is a player whose stock is rising. Throughout 7on7 and camp season, Harley has been a terror, eviscerating every DB tasked with covering him. Harley has a slight build at 5’10” 160lbs, but he has elite speed. Mark Richt has openly talked about wanting to add speed at receiver, and getting Harley would do just that.

There are 2 things to consider in this situation: 1. Miami has not offered Harley a scholarship, and 2. Harley is committed to West Virginia. Both of those things could change, obviously, but if Miami wants to make a run at Harley, then I’d suggest giving him a scholarship offer sooner than later. West Virginia’s South Florida recruiting JaJuan Seider has done a great, GREAT job getting talent from this area up to Morgantown. Among the players that Seider has recruited to WVU from SoFLA: QB Geno Smith, WR Stedman Bailey, WR Ivan McCartney, WR Devonte Mathis, LT Yodny Cajuste, WR Jovon Durante, and more. Miami would be wise to give themselves more time to go up against Seider, and his stellar track record from this area, if they want to flip Harley.

For the reasons I included above, Smith, Holloman, and Harley are the most likely options at the top of the list at WR for Miami right now.

In the chase for the last piece of this WR class, Miami would have to look to flip a player committed elsewhere, or hope for a late riser in this class. The offered and uncommitted options seem to be largely looking elsewhere.

According to 247sports, Miami has offered 48 Wide Receivers in the 2017 class. However, many of those offers were given by the previous staff, so they might not all be valid still. And, like I said, even if all those offer are valid, the vast majority of those players do not seem to have high interest in Miami, if any interest at all.

A 4 man WR class of Dallas, Dingle, Njoku, and Scott would be good. I would take that in a minute, and those guys would add depth and talent to the Canes’ WR corps. BUT, if you add one (or more) of Smith, Holloman, and Harley to that group, it goes from good to great. And that’s what we want. That’s what we need.

Now, it’s up to CMR, WR coach Ron Dugans, and the rest of the staff to go out and make it happen.

Game on.