With 2018 National Signing Day approaching, who are five recruiting targets to watch for with Miami football and Mark Richt?
Miami has the ability to put together a top three recruiting class if they can land a few of their more high-powered targets on Feb. 7. National Signing Day has a little less juice with the early signing period having seen most of the Hurricanes’ class already signed and their five-star running back Lorenzo Lingard already on campus as an early enrollee.
However, some major names like Nesta Silvera and Patrick Surtain Jr. are still floating around waiting to make their final decision on the first Wednesday of February.
So who are the ‘Canes’ five targets to watch for on 2018 National Signing Day?
The Miami Hurricanes have to replace three defensive tackles from the rotation in RJ McIntosh, Kendrick Norton and Anthony Moten. With McIntosh and Norton having left early for the 2018 NFL Draft, Miami is a bit unprepared to replace three players from the same position at the same time. Miami has John Ford and Pat Bethel on-campus already along with Gerald Willis who has potential but hasn’t put it all together in his career between the Hurricanes and the Florida Gators.
The ‘Canes need to lock up Nesta Silvera — he’s committed but hasn’t signed his LOI — the defensive tackle from American Heritage High School in South Florida. He is 6-foot-2 and 302 pounds as a four-star prospect.
Silvera is the No. 2-ranked defensive tackle in the country and 54th-best player in the country by any position. Per MaxPreps, Silvera had 107 tackles with 31 tackles for loss and 12 sacks as a senior in 2017. That’s the type of production and high ranked prospect Miami needs to get the attention off of Clemson and down to Coral Gables.