Offensive Line
Starters (Left Tackle to Right Tackle): Tyree St. Louis – Jahair Jones – Tyler Gauthier – Venzell Boulware – Navaughn Donaldson
Backups (Left Tackle to Right Tackle): George Brown – Delone Scaife – Corey Gaynor – Hayden Mahoney – Zalon’tae Hillery
The key to any great football team is the offensive line. Just look at the Dallas Cowboys of the 90’s, the 2001 Miami Hurricanes, or the Alabama Crimson Tide title runs under Nick Saban for evidence. Miami has struggled to put a consistent line on the field in terms of both the rotation and ability.
The starters on the left side are Tyree St. Louis at left tackle, and Jahair Jones at left guard. St. Louis is Miami’s best offensive lineman and the player with the most NFL upside. After taking over a starting role in 2016, St. Louis started 2017 at right tackle. Jahair Jones has mainly been a backup in his career at Miami. Jones, a senior, looks to hold onto a starting role for his final season in Coral Gables.
At center, Tyler Gauthier has enough talent to force players to transfer and to hold off the nasty Corey Gaynor from a starting role. Gauthier also took over as a starter in 2016 and hasn’t looked back. He’s considered a leader on the line and 17 starts under his belt.
The right side of the line is held down by Venzell Boulware at guard and Navaughn Donaldson at tackle. Boulware is a graduate transfer from Tennessee. With the addition of Boulware Miami can bump bluechip and freshman standout Donaldson to tackle. The massive Donaldson had a good freshman campaign and looks to build upon 2017 with a great showing in 2018.
The backups are guys that are either young, or haven’t done much in their time at Miami. Brown was a transfer from LSU that hasn’t been strong enough to start, Scaife is a future All-ACC player that could wind up starting at left guard by seasons end. At center, Corey Gaynor is the starter of the future. On the right side, Mahoney has a couple of starts under his belt while Hillery is a really raw talent that needs time to develop.