One notable and important aspect of Miami Hurricanes’ front seven additions on defense

Some notes on the Miami Hurricanes’ pass rush, in Part 4 of our five-part metrics-flavored series on UM’s personnel heading into the season:

▪ There’s good news and bad news on UM’s defensive line additions in the portal.

As we’ve noted in our ongoing series, among offensive line pickups (in college free agency), you won’t find a pair of veteran additions who allowed fewer pressures than guard Javion Cohen and center Matt Lee; last season, they permitted a combined no sacks and 10 pressures. They come to UM from Alabama and UCF, respectively, and they’ve both been really impressive in Canes training camp. They should be front-line ACC starters.

On the flip side, among defensive tackle portal players who changed teams, you won’t find two additions who combined to produce more pressures than Thomas Gore and Branson Deen, who come to UM from Georgia State and Purdue, respectively.

Deen had 33 pressures, which were the 11th most among all FBS interior linemen last season. And consider this: Nobody in the country who played as few pass rushing snaps as Deen (264) produced more pressures, per Pro Football Focus.

Gore, meantime, had 31 pressures, which were 13th most among all FBS interior linemen. Gore did that in 312 pass rush snaps; among all FBS defensive tackles, only Deen and Pittsburgh’s Caljah Kancey produced more pressures in less playing time.

Deen had 2.5 sacks at Purdue last season and 6.5 in his career.

Gore had five sacks at Georgia State last season and 11 sacks in 34 career games.

What’s more, Deen looks like he might be a solid starter opposite Jason Taylor; Jason Taylor told WQAM’s Joe Rose that Deen has “some of the best technique I’ve ever seen.” Deen has impressed everyone with his work ethic and reliability so far.

That’s the good news. The bad news is that Gore looks like a depth player; he hasn’t really challenged for a top-three role at defensive tackle.

And it’s not totally clear what the Canes have in Louisiana-Monroe’s Anthony Campbell — UM’s third and most recent defensive line portal addition — because he played as a backup last season for a non-Power 5 team. Campbell hasn’t seized a big role in training camp, but UM want to invest the time in him and he has three years of eligibility remaining.

Campbell (6-7, 283) is physically imposing and drew offers from several Power 5 teams in the portal, including UM, Purdue, Colorado and Mississippi State. But he played just 206 snaps last season (71 at defensive tackle) and had 13 tackles (3.5 for loss) and a sack; he posted average PFF grades.

Whether Deen — who is listed at 280 pounds — has the girth to be a big-time run stuffer is the question. He’s not as big as Darrell Jackson, the 306-pound tackle who transferred to FSU to be closer to his ailing mother but isn’t eligible this season.

At least the pass rush metrics for Deen and Gore suggest they might be able to put heat on the quarterback. Deen will play a lot; whether Gore plays much at all must play out.

Gore was highly-sought in the portal, and PFF ranked him 22nd on its initial list of players available in the portal. But after a nondescript spring, he has something to prove against higher level competition if he cracks the rotation.

Same with Campbell, who joined UM after spring ball but wasn’t a starter in two years at Louisiana-Monroe.

Gore doesn’t have a sack or tackle for loss in the four games he has played against Power 5 teams: two against North Carolina, one against Auburn and one against South Carolina.

▪ More pass rush notes: Leonard Taylor III — UM’s best defensive tackle — had 25 pressures in just 159 pass rushing snaps; PFF rated him the 11th best interior pass rusher in the country last season.

Taylor needs to be given a chance to rush the passer more and needs to maintain stamina to stay in the game on third down. He had three sacks last season and five in 18 games. His 19.5 pass rush win rate last season was very good.

And Jared Harrison-Hunte has five sacks in 17 games at UM. He could be UM’s No. 3 defensive tackle.

What’s more, defensive end Rueben Bain should be a pass rush menace regardless of whether UM plays him at end or tackle. He had three sacks in the spring games and put heat on the quarterback throughout August camp.

Bottom line from a glass-half-full perspective: Even though defensive tackles foremost need to stop the run, it helps when they can rush the passer, too. And in Taylor, Deen, Bain and Harrison-Hunte, UM has four players that have proven they can do that.

▪ UM’s other returning experienced defensive tackle — Jacob Lichtenstein — rushed the quarterback 47 times last season and had six pressures and a sack. Second-year player Ahmad Moten played sparingly and had no pressures in 17 chances to rush the quarterback, but UM coaches rave about his progress in the spring and August. If he can develop into a reliable run stuffer, he has a good chance to get snaps.

Moten, Campbell, Gore, freshman Joshua Horton and Lichtenstein seem likely to continue to compete for the No. 4 and 5 defensive tackle jobs -- behind Taylor, Deen and probably Harrison-Hunte. And it’s possible somebody could surpass Harrison-Hunte.

▪ Among UM’s defensive ends, Akheem Mesidor had an impressive eight sacks and 28 pressures in 211 pass rush chances last season, with a 14.2 percent pass rush win rate. He’s as valuable as any defensive player on the roster, along with safety Kamren Kinchens.

And this is encouraging: Among players with at least 100 pass rush chances last season, impressive freshman Nyjalik Kelly had UM’s highest pass rush win rate at 19.8 percent last season (five sacks, 15 pressures in 118 pass rush chances). He was in the backfield a lot this spring and has been holding off Jahfari Harvey for the starting end job opposite Mesidor.

Harvey was at 17.5 pass rush win rate last year. He had 5.5 sacks and rushed the quarterback 219 times, more than any other returning Cane.

But Harvey hasn’t progressed from pretty good to highly impactful during his time at UM, and Kelly appears to be beating him out.

Departing Mitchell Agude (now with the Dolphins) led Miami in pass rush chances with 270 snaps. And he had the same number of pressures as Mesidor — 28 — in 69 more pass rushing snaps. So Agude might be missed, though Kelly certainly could replace or exceed that production.

Chantz Williams, who flashed pass rush skills during his career, had only 54 pass rushing chances last season and had eight pressures and no sacks. But he might end up fifth on the depth chart at defensive end behind Mesidor, Harvey, Kelly and perhaps Bain. Freshman Jayden Wayne could eventually pass Chantz Williams.

There’s also defensive end Cyrus Moss, the well-regarded pass rusher from Las Vegas who played limited snaps last season. He had two pressures in 15 pass rush chances last season and getting bigger and stronger has been the priority this offseason.

▪ Former coordinator Keven Steele didn’t blitz his defensive backs much. We expect new coordinator Lance Guidry will do that more.

Safety James Williams rushed the passer just 13 times and had four pressures and no sacks, and Kamren Kinchens rushed just eight times.

Tyrique Stevenson, DJ Ivey and Couch — UM’s top three cornerbacks last season — rushed the quarterback a combined six times all season. Stevenson and Ivey are now with the Bears and Bengals, respectively.

Steele presumably believed UM’s defense — which was beaten several times on deep balls — would be too much at risk if he blitzed his most-used cornerbacks and safeties. But if UM had better cover corners, perhaps the safeties could blitz more and in the process, add a new dynamic to a defense that generally underachieved last season.

Steele blitzed linebackers more frequently than he did with safeties. Corey Flagg Jr. had 21 pass rush snaps and made the most of them (eight pressures, three sacks). Wesley Bissainthe had 20 pass rush snaps (with one pressure). Keontra Smith had six pressures in just 13 pass rush snaps. Bissainthe and Smith are both back this season.

Guidry needs to use new linebacker Francisco Mauigoa as a blitzer at times. In just 34 pass rushing snaps at Washington State last season, he had nine pressures and 3.5 sacks — very impressive work in such a small sample size. Only one Power 5 linebacker - Stanford’s Rick Miezan - had more sacks in fewer pass rush chances than Mauigoa last season.

So three of the five veteran front seven newcomers on defense - Mauigoa, Deen and Gore - were among the nation’s most productive in terms of quarterback pressures per pass-rushing snap. UM must hope that will carry over to their new team, particularly with likely starters Mauigoa and Deen. And freshman Bain also should provide a big boost to the pass rush.

Here’s part 1 of the series on Tyler Van Dyke.

Here’s part 2 of the series with nuggets on UM’s personnel at running back, wide receiver, tight end and the offensive line.

Here’s part 3 with more on UM’s defense.