One of the top college football preview magazines has thirty-eight offensive lines ranked in front of Miami’s this season.
The 2026 Phil Steele magazine gives plenty of respect to Miami in the big picture, but ranks the Canes’ OL unit 39th overall and third in the ACC, behind SMU and Pittsburgh. Being outside the top twenty sounds hard to fathom for a unit coached and recruited by Mario Cristobal and Alex Mirabal.
Steele’s logic behind the low ranking likely stems from the inexperience of the unit and the fact that the group hasn't had much time to gel together. This reasoning can be used as a solid rule of thumb for most teams, but in the case of this particular Miami squad, I believe he’s wrong.
For most programs, replacing four offensive line starters would cause an immediate step backwards. In the Hurricanes’ case, however, two of my projected starting five were five star recruits in high school (LT Jackson Cantwell & LG Samson Okunlola), and two others (C Ryan Rodriguez & RT Matthew McCoy) have been developed by these coaches for the past four seasons. My fifth projected starter at right guard, former three star recruit Max Buchanan, has been a dominant force in practice. Miami will continue to be fearsome up front, even after losing Francis Mauigoa, Markel Bell, Anez Cooper, and James Brockermeyer to the NFL.
If you don’t want to take my word for it, perhaps you’ll take Darian Mensah’s. The superstar transfer quarterback valued the protection he’ll get in Miami as a top reason to leave Duke.
“I have full confidence that they’re going to be just as dominant, if not more dominant, than they were last year,” Mensah said this spring. He acknowledged that it takes time for an offensive line to gel, but noted, “I feel like they’ve taken that upon themselves and really stood up to the challenge.”
The least experienced player in Miami’s projected starting OL unit will be Cantwell. I watched the 6-8, 330 pound freshman throughout spring, and I am not concerned about him giving his quarterback time to throw. Cantwell stood tall against top edge rusher Damon Wilson II and other defensive line standouts throughout spring football.
To be fair, Cantwell and the rest of Miami’s offensive linemen might need time to mesh at the start of the season to reach their highest level. The Canes' schedule is favorable for that in 2026. Last year, Miami played a top ten opponent in Notre Dame right out of the gate. This year, Miami will face Stanford, FAMU, Central Michigan, and Wake Forest before heading to a significantly tougher challenge in the trenches at Clemson. The unit will have the time they need to gel before that marquee matchup. I’m not trying to completely discount those first four opponents, but none of them project to have defensive fronts in the upper tier of college football.
The offensive line can also benefit from playing in front of a quarterback with greater mobility than Carson Beck had in 2025. Mensah’s escapability will make him a moving target and give the passing game an opportunity to generate plays even when the protection isn’t perfect.
Beyond my predicted starting five, I expect backup offensive linemen like SJ Alofaituli, Jamal Meriweather, Ben Congdon, Jaden Wilkerson, and Juan Minaya to compete for rotational roles. Mirabal and Cristobal like to have eight to ten players they trust on the offensive line. Getting three to five additional players up to speed by September will be a top priority.
If the Hurricanes’ offensive line has at least eighty percent of the success that last year’s group had, I believe the team has enough talent and depth throughout the squad to compete for a national title.
I mentioned Phil Steele has respect for Miami in the big picture. He ranks the quarterback room eighth nationally, the running backs fourth, wide receivers third, defensive backs fifth, defensive line sixth, and linebackers seventeenth. He ranks Miami number seven in his preseason poll.
