- 7 weeks ago
Alex Donno, host of the Locked on Canes Podcast and longtime friend, joins the show to discuss the Miami Hurricanes ahead of their season start! Donno explains which freshman to watch in Week 1, and whether Malachi Toney or Darian Mensah is a Heisman candidate. A'mir Sears' potential for the Canes and whether Stanford has any strengths.
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00:00with the host of the Locked On Canes podcast on the Toyota of Hollywood Guest Line Shop.
00:03We're with 2,000 toys on sale at one location at Toyota of Hollywood on 441 between Hollywood
00:08and Sheridan, ToyotaofHollywood.com. We love this guy. Alex Dono does a fantastic job covering the
00:13Canes day in and day out. This has got to be like Christmas for you, dude. How are you feeling?
00:18Yeah, it feels like Christmas Eve. We just have one more day to go. You know how this is going
00:24to be, Tobin? The hours are going to start moving slower and slower as we build up to 9 p
00:30.m.
00:30tomorrow night, but I've got all the goosies for Friday. Is there a newcomer that you're,
00:37I guess, aside from Mensa and Barcade, but is there a newcomer you're most excited to see?
00:42Either you've been hearing buzz from practice or reading reports or whatever, that you're just
00:47excited to see what they can do finally on a football field? Yeah, I mean, I'll give you a
00:52veteran transfer and a freshman. Like you said, I'll play by your rules. I won't say Mensa or
00:58Barcade, but I'll say Damon Wilson on the defensive line. He is a top-end pass rusher. We saw that
01:06last
01:07year at Mizzou. He was at Georgia. Prior to that, he had nine sacks last year, and he had a
01:12great
01:13training camp at Miami. So he's an absolute weapon. And I think what I'm looking forward to seeing
01:18from Wilson is, I know part of, I think part of the reason why he wanted to transfer to Miami
01:23and
01:23seeing, you know, the guys who came before him playing on the ends was the opportunity for him
01:28to sharpen his skills as a run defender and an edge setter. Cause he like, he doesn't have that
01:34reputation coming out of Mizzou, more of a pass rush specialist. So I think that part of his game
01:38is a work in progress. But he's a monster when it comes to sacking QBs. And then, you know,
01:44there's Tobin, there's some really exciting freshmen. And I could go, you know, with an
01:49obvious one on the offensive line in Jackson Cantwell, but JJ Dunnigan, a freshman safety
01:56who, and based on the latest injury report, which he's not on, by the way, I think he might get
02:02even
02:02more PT tomorrow, you know, behind, I think the starting safeties are going to be Zachariah
02:07Poiser and Bryce Fitzgerald. And we found out late last night that Dylan Day, who I think was going to
02:14be that four man rotation is unfortunately listed out for this game with injury. And so like the other
02:20guy that I had, like in my top four at safety was the true freshman Dunnigan, 6'4", 215, freakish
02:27athlete. And so I think there's a good chance we see a good amount of Dunnigan tomorrow.
02:33Dunno, I'm just curious, like when you look at this team, do you look more at, okay, who's going to
02:41be
02:41at wide receiver? Who's going to run the ball? Who's going to be in the secondary? Because
02:45you know, I'm not going to have to worry about the offense and defensive lines because that's
02:49what Mario does. He starts there. And do you then start looking at all the other guys and how
02:55they're going to compliment what the bread and butter of this team is, which is offense and
03:00defensive line? You know, that's an interesting way to frame it. And normally if I, if I default to,
03:06like you said, Mario line of scrimmage teams, like that's always the spine of the team. But I think
03:13there's a little bit of a different wrinkle this year, Leroy, because they have so many new starters
03:17on the offensive line. So it's like, I will, like, like last year, it was virtually the same five from
03:25the year before on the O-line. This year you lost, you know, four starters. And so I will say
03:30that for
03:31tomorrow night, I'm probably going to be watching the trenches, like before I start watching the ball.
03:36And I've been saying this all week. And a lot of times, you know, I make plans and Shannon Dawson
03:41laughs at my plans. So he might go out there and have Mensah throwing bombs, like from the opening
03:46play. But I kind of feel like, I strongly feel like establishing the run, which is probably what
03:53Mario wants to do early and often in the game. Because to me, and you would know better than me,
03:58Leroy, being, being a pro running back, but I feel like getting that offensive line, the opportunity
04:04to open up running lanes early and build chemistry. Look, I think that they and I want to see this
04:10team actually establish the run first tomorrow night before they start throwing bombs through
04:15the air. I think I think Mario is going to enter this game with probably an attitude of I not
04:22only
04:23have to show other teams what we're about up front, but I have to let the guys that are playing
04:30up front
04:30that this is going to be a priority. And if you go out and start slinging it around and have
04:36those
04:36big linemen on their heels for most of a game, you're not setting the proper tone for how the
04:43season is going to play out. And so I just think coaches, when you look at teams that run the
04:48ball,
04:49I don't care, at any level, who no matter who your quarterback is, right, they want to set the tone
04:55that this is the way we're going to do business. You go look at Detroit, regardless of how great
05:00they've been throwing the football. When you hear Dan Campbell talk, the only thing he really talks
05:07about is how dominant they want to be on the offense and defensive line, because regardless
05:12of what's going wrong in football, if you can do those two things, you're going to always have a
05:18chance to win games. And I think this is the way Mario thinks this is this is like it's almost
05:23like
05:23football 101 that a lot of coaches have gotten away from it. But he's been consistent with that
05:28throughout his entire career. You think of a school like Oregon, who was like, we're going to throw it
05:34all over the place. We're going to be fat. Mario got there. What did they do? So I think they're
05:40going
05:40to pound the ball. I think they're going to run the ball. And I'm torn because I want to see
05:45what
05:46Mensa could do. Right? Yeah. Well, and the funny thing about what you're saying, Leroy, is Mensa
05:51Mensa agrees because he said that in, I think it was Tuesday when he was available to the media,
05:56he's like, yeah, I know the identity of this offense is to run the football. And like, he's
06:02the quarterback. He's a guy who's, you know, top five on pretty much everybody's Heisman list for
06:07this year. Like he's going to get his, but he knows the foundation of this offense is pounding
06:11the rock. So what about for him? Like, what are you most excited about, you know, Mensa getting
06:17introduced to Kane's fans? Cause you know, Carson Beck kind of came in to polish things
06:22up for himself last year. Cam Ward, obviously an incredible year. I mean, they've had a nice
06:27run here with the QBs, but Mensa, what's different about it? What are you excited about that? He's
06:32going to bring to the table and, and, and what are you excited to see from him?
06:35I mean, I think like everyone, I'm, I'm really excited for that. Like the first connection with
06:40Malachi Tony in a game. I mean, that's gonna, yeah, I, I, I, I know it's, they're playing in
06:44Stanford and it's a long trip for Miami people, but I know a lot of Miami fans that are going
06:49out there for the game. And so I'm, I'm hoping you hear a pretty good pop from the Stanford
06:54stadium when Tony gets his first catch. And I think with Mensa this year, I, I, I would
07:00like to think based on what we've seen in practice and what he did at Duke and Tulane, that you're
07:05going to see someone who has the capabilities of combining some of the best Cam Ward attributes
07:14with some of the best Carson Beck attributes. And it's not to say he's necessarily better
07:19than either of those guys. I hope he is. But I think you're going to see someone who
07:24can extend plays. And a lot of his receivers have talked about that this year or this camp
07:29Tobin, that he's really dangerous week when he can extend plays and find the deep man down
07:34field. I think he's going to do that at a higher level than Carson Beck did maybe kind
07:38of similar to Ward, but then, you know, I've also seen Mensa very, very intelligent and
07:43patient. The way he scans, the field goes through his progressions and he's not, he's
07:47not afraid of taking check downs. You know, Cam Ward was kind of allergic to the check
07:51down, uh, which, you know, worked for him at Miami. But, uh, I, I think Mensa can bring
07:56a little bit more of the, the Carson Beck part of that game into it.
08:00It's only, it's only a check down. If it's like, it was Cam Ward, like falling away and
08:04it was like over his shoulder, right? That's right.
08:06Yeah. No, then I'll, then I'll take it, you know, but other than that, no, if it's too
08:10easy, uh, I want to, uh, our boy Dade South has a question. So we were, we were going over
08:15some props yesterday. We want to know how much you like this one. So hard rock has a, a fun
08:21bet for the Canes, two rushing touchdowns, every single regular season game, the season
08:28plus 7,500. Do you like that bet?
08:31I mean, yeah, I, I think I like that a lot. It's tough, but what about those, like those
08:37games? You either have a shootout or like it's, it's a great bet from the mentality of
08:44what this team is going to be, but sometimes, so if Mensa gets going, you might not get that
08:51opportunity.
08:52Well, I got to know what's, what's the odds on that though? That'll be how I
08:557,500 plus. Okay. Yeah. I would take that at plus 7,500.
08:59Yeah. Cause it's like, if you lose, if you lose, you probably lose by like one
09:04game. Wait, why did your, his eyes just lit up 7,500? Well, that was one. And then I
09:13was, I was talking about this. Uh, I've been talking about this for the last couple
09:16of, uh, weeks, but like, I know Darian Mensa's got all the Heisman buzz and I
09:20understand why it's quarterback. This is a stacked quarterback year. Everybody's talking
09:24about, but Malachi Tony is like plus 4,000. And I just think that he's the type of player.
09:31Like we see how many different ways he can score touchdowns. Do you think there's any
09:36way he could outshine on a year like this and be like, even as a sophomore, maybe get
09:42himself into the race?
09:43Yeah. So I think, um, the first half of the season is going to decide that, uh, it
09:48all explained because I, I, I kind of, I'm starting to figure out the way like the hurricanes
09:54marketing department works. Cause you like, you remember two years ago, I know Cam Ward
09:59obviously didn't win the Heisman, but you know, Miami's promotional arm did like a really
10:04good job hyping up his campaign. They would put out the social media, they would produce these
10:09videos and stuff. So, and I, I just feel we all remember what happened. Um, you know,
10:16what was it? Oh, two when Dorsey and McGahey were both finalists and they clearly took votes
10:21away from each other. Cause they finished fourth and fifth last and second to last in Heisman
10:26voting. So I, I feel like the strategy from Miami's marketing department is going to be about
10:32the first half of the season. You kind of figure out who's got more Heisman juice. Like, is
10:36it, is it Mensa who has the clearer path? Cause he's a quarterback and quarterbacks usually
10:42win that award or is Malachi Tony scoring so many like unconventional touchdowns? Like
10:49he's got maybe a punt return touchdown. He's got rushing and passing touchdowns and they'll
10:54kind of decide who's got more juice. Cause I think they're going to pick one of those guys
10:58and put all of their marketing muscle behind one, because I don't think they want to be in
11:03a situation where, you know, where one guy's taken votes or consideration away from the
11:09other.
11:09I also think that a guy in Malachi's position that would win the Heisman, it's one of two
11:16ways. It's the quarterbacks were terrible that year. And that's what happened when, um, uh,
11:25kid from Alabama, um, won it that the quarterbacks were just not that good that year. And the,
11:32the other thing is, is that a lot of guys that do a Malachi does play defense also. So when
11:39you look at the last couple of guys that, you know, it was more of like, he might've been
11:45on par with the athletic abilities of those guys, but every week watching, Oh, this guy
11:5220 plays on defense, punt returner, do it. So many different things that we didn't even
11:58know what the numbers were. When you think of, um, who's kid from, uh, Colorado, uh, Travis
12:04Hunter and he was great, but it was like the snap count was like the biggest talking point
12:09for him. What was it? Where were his numbers? You have no idea, right? Yeah. His numbers
12:14didn't separate him, but the fact that he was playing, he got two picks or he had five
12:18picks. He had this, he had returned. Like it was, um, if you don't remember back in the
12:24day, I think the guy's name is Gordy lock bomb. That sounds like an old name. He know
12:29it's not that old. It was, it was kind of in the eighties or nineties. He played for Holy
12:34Cross college and he played both ways and he was a Heisman hopeful. So like, yeah, that's
12:42the thing that I think hurts Malachi. Um, but it could get to a point where like the numbers
12:50are so gaudy and what he's doing on a week to week basis is so crazy that Mensa could
12:57be the number one pick and he could win the Heisman. Like, but just think of the kind of
13:01season you're going to have to, to have that play out that way. It'd be insane. Uh, speaking
13:08of, by the way, what's it, do they have like a new Travis Hunter coming in next year with
13:11this Amir Sears? Like what's going on? Oh my gosh. Yeah. Uh, Amir Sears. So, so he, uh,
13:16this past weekend, he, he was the story of high school football. Like he might've just
13:20been the story of football period. So he plays for Miami Columbus, which is a Mario
13:24Cristobal alma mater. And they were going up against, you know, Bishop Gorman from
13:28Vegas who at the, was the no longer, but they were the number one team in the, in
13:33the country at that time. And this Amir Sears told, but he gets three interceptions
13:38and two receiving touchdowns. He plays both ways for them. And it's like from
13:42everything that I've heard, like Miami and he's a commit to Miami. Uh, so he's, you
13:47know, he's about as locked in as you can be before signing day. Let's hope. Uh,
13:51but Miami apparently has been recruiting him to play two ways. And I, I was kind
13:56of a maybe on that before I saw what he did to Gorman, which is like as close as
14:01you can get to power for competition in high school. I think he can do it here.
14:06That's crazy, dude. And before we get you out of here, is there anything that, uh,
14:10with Stanford, like that you're worried about or anything that you just don't want
14:14to get tripped up on? Like, is there anything that they bring to the fold? I know that they
14:17kind of escaped from Hawaii last week with mistakes. Uh, but, but is there anything that
14:22you think the Canes just have to be on the lookout for, uh, in this matchup?
14:25Yeah. I mean, I, I would mostly just be worried about Miami. I mean, if Miami shows up close
14:30to their best, I don't think there's anything Stanford can do talent for talent. They do have
14:34a couple of South Florida kids though. Uh, they got a good tight end Benji Blackburn who
14:39played at Miami Columbus. So he's probably going to be like evil lying Mario. Like, why
14:44didn't you recruit me? He's going to have extra motivation and same thing with, uh, with Cedric
14:48Irvin. He, uh, it's another Columbus guy who plays, uh, who plays for Stanford. So you figure
14:53that the two of them are going to have, uh, extra motivation to have the game of their lives.
14:58But yeah, I think, uh, you know, Davis Warren, the new Stanford quarterback, uh, who I know
15:02Leroy knows he was a Michigan guy. Um, you know, he, he played pretty well, uh, against
15:07Hawaii, but it's like, I would hope Miami's pass rush is like 300% more effective than Hawaii's.
15:14And he's not going to be throwing for 310 yards. Again, go follow Alex Donald's work. He's one
15:19of the best doing it when it comes to the Canes locked on Canes podcast. Thank you,
15:22buddy. Appreciate the time, man. Thanks guys.