{"id":222382,"date":"2026-04-07T19:24:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T19:24:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/222382\/"},"modified":"2026-04-07T19:24:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T19:24:09","slug":"transfers-add-depth-to-miamis-defensive-tackle-group","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/222382\/","title":{"rendered":"Transfers add depth to Miami’s defensive tackle group"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Hurricanes return two of their three key defensive tackles from last year, but Miami was not content to stick with the depth it had on the roster.<\/p>\n

UM added\u00a0two defensive tackles in the transfer portal<\/a> during the offseason, supplementing a group that was already a strength on the team.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like with the new guys, they\u2019re getting accustomed to how we do things,\u201d defensive tackles coach Damione Lewis said. \u201cThey\u2019re working really hard. They\u2019re coming in, coming upstairs to watch tape when they\u2019re done with class. That\u2019s always a good sign that they\u2019re bought into what we\u2019re doing and they\u2019re trying to learn everything they can about the defense.\u201d<\/p>\n

The two new defensive tackles, Jarquez Carter and Keona Davis, have different levels of experience.<\/p>\n

Davis played the most last season, getting on the field for 406 defensive snaps at Nebraska. He had 32 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks. Pro Football Focus gave him a 64.1 defensive grade.<\/p>\n

\u201c(He is a) big, strong guy,\u201d fellow defensive tackle Justin Scott said. \u201cHe\u2019s just real aggressive. That\u2019s what I can say about him. He\u2019s just real aggressive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Carter, a former four-star prospect,\u00a0considered Miami when he was being recruited<\/a> out of Newberry High in North Florida. Carter played 51 snaps as a freshman at Ohio State.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s already a quick-twitch guy, and now he\u2019s able to use that in his game,\u201d Lewis said. \u201cI feel like he\u2019s really improved a lot since he\u2019s been here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ahmad Moten Sr. and Justin Scott were two of Miami\u2019s top three defensive tackles last year, and both return this season. David Blay Jr. was the third main defensive tackle; he graduated and hopes to be selected in this year\u2019s NFL draft.<\/p>\n

Moten was one of the breakout players on last year\u2019s national runner-up. After three seasons as a role player or reserve, Moten became a starter last year. He responded with 31 tackles, nine tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks. Pro Football Focus gave him a 77.6 defensive grade, which was seventh among ACC defensive tackles with 200 or more snaps.<\/p>\n

Moten returned for his fifth season at Miami, but he is out for most of spring camp as he recovers from an injury.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom where he was (as a freshman) to now, I\u2019m not sure he even saw that he could get to where he is, at that point,\u201d defensive line coach Jason Taylor said. \u201cI know there were some days I didn\u2019t see it either. He\u2019s done a phenomenal job of working his butt off and understanding what it takes and maturing and growing every year over year. And we\u2019re blessed to get him back for another year. \u2026 The sky\u2019s the limit \u2014 any award or accolade that\u2019s out there for a D-lineman, he has the ability to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scott also returns. The former five-star prospect started last year as a rotational tackle but moved into a starting role by the end of the season. He ended the season with 26 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss and one sack.<\/p>\n

\u201cReally just (working on) being consistent, just being able to do the same thing every day, every second of the game,\u201d Scott said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Hurricanes return two of their three key defensive tackles from last year, but Miami was not content…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":222383,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[111,114,123,125,5079,124,110],"class_list":{"0":"post-222382","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-miami","8":"tag-college-sports","9":"tag-latest-headlines","10":"tag-miami","11":"tag-miami-headlines","12":"tag-miami-hurricanes","13":"tag-miami-news","14":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222382","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=222382"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222382\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/222383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=222382"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=222382"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=222382"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}