{"id":374719,"date":"2026-08-18T15:10:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T15:10:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/374719\/"},"modified":"2026-08-18T15:10:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T15:10:09","slug":"miami-hurricanes-football-player-to-watch-marquise-lightfoot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/374719\/","title":{"rendered":"Miami Hurricanes football player to watch: Marquise Lightfoot"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"responsive-image\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/MIA_1266AD2025-10-25UMVSSTANFORD.JPG\"   width=\"1200\" height=\"674\" title=\"Miami Hurricanes defensive lineman Marquise Lightfoot (12) pushes his way pass the line of scrimmage as Stanford Cardinal offensive lineman Niki Prongos (66) defends in the first half during their NCAA football game at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, on Saturday, October 25, 2025.\" alt=\"Miami Hurricanes defensive lineman Marquise Lightfoot (12) pushes his way pass the line of scrimmage as Stanford Cardinal offensive lineman Niki Prongos (66) defends in the first half during their NCAA football game at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, on Saturday, October 25, 2025.\"\/><\/p>\n<p>        Miami Hurricanes defensive lineman Marquise Lightfoot (12) pushes his way pass the line of scrimmage as Stanford Cardinal offensive lineman Niki Prongos (66) defends in the first half during their NCAA football game at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, on Saturday, October 25, 2025.<\/p>\n<p>                PHOTO BY AL DIAZ<\/p>\n<p>            adiaz@miamiherald.com<\/p>\n<p>The Miami Hurricanes kick off the 2026 season on Sept. 4 on the road against the Stanford Cardinal (9 p.m., ESPN).<\/p>\n<p>The Miami Herald is counting down 30 of the most important players on the Hurricanes\u2019 roster, one per day leading up to the season opener, to provide a closer look at the team heading into coach Mario Cristobal\u2019s fifth season.<\/p>\n<p>Today: The No. 17 player on our list, Marquise Lightfoot.<\/p>\n<p>What to know<\/p>\n<p>Position: Defensive line<\/p>\n<p>Hometown: Chicago<\/p>\n<p>Year: Junior<\/p>\n<p>How he got to Miami: 2024 recruiting class<\/p>\n<p>Key stats: 5.5 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks in 2025<\/p>\n<p>In summary: A former five-star recruit, Lightfoot showcased his potential as a pass rusher in a limited role in 2025. Now, he\u2019s slated to have an expanded role alongside Armondo Blount and Damon Wilson II as Miami looks to replace the production lost from first-round draft picks Rueben Bain Jr. and Akheem Mesidor.<\/p>\n<p>What they\u2019re saying<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe biggest thing I learned from both of them is their attention to detail. They let me know that you have to act like a pro now. There\u2019s no time to be waiting. Don\u2019t wait until tomorrow. Start now.\u201d \u2014 Lightfoot on what he learned from Bain and Mesidor<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMarquise is fast, electric, but he\u2019s violent as well. Just being able to play with those guys just raises my competition up and make me get better every day.\u201d &#8211; Wilson on what stands out about Lightfoot<\/p>\n<p>                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.miamiherald.com\/profile\/218644615\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><br \/>\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"author-thumb\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1787065809_571_JordanMcPherson (1).JPG\" width=\"400\" height=\"400\" alt=\"Profile Image of Jordan McPherson\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n                    <\/a><\/p>\n<p>                <a class=\"author-name\" href=\"https:\/\/www.miamiherald.com\/profile\/218644615\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Jordan McPherson<\/a><\/p>\n<p>                    Miami Herald<\/p>\n<p>            Jordan McPherson covers the Miami Hurricanes and Florida Panthers for the Miami Herald. He attended the University of Florida and covered the Gators athletic program for five years before joining the Herald staff in December 2017.\n            <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Miami Hurricanes defensive lineman Marquise Lightfoot (12) pushes his way pass the line of scrimmage as Stanford Cardinal&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":374720,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[123,125,124],"class_list":["post-374719","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/374719","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=374719"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/374719\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/374720"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=374719"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=374719"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=374719"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}