Extra Point: Miami's Transfer Portal Class is Still Underrated

Miami's taking the quality over quantity approach, and isn't getting enough respect because of it.

Jan 19, 2026; Miami Gardens, FL, USA; Miami Hurricanes head coach Mario Cristobal against the Indiana Hoosiers during the College Football Playoff National Championship game at Hard Rock Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

While players who entered the transfer portal can still choose a school, the window is closing. As it stands, the Miami Hurricanes have the No. 12-ranked transfer portal class in the country according to On3 Sports. If you ask me, that's far too low a ranking for a group that fills just about every gap necessary for a team that just played in a national championship game.

For starters, Darian Mensah was the best quarterback available in the late cycle of the portal, and remains On3's No. 4 overall quarterback in the cycle. Mensah was rated as a 4-star portal prospect, and most certainly helped out the Hurricanes in the rankings, but he isn't alone.

According to On3, four other 4-star transfer players decided to play their next season at Miami. These players include: Duke wide receiver and favored target of Mensah, Cooper Barkate, who turned in a 1,100-yard season at Duke, former Missouri edge rusher Damon Wilson, who turned in nine sacks this year alone and a pick, Jarquez Carter, a young defensive lineman that Ohio State saw great promise in, and Omar Thornton, a proven commodity in the ACC defensive backfield.

These are all high-impact transfers, and are of course the highlights of the class. However, Miami brought in its fair share of experience after losing to the junior and senior-laden Indiana Hoosiers in the national championship. The most recent addition, Conrad Hussey, is an upper-classmen with two years of eligibility remaining, for instance.

Cam Vaughn, a wide receiver transfer from West Virginia, brought in over 500 yards receiving last year on 35 receptions. South Carolina transfer Vandrevious Jacobs had remarkably similar numbers to Vaughn in a South Carolina offense that saw its own fair share of ups and downs in 2025.

These were impact players on their former teams, and accounted for a significant chunk of both offenses, and yet, the excitement around them is still less-so than that of unproven commodities that landed elsewhere in the portal.

Miami completely doubled down on the explosivity that its offense had last season in Malachi Toney, and had one of the more impressive corps of young receivers in the country even before adding in Vaughn and Jacobs. Couple that with the fact that Mark Fletcher is running it back for the Green and Orange in 2026 and add in Mensah's ability in the backfield, and the Hurricanes should have no trouble making it back to the College Football Playoffs in 2026.

Now, they just have to win it.