College Football's Top 25 Most Important Players: No. 7 DT Ahmad Moten Sr., Miami

Miami Hurricanes defensive tackles coach Damione Lewis was asked this spring why his best returning lineman turned down the NFL. Lewis pointed to one thing.

"For him, it's about finishing it this time," Lewis said.

What needs finishing is a 27-21 loss to Indiana in the national championship game. Miami outscored the Hoosiers 21-17 in the second half and drove into scoring range in the final minute. Quarterback Carson Beck's last throw was picked off by Indiana defensive back Jamari Sharpe at the 6-yard line with under a minute to play.

Ahmad Moten Sr. had five tackles in that game, one for a loss. He then skipped the 2026 NFL Draft and came back for a fifth year in Coral Gables.

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No. 7: Ahmad Moten Sr., DT, Miami Hurricanes

ESPN polled more than 20 personnel staffers around the sport this summer, and they ranked Moten the fifth-best returning defensive player in college football. He is the only player from an ACC school in that top 10. One Big Ten director of player personnel had high praise, telling ESPN, "That dude's a freaking game wrecker."

Most early 2027 draft boards list him as the first or second defensive tackle in the class. Phil Steele placed the Fort Lauderdale native on his third-team preseason All-America squad, and Athlon put him on its fourth team.

Miami Hurricanes defensive lineman Ahmad Moten Sr. celebrates after defeating the Mississippi Rebels during the 2026 Fiesta Bowl. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

He takes over a line that lost its two best players. Edge rushers Rueben Bain Jr. and Akheem Mesidor are gone to the NFL, and those two accounted for 22 of Miami's 50 sacks last season.

Miami restocked the front through the portal. Missouri transfer Damon Wilson II arrives after nine sacks, 9.5 tackles for loss and 54 quarterback pressures. Ohio State transfer Jarquez Carter and Nebraska transfer Keona Davis join the tackle rotation. Justin Scott, a former five-star recruit, returns next to Moten inside after 26 tackles and 6.5 tackles for loss.

Why Ahmad Moten matters so much to Miami in 2026

Miami's defense under coordinator Corey Hetherman finished fifth nationally in scoring defense at 14.8 points per game, 12th in total defense and fourth in sacks. That unit has to hold its level while four new starters break in on the offensive line.

The Cardinal Gibbons product started 14 games in 2025 and made second-team All-ACC. He posted 31 tackles, nine tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks and 27 quarterback pressures across 471 snaps, all career highs.

Opposing offenses know where he lines up now. With Bain and Mesidor gone from the edges, offensive lines can slide protection to the middle and put two blockers on the No. 99 jersey on passing downs. His sack total may not climb. Miami needs him to squeeze the pocket from the interior so Wilson and the other edge rushers see single blocks.

ACC media voted Miami the preseason favorite to win the conference, giving the Hurricanes 165 of 188 first-place votes and 3,159 points, well clear of SMU. Miami has never won an ACC title since joining the league in 2004 and has reached the conference championship game once, in 2017.

Miami opens at Stanford on Sept. 4 at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN. The harder games come later, at Clemson on Oct. 3, at home against Florida State on Oct. 17, at North Carolina on Oct. 31 and at Notre Dame on Nov. 7. Five of Miami's final seven games are at Hard Rock Stadium, with the road trips to North Carolina and Notre Dame falling on back-to-back weekends.

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