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CaneSport Right Now: Evaluating new Miami commit Joshua Horton

Stephen Wagner covers recruiting for the University of Miami for On3 Sports and CaneSport. He can be found on Twitter at @stephenwag22 and reached at Stephen.Wagner@On3.com.by: Stephen Wagner12/04/22stephenwagOn3

In a Miami recruiting class loaded with blue-chip recruits, it can be easy to overlook a get like three-star defensive lineman Joshua Horton, who flipped to Miami from North Carolina Sunday. 

But you shouldn’t. 

Horton’s three-star rating by the On3 Consensus doesn’t tell the full picture of the most recent Miami commit. It doesn’t show how violent the 6-foot-4, 275-pound lineman’s hands are in the trenches, his speed and agility and a certain finesse that allows him to penetrate the backfield and pressure the passer without simply relying on his overwhelming athleticism to bull rush offensive linemen. 

His remarkably violent hands help him stand out from some of the other defensive line commits in the 2023 Miami class rated above him (players like four-star commit Collins Acheampong, who looks to be more of a project for the Canes’ coaching staff), and Horton may be closer to seeing on-field action. What his ceiling is has yet to be seen. But his floor appears to be remarkably high as he enters the college level and he looks to be more game-ready than other recruits. 

With a player like Horton, it may be difficult to assertively call him a “diamond in the rough” just because of his status as a non-blue chip recruit after seeing him show that he could conceivably vie for a roster spot in his freshman season at Miami, although that may depend on whether or not he gets a full offseason with Miami’s coaching staff. 

His raw athleticism is undoubtedly impressive enough to make an impact at a school like Miami, but he’s far from the most athletic recruit in this year’s class. Much of his on-field success is thanks to his savvy as a defensive lineman and an exceptional football maturity for a high school athlete. Plus, having a natural frame of his size helps too. 

Horton can be expected to add upwards of 20-25 pounds of muscle between his freshman and sophomore years in order to develop into a player capable of starting in the ACC, but that doesn’t mean he won’t compete for playing time in year one. The Miami coaching staff may envision him in other roles or have different plans for this season’s roster, but his current skill set suggests a player capable of making some form of impact as a true freshman.

CANESPORT’S TAKE

The Miami coaching staff did a marvelous job flipping Horton from an ACC foe and strengthened their Georgia recruiting pipeline by landing the three-star recruit. Remember, this comes just one day after Miami landed three-star linebacker Marcellius Pulliam from the state of Georgia and after head coach Mario Cristobal visited three-star commit Connor Lew in Georgia Saturday night. 

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