Alex Donno talks about new recruiting predictions for Miami to land five star defensive lineman Iose Epenesa and four star wide receiver Daylyn Upshaw.
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00:00We were just talking yesterday with Brian Smith about Jose Epanesa, one of the top
00:06defensive linemen, edge rushers in the class of 2025. This guy is a consensus,
00:11five-star recruit out of Illinois. He's got a brother playing with the Buffalo Bills. He's
00:15had multiple family members who have gone and played at Iowa. So the Iowa Hawkeyes have been
00:20very much involved in his recruitment, but we did read you guys the excerpt yesterday from an Iowa
00:26insider at 247 Sports who did mention that the buzz is, it's not to say that they weren't pretty
00:32confident from an Iowa standpoint with Jose, but the buzz is, you know, he would not be opposed
00:38to going in a different direction from his family members in terms of picking somewhere other than
00:44Iowa. And lo and behold, we get the on three prediction of a crystal ball. They call them
00:51the RPM predictions. This one comes from Gary Furman, who's a friend of mine. He's been covering
00:56Miami for as long as anybody. Gary Furman at Kane Sport on three has logged an RPM prediction
01:03for Miami to land five-star edge rusher, Jose Epanesa. And for a little bit more on Epanesa,
01:10I mentioned, we just talked about him with the recruiting overlord, Brian Smith. This scouting
01:16report is going to give you guys an idea of what Miami can expect if they're able to beat out Iowa
01:23and Utah and Missouri for Jose Epanesa. His recruitment is hard to follow, but everybody
01:29wants him. Like we knew about him when he was a sophomore, like everybody knew about this kid.
01:33And I'm sure Miami was already recruiting. So I wish I had more insight, but like, he's just at a
01:39random high school and he's just really, really good. Like he's the strong side defensive end
01:44that can pass rush. That's the rarest of the rare kind of deal. You need those guys to get over the
01:49top. Like Ruben, like Ruben can play strong side end and lead your team in sacks. You can't prepare
01:54for guys like, this kid's like that. He could be a dominant player as a freshman, just like Ruben.
02:00So you got to love that comparison that Jose Epanesa, who has received an RPM prediction,
02:05that's the equivalent of a crystal ball to land with the Miami Hurricanes, that if he winds up
02:10here in that class of 2025, he could have that sort of an impact as a freshman that Ruben Bain
02:16had last year with Miami. And of course sidebar, I'm incredibly excited to see the kind of impact
02:21Ruben Bain can have this coming year as a sophomore, after recording seven and a half sacks
02:26and 12 and a half tackles for loss last season. Epanesa is that sort of player. And it's funny
02:32because Epanesa rightfully so gets recognized as a five-star as he should. Our guy Ruben,
02:38for whatever reason, was a four-star coming out of high school, which is criminally underrated,
02:43but that's neither here nor there. You love to hear this idea that Jose Epanesa could be
02:48trending towards the Miami Hurricanes. I don't know for sure when he plans to announce his verbal
02:53commitment, so we'll have to keep our eyes on the timeline. But folks, this is one of the very best
02:59defensive ends, defensive linemen in the class of 2025. And we know how well Miami did recruiting
03:05the defensive line just last year, right? That was Jason Taylor's first year as a full-time
03:09defensive end coach. Joe Salavea, of course, Jason Taylor, defensive line coach, officially
03:16works primarily with the ends. His co-defensive line coach, Joe Salavea, of course, was very
03:21involved in recruitment as well. Artavius Jones, landing him, I think had a lot to do with Big Joe.
03:26But Miami landed last year three five-star defensive linemen with Justin Scott, Armando
03:31Blunt, and Marquise Lightfoot. I don't expect them to land three more five stars, but Epanesa
03:38might now be trending to the U, and that is music to my ears. And that wasn't the only crystal ball
03:43that Miami received yesterday. That one was from Gary Furman from Miami to land Epanesa.
03:49We also received a thong bomb. Steve Wiltthong, who's usually not wrong, has predicted Miami to
03:58land four-star wide receiver Daylon Upshaw. He's from Central High School, but not the Central
04:04you're thinking of. He's from Central High School in Phoenix City, Alabama. And Miami's done well
04:10these past couple of cycles recruiting players from that part of the country. Bobby Pruitt
04:15last year, who's looking really good. So Miami maybe can continue getting players out of the,
04:21I think it's, what is it, the Yellowhammer State is what we call Alabama. Cole McConaughey, another
04:26one that Miami landed last year. And in the case of Daylon Upshaw, this is a player that we have
04:32not talked about nearly enough on Locked on Canes, and I apologize for that.