There are times when I can become too high on a certain player this time of year. For example, I loved the preseason hype surrounding Baylor QB Sawyer Robertson last year. He put throws into windows deep down the field better than most QBs in the class. But he didn’t end up developing how I projected him to over his last season with the Bears. Let me just say I’m ready to do the same with Miami RB Mark Fletcher Jr.

I think Fletcher is underrated at this point. I posed the question on the Draft Professor podcast heading into the College Football Playoff last year — Would Mark Fletcher Jr be the RB3 in the 2026 NFL Draft? This was BEFORE he ran for 90 yards against Ohio State in the CFP on 4.7 YPC, then followed that up with 133 yards in the semifinal on 6.0 YPC against Ole Miss.

In the National Championship, Fletcher carried the ball 17 times for 112 yards and 2 touchdowns. He had a generational run, and nobody is talking about it!! He’s 6’2, 225 pounds and has lateral agility you don’t see from backs that size. His biggest opportunity for growth is BY FAR in the passing game. He needs to clean up focus drops and become a much better pass protector in order to carve out a quality NFL role.

I think he’s a late day 2, early day 3 pick so by no means a first rounder at this point. But I saw a couple of very prominent analysts in the draft space have him around RB10 in the 2027 class and I’m just not buying that. I know the 2027 RB class is much more competitive than last year’s class, but to me Fletcher has all the makings of an NFL running back and for now I’m slotting him inside my top 5.

Now that I’ve spent a considerable portion of this week’s newsletter covering one RB, let’s get into Darian Mensah and Cooper Barkate — one of the ACC’s best duos. Last year at Duke, Mensah threw for just shy of 4,000 yards (3,973) and 34 touchdowns with just 6 interceptions. He was the belle of the ball in Miami’s eyes this offseason and were able to pair him up with Barkate, who caught 72 passes for 1,106 yards and 7 touchdowns last season. Adding this duo to Fletcher and Malachi Toney give the Hurricanes one of the top offenses in the entire country on paper.

Both sides of the ball lost key pieces in the trenches, so replacing 3 first rounders in that department won’t be an easy task. Justin Scott and Ahmad Moten Sr are the two key pieces on the interior of Miami’s defense that have experience. Many were shocked Moten (#99) didn’t declare for the 2026 NFL Draft. One of my favorite Canes players is Romanas (OJ) Frederique Jr, who was exceptional in the National Championship locking down Elijah Sarratt and Charlie Becker on numerous occasions. His mirror technique is one of the best in the country, but he’ll need to clean up penalties where he tends to be too grabby. He’s also only a true junior; My guess is he’ll be a 2028 guy.

Anywhozers, here’s how the new College Football video game (which comes out today for those who paid $100+ for the MVP+ edition — I did not) has Miami’s top players rated:

Any girl who is dating a man that loves football, or any girl that loves football in general needs to be aware of what is upcoming. It’s officially July which means we are less than 40 days from NFL events kicking off!