What Canes are getting with guard Cohen. And UM pursues more players in portal, prep ranks

A six-pack of Miami Hurricanes notes on a Monday, as we close in on the start of the early signing period on Wednesday:

▪ What are the Hurricanes getting in Javion Cohen, who started 25 games at guard for Alabama the past two years?

UM’s first portal addition of the offseason was College Football Focus’ No. 63 guard among 656 guards who qualified for consideration this past season.

As perspective, here was the ranking for the guards who played the most for UM last season: departing Justice Olawaseun was 106th; Jalen Rivers 340th; Anex Cooper 302nd and Laurance Seymore 465.

As a pass blocker, Cohen ranked 73rd and permitted no sacks and just six pressures in 337 pass blocking chances. That’s excellent.

As a matter of comparison, Olawaseun allowed 3 sacks and 12 pressures in 179 pass blocking snaps, Rivers allowed two sacks and 13 pressures in 382 pass blocking snaps, Logan Sagapolu 0 and 9 in 135, Cooper two and 12 in 182 and Seymore three and 8 in 133.

As a run blocker, PFF rated Cohen 163rd.

Cohen, a former Central-Phenix four-star recruit committed to Auburn, split time with freshman Tyler Booker last season. He was one of five Alabama offensive linemen to enter the portal.

▪ Cohen announced, courageously, in July that he had undergone treatment for mental health issues.

“For the past month, I have been in rehabilitation for mental health reasons,” Cohen said in an Instagram post over the summer. “The pressure we feel as athletes is insurmountable and can be too much at times. I don’t want to focus on the bad though, I want to shed light on the good that has come of this. (One of the lessons I learned here lol.)

“Herren Wellness has taught me so many things about myself and life that I am eternally grateful for. The biggest lesson, it’s okay to not be okay but it is not okay to not say you’re not okay. I know I’m not alone when I say I felt for the longest I had no support. No outlet to express my emotions too without feeling judged or being afraid to do so.”

After that, Nick Saban said in August: “We’ve done everything we can and we will continue to do everything we can to help all of our players across the board whenever they have any kind of mental health issues of any sort. I think we’ve been one of the programs that have had this for a long, long time and we’ve only tried to develop it and make it better.

“I don’t think that’s really a question for me to answer. I know we’re doing everything we can to help him every way that we can. How he feels this is helping him, I think is probably something that he needs to answer. I’m not disappointed in his performance, I’m not disappointed in the way he’s gone about his work. But still, that’s not for me to answer exactly how someone feels about the treatment and what has helped them get better. I see him being very good, but that’s just what I see. I don’t know how he feels.”

▪ Top portal prospect Travis Hunter, a highly-skilled cornerback, could follow Deion Sanders from Jackson State to Colorado, but On3’s Chad Simmons said UM, Georgia and Southern Cal are three “teams to watch” besides Colorado.

▪ Georgia State defensive lineman Thomas Gore, who’s in the portal, visited Miami over the weekend, and 247 Sports makes Miami the front-runner to land him. The 6-0, 275-pound Gore had five sacks and two forced fumbles last season and 11.5 sacks and 93 tackles in four seasons there.

And UM, as of Monday midday, also remained in the mix for Texas A&M defensive line transfer Tunmise Adleye, a 6-foot-4, 295-pound tackle who has UM in his final four.

He was rated by 247 Sports as the 39th best prospect in the 2021 class.

And the Canes remain in play for Washington State linebacker Francisco Mauigoa, who had 60 tackles, 3.5 sacks, a 95-yard interception return for a touchdown and three forced fumbles last season.

▪ 247 Sports ranks UM’s 2023 recruiting class fourth nationally, behind Alabama, Georgia and Texas. ESPN also ranks UM’s class fourth, while Rivals has Miami seventh.

The Canes remain in the mix for Plantation American Heritage cornerback Damari Brown, who is rated by 247 as the 18th cornerback and 92nd best prospect in the 2023 class. UM, FSU and Alabama are the finalists.

UM continues to pursue his brother, UCF cornerback Davonte Brown, in the transfer portal. FSU also is under consideration.

[Update: Davonte Brown committed to UM on Monday night; he’s the Canes’ second portal addition this offseason.]

And 247 Sports and Canesport report that Miami is trying to get St. Thomas Aquinas safety Conrad Hussey to flip from Penn State. He’s 247’s No. 11 safety and No. 93 prospect. Hussey appears to be considering UM.

▪ Quick stuff: UM safety James Williams had surgery on a torn labrum in his left shoulder - an injury that he played through last season, his NIL agency LAA Sports tells me. He’ll be fine for the start of the 2023 season… Khamauri Rogers, UM’s top corner in the 2022 class, announced plays to transfer to Mississippi State after entering the portal last week.