Purdue DT Branson Deen commits to Miami, adding much-needed experienced depth in middle of Canes' D
It’s no secret the Miami Hurricanes need an upgrade of talent and depth on the interior of the defensive line with the departure of Darrell Jackson to FSU and only Leonard Taylor a real proven guy that played at UM last year on the interior.
Now some help is on the way.
Purdue 6-2, 285-pound rising graduate senior Branson Deen has committed to Miami.
Deen entered the portal Dec. 19 and Miami coaches worked hard on him behind the scenes ever since,, getting him on campus last week and winning him over.
The Canes have a major need at defensive tackle, and Deen had 27 tackles for the Boilermakers last season with 4 TFL and 2.5 sacks along with 4 QB hurries. In 2021 he was All-Big Ten honorable mention after starting 11 games and finishing with 26 tackles, 9.5 TFL, 4 sacks and 4 QB hurries.
He has played in 31 career games and has 72 total tackles with 15.5 TFL and 6.5 sacks.
So he has experience and will be in the mix to start for Miami and at worst provide solid depth at a tackle spot that needs it.
Deen has one year of eligibility remaining.
As for his talent level? For that we’ll look inside his Pro Football Focus numbers.
This past season he graded out at a solid 74.2 on defense (70 is considered a good grade), including 66.1 on run defense, a subpar 41.7 tackling (8 missed tackles in 492 reps) and 78.1 as a pass rusher (credited with 25 QB hurries per PFF).
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In 2021 he got his most action with 554 reps, and he graded out at 68.6 overall (64.3 run defense, 46.5 tackling, 71.7 pass rush). In 318 reps in 2020 he had a 68.8 grade (71.5 run defense, 79.5 tackling, 60.6 pass rush), and in 202 reps in 2019 he had a 52.3 grade (48.6 run defense, 27.3 tackling, 59.9 pass rush).
So while he hasn’t really starred, he’s been very capable at a major program and would be a major benefit to the Miami roster.
Miami’s defensive line depth certainly gets better with Deen on board, as along with Taylor there is inside depth that will come from Jared Harrison-Hunte and another portal addition, Thomas Gore. At end the team has Akheem Mesidor and Jahfari Harvey returning, and Jacob Lichtenstein is a sixth-year guy who can play anywhere across the line to help with depth. Add in a Nyjalik Kelly, who stood out as a true freshman DE, along with Cyrus Moss off a redshirt and four highly regarded incoming freshmen and you can see there’s quite a bit of talent to work with for coaches this coming season up front.
The Indianapolis native is a former 3-star recruit.
