Can Miami’s offensive line improve off of a disappointing showing in 2019?

That will be one of the key questions for the Hurricanes to answer in 2020.

On February 29th, UM will begin their 15 spring football practices and getting more consistent play on the offensive line will be one of the big keys during the month of offseason football.

Miami returns their top six offensive linemen from the 2019 season, but new offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee has made it clear that all of UM’s players enter the year with a clean slate, which will help promote competition.

“You want to get guys in position during the spring to where they are working together in the spring to build continuity, but all of that isn’t really decided until the fall,” Lashlee said about building the offensive line in the spring.

The Hurricanes are coming off a 2019 campaign in which they allowed 3.92 sacks per game, which ranked 127th in the country.

The biggest jump in improvement should be expected from rising sophomore left tackle Zion Nelson, who was thrown into the fire as a starter at the hardest position on the line as an undersized freshman. Pro Football Focus credited him with allowing 12 sacks on the year.

Nelson arrived at Miami weighing close to 240 pounds last January and played the majority of the 2019 season in the 275 pound range after spending eight months in UM’s strength and nutrition program.

Now that Nelson has spent a full year in Miami’s strength and conditioning program and competing at the college level, the hope is that he has improved significantly in the strength and technique areas.

UM will also return DJ Scaife, who was named the offensive MVP while playing right tackle for the majority of the season. Can Scaife make the jump to being on one of the All-ACC teams in 2020?

The Hurricanes will also return center Corey Gaynor and right guard Jakai Clark on the interior after they went through their first season of significant playing time.

Veteran starter Navaughn Donaldson is still recovering from a leg injury that was sustained at the end of the 2019 season. He will miss at least the start of the spring.

The loss of Donaldson means John Campbell will likely get more reps with the first team.

The Hurricanes have also added talented true freshman Jalen Rivers this spring. Rivers has the talent to crack the two deep.

So what type of depth is Lashlee looking for on his offensive line? The magic number appears to be at least eight dependable players.

“Ultimately, if you can have three tackles, three guards, and two centers, you can have a good team,” Lashlee said. “That gives you enough depth and if you have more than that, then that is great.”