Armondo Blount doesn’t look like a player waiting for a breakout so much as one ready to force his way into it.
The Miami defensive lineman has already shown he can affect games in a bunch of different spots, whether that means setting the edge or sliding inside and working the interior. Last season, the 19-year-old flashed the kind of versatility that makes a front hard to deal with, finishing with 17 total tackles, seven solos and 10 assists, 2.5 tackles for loss, and 2.5 sacks across 15 games. He did it while serving as a key reserve behind Akheem Mesidor, Justin Scott, Ahmad Moten Sr., and All-American Rueben Bain Jr.
Now the Hurricanes are turning the page on a new fall camp and a reshaped defensive line, and Blount is right in the middle of it.
“We’re working,” Blount said. Going 1-0 every day and getting better at everything.”
Miami has lost Mesidor and Bain Jr. to the NFL, but there is still plenty of talent up front. Blount’s value is that he can move around and fill multiple roles. He’s been used as a pass rusher and mostly at tackle, and with depth at defensive end taking a hit after Mario Cristobal said Tuesday that Hayden Lowe and the program parted ways, Blount may not be locked into one exact spot.
What he does bring is obvious: power, effort and the kind of motor that travels. The piece of his game that still needs work is bending, but he has a major resource helping him sharpen the rest of his pass-rushing toolkit in Pro Football Hall of Famer Jason Taylor.
Blount got a close-up view of what elite production and preparation look like last season from Mesidor and Bain Jr., and that left a mark on him.
“They showed me that if you put enough work in, anything is possible,” Blount said.
Mesidor went No. 22 to the Los Angeles Chargers, and Bain Jr. went No. 15 to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in this year’s draft. Blount is now in position to follow a similar path, and he becomes draft-eligible after the upcoming regular season.
A former five-star recruit out of Miami Central High School, Blount is one of the names to watch alongside Moten as Miami looks for its next local defensive star. He hasn’t picked up preseason honors, but if his snap count climbs the way it should, the production could end up doing the talking.
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Miami Enters A Crucial Camp Week With Two Depth Battles Unsettled
Miami has finished its first week of training camp and already has a few areas that deserve a closer watch as the Sept. 4 opener against Stanford gets closer. The defensive line is still being sorted out, with multiple players in the mix as the staff evaluates rotations and tries to settle on the best group for early-season snaps. Elsewhere, the wide receiver room is shaping up as one of the more competitive parts of camp, with veterans and freshmen both pushing for playing time.
Linebacker depth is the other spot Miami will keep monitoring, especially behind experienced starters Mo Toure and Chase Smith. The Hurricanes have enough established pieces to feel good about the top of the depth chart, but the next layer remains unsettled, and the coming week of camp should go a long way toward showing which players can make the strongest case for meaningful roles. [Read more 🡒]
Miami's Playoff Path Just Got Tougher To Ignore In The ACC
The College Football Playoff is staying at 12 teams for the 2026 season, but the path into the field is getting a little more defined for Miami and the rest of the ACC. Conference champions in the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC will keep their automatic bids, while the highest-ranked Group of Six team also gets in without needing a league title. Notre Dame, meanwhile, can still secure an automatic spot if it is ranked in the top 12, and the bracket will be sorted by seed rather than the old bowl tie-ins.
For Miami, the bigger takeaway is that the ACC race matters even more now, especially with the league moving some teams to nine conference games in 2026. The date that matters first is Selection Day on Dec. 6, followed by first-round games on Dec. 18-19, and the rest of the bracket stretches into late January before the title game at Allegiant Stadium. The setup leaves little room for a team to drift through the regular season, and Miami will know the margin for error is shrinking. [Read more 🡒]