CORAL GABLES, Fla. - Miami thought Elija Lofton could become this kind of player, and this season he’s starting to look like exactly that.
The Hurricanes have long made a habit of turning tight ends into major weapons, and Lofton is now stepping into that lane. After Elijah Arroyo starred for Miami and later went in the second round of the 2025 NFL Draft to the Seattle Seahawks, Lofton was the next man up.
Back then, he was a freshman trying to carve out his own space. Now, after flashing in limited action early in his career and then pushing through injuries last season, the junior has settled in as a real difference-maker.
Through this season, Lofton has 12 catches for 134 yards and a touchdown. The production is growing, and so is his connection with quarterback Darian Mensah, which has helped put the ball in his hands more often.
“Darian is a good guy,” Lofton said about his relationship with Mensah. “He's a great leader, great person to be around. It's just getting repetition and being in the right spot, doing my job and just being in the right place at the right time and having people that believe in me and trust in me to go make those plays.”
Mensah sees the same thing from his tight end. Their timing has sharpened through practice work and repeated reps, and that chemistry is starting to show up when the lights come on.
“I feel like I would miss him on a lot of throws, and he's been open to just hearing me and the way I want to routes ran certain routes ran,” Mensah said. “And I think it shows up on the field.
You know, Everything starts at practice and and with reps, and so we've been rapping it before, after practice. And I think he's been doing an excellent job, and I think his role where it start to expand as well.”
Lofton’s value, though, isn’t limited to receiving numbers. Offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson pointed to the junior’s work as a blocker as a major reason his game keeps trending up. That side of his development, Dawson said, has stood out week after week.
“The guy's hard to tackle with the ball in his hand, and so trying to do some things to get the ball in his hand early is important, but ultimately too, there's a level of trust that Mensah is starting to develop with him in his downfield route running that's really good, and I just think he's improved,” Dawson said.
“He keeps improving every week, watch him block. He's really doing a heck of a job blocking the C-gap and doing all the things we ask him to do in the run game, and his pass game is really coming along too.
I thought the Clemson game, I thought he played really, really physical. I thought he played really, really good, and some of the things I'm seeing in practice with him is very, very encouraging as far as some down-the-field stuff.
So that's just going to continue coming.”
Miami expected Lofton to matter this season. He’s making sure of it.
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