David Pollack didn’t toss out the Derrick Henry comparison lightly.
On “See Ball Get Ball with David Pollack,” the college football analyst pointed to Miami running back Mark Fletcher as a player who flashed the kind of traits that can make a defense miserable.
"Mark Fletcher in the playoff, tell me a guy you thought was better," Pollack said. "I mean, consistently big plays, but big, strong, physical, powerful runner. looks a little bit Derrick Henry-esque, like right, like those long strides, big strong dude."
That’s serious praise when the name on the other side of the comparison is Henry, the Baltimore Ravens star and former Alabama powerhouse who is already viewed as one of the best backs of the modern era. Henry piled up 3,591 yards and 42 touchdowns in Tuscaloosa, and his junior season alone - 2,219 yards and 28 touchdowns - ended with a Heisman Trophy and a national championship.
Fletcher gave Miami plenty to like last season, finishing with 1,192 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns. His biggest statement came in the College Football Playoff, where he ran for 507 yards and two scores across four games.
That stretch included 172 yards against Texas A&M in the opener and 112 yards against Indiana in the national title game.
Those postseason numbers were strong enough to make the NFL draft a real possibility. Instead, Fletcher chose to return to Coral Gables for his senior season.
The Florida native was only third-team All-ACC last year, which means the next step is obvious: prove the playoff surge was not just a four-game heater, but the real version of his game.
If he does that, Fletcher could push himself into the national conversation as one of college football’s top backs and become the first Miami player to win the Doak Walker Award.
He heads into the 2026 season with a chance to do exactly that. And if he can match the level he showed in the playoff over the course of a full year, Miami’s offense should still have plenty of punch even with Carson Beck gone.
In Other News...
Former Miami Target Jalen Brown Is Back In The Spotlight
Jalen Brown is back in the transfer portal after a winding college path that has already taken him from LSU to Florida State and then to Arkansas. For Miami fans, his name still carries some familiarity, since he was once a Hurricanes recruiting target before ultimately landing elsewhere, and his latest move puts him back on the market at a time when receivers with proven Power Four experience tend to draw attention quickly.
Browns Arkansas stint never really got the chance to settle in. He started five games last season before a leg injury ended his year, leaving the Razorbacks with only a brief look at what he could bring on the field. Now, with his next stop to be determined, the intrigue is less about where he has been and more about which program is willing to bet on a fresh start. [Read more 🡒]
Oregon Is Locked In A High-Stakes Battle For A Blue-Chip EDGE
Oregons push for Elijah Tillman has quietly become one of the more interesting recruiting subplots in the 2027 edge-rusher market, and Miami is right in the middle of it. The Georgia prospect has made it clear he wants to see both schools, giving the Ducks and Hurricanes a shared target who fits the kind of long, disruptive defender that can change a front seven for years.
For Miami, the race carries a little extra edge because of the familiar recruiting overlap with Oregon, and Tillmans profile makes the competition worth watching. The Ducks are trying to strengthen their future pass rush, while Miami has been in on him longer, and the next step in his process could say plenty about which staff makes the stronger impression when the visits start to matter. [Read more 🡒]
Mario Cristobal Has Miami Owning ACC Recruiting In A Big Way
Miamis 2027 recruiting momentum has turned into something more than a hot stretch. Rivals latest ACC rankings put the Hurricanes in a commanding spot, with seven of the conferences top 10 commits and the top five players all headed to Coral Gables. It is the kind of early-cycle dominance that reinforces why Mario Cristobals staff has been able to keep landing elite talent while building a class that already sits No. 4 nationally with 20 commitments.
The broader picture is just as striking because Miami is not only stacking blue-chip talent, it is also winning key battles against other power programs. The class includes multiple five-star and four-star prospects, and several of those additions were the result of flips that changed the shape of the recruiting board. For a program trying to stay ahead of the curve in the ACC, the only real question now is how long Miami can keep this pace before the rest of the league starts pushing back harder. [Read more 🡒]