Here’s the deal with UM’s Bissainthe and Arroyo and where they stand. And Canes notes

A six-pack of Miami Hurricanes notes on a Tuesday:

▪ Tight end Elijah Arroyo and linebacker Wesley Bissainthe were regarded as top-12 players in their recruiting classes when they joined UM in 2021 and 2022, respectively.

The talent is there for both to become really good players; now they need to do it.

Arroyo hasn’t yet reached his potential because of a September 2022 knee injury that sidelined him for the remainder of that season and for all but 47 snaps during the 2023 regular season. He played 22 snaps in the Pinstripe Bowl.

Meanwhile, Bissainthe has become a serviceable starter, but not a dominant one.

UM needs both to become 2024 standouts.

Bissainthe — rated by Rivals as the No. 12 linebacker and 184th-best prospect overall in the 2022 class — was the first-team weak-side linebacker when spring practice opened Monday. Unlike last season — when KJ Cloyd and Corey Flagg Jr. were on the roster — there’s no veteran, experienced player to challenge him.

Second-year player Marcelius Pulliam was the No. 2 weak-side linebacker during Monday’s session.

PFF ranked Bissainthe last among UM linebackers who played a lot last season — 519th overall among 775 qualifying FBS linebackers.

Of the 39 players who received defensive snaps for UM last season, PFF rated Bissainthe 28th. He was rated worst among all UM defensive players who logged more than 200 defensive snaps. (He had 401.)

“I feel way more comfortable knowing what I’m doing, playing fast, doing my job,” he said Monday.

But... Bissainthe said he’s “looking for more ways to make impactful plays in the game” and “being more of a role model for” six first- or second-year linebackers.

Among UM linebackers, Bissainthe had the most difficult time in coverage in 2023, allowing a 135 passer rating (13 for 15 targets caught for 166 yards and a touchdown).

Asked where he’s looking to improve, he said: “Get my hands more on the ball in the passing game.”

Having Lance Guidry back as defensive coordinator for a second consecutive season is a big help. “I’m blessed to have him here,” Bissainthe said. “Having the same defense, having the same scheme helps a lot.”

As for Arroyo, he has displayed flashes of ability to become a complete tight end when healthy: He has the skill set to be a physical blocker and effective receiver.

And after two years, he’s healthy.

“I feel great,” Arroyo said. “I feel like Elijah Arroyo.”

Arroyo was rated by Rivals as the 214th-best player and No. 9 tight end in the 2021 class.

“Elijah looks incredible right now,” UM coach Mario Cristobal said Monday. “If you had to pick one guy that’s had the most impressive offseason, it would be a really tough battle, but you’d have to point at him because of what he’s been through. He showed it out there again today.”

Arroyo attempted to return early last season before sustaining a setback with the knee.

“It was definitely frustrating; I gave myself a day to be mad about it,” Arroyo said. “After that, nothing I can do. I just have to keep my head down and work, control what I can control.”

▪ As for the other tight ends, second-year player Riley Williams “has taken another step,” Cristobal said.

Cam McCormick, the first player in college football history to be granted a ninth year of eligibility, is out this spring due to an injury.

“Cam is coming back from an injury, but he looks good,” Cristobal said.

And early enrollee Elija Lofton has tantalizing talent. He’s the latest Las Vegas-based tight end to attend UM, following Brevin Jordan.

“Look at our guy from Bishop Gorman,” Cristobal said of Lofton. “He’s a really physically impressive, tough, physical, just really good football player. I’m really fired up about that room.”

Canes tight ends were targeted just 30 times in the passing game last season.

“We have to do a better job schematically, have to get the ball to them when they are open,” Cristobal said, adding that last season, “we just didn’t connect. We’ve always had great tight ends room.”

▪ With Damari Brown missing spring ball — and Te’Cory Couch and Jaden Davis moving on to potential NFL careers — UM is thin at cornerback. Daryl Porter Jr. has the most experience of the group.

Jadais Richard, who transferred from Vanderbilt a year ago, thrived in 1-on-1 receiver/cornerback drills on Monday, and he will have every chance to win a top three rotation spot.

Porter Jr. is a cinch to be one of UM’s top three cornerbacks, and the second-year Brown also has a very good chance to be a rotation corner.

▪ Cristobal, on freshman quarterback Judd Anderson, who is likely fifth on the depth chart at this point, if there were a depth chart:

“He’s hard to miss, all of 6-7. He understands there will be some time he may not get all the reps, but he’s going to develop into a great player.”

▪ Samson Okunlola — considered the nation’s No. 1 offensive tackle in the 2023 class — split first- and second-team snaps at left guard on Monday, and Cristobal said he “looks great, is 100 percent healthy, got healthy toward the end of last year. He’s ready to help us, is competing for a spot. We expect him to have a really big spring, and he showed it today.”

Left tackle Jalen Rivers said of Okunlola: “He came in as a left tackle — he’s learning the left guard spot. He’s doing a great job adjusting to that left guard role, not just being a tackle.”

▪ For the first time in Cristobal’s tenure, there’s a player wearing the jersey No. 1. Actually, two players: quarterback Cam Ward (who looked good Monday, by all accounts) and linebacker Francisco ‘Kiko’ Mauigoa, who is out this spring during injury recovery.

“Jersey numbers are really important to the players, and I respect that and we’ve got to find a way to make it work for them,” Cristobal said. “If they’ve done what they’re supposed to do in the right way, then we try to make it work for all those guys.

“They want to wear those numbers; we went with it … Kiko has because he earned it. Cam has had a great offseason here, and right now, it fits.”