Miami Hurricanes’ Jahfari Harvey to enter transfer portal
Miami Hurricanes defensive end Jahfari Harvey plans to enter the transfer portal, a source told the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
Harvey is the first player publicly known to be leaving Miami via the portal this offseason. The portal officially opens on Dec. 4. The fifth-year redshirt junior from Port St. Lucie spent five seasons with the Hurricanes, racking up 99 career tackles with 10.5 sacks and 22 tackles for loss.
After starting on the defensive line in 2022, the veteran edge rusher was a rotational player for Miami this season. He had 23 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and one sack this season. Harvey had a 66.7 defensive grade from Pro Football Focus in 2023.
The 6-foot-4, 252-pound Harvey had a breakout season in 2022, with 31 tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks, while playing in all 12 games, including eight starts.
But after emerging as one of the Hurricanes’ top performers on defense last season, his role diminished this season. Harvey’s defensive snaps decreased from 425 in 2021 and 412 in 2022 to 313 this season. He started five games this season after making 13 starts the last two seasons.
Hurricanes coach Mario Cristobal said he expected to be active in the transfer portal this offseason.
“Five years ago, I changed my perspective on all that stuff and just figured, ‘Look, any defection that you create or that happens to catch you by surprise, it’s an opportunity to upgrade,’” Cristobal told WQAM on Monday. “We need another 30-plus guys of the mold of Rueben Bain, of a Mark Fletcher, of Damari Brown,” he added.
Harvey was a four-star prospect coming out of Vero Beach High School in 2019.
