Dolphins signing former Miami Southridge OL great DJ Scaife, who started 51 games at UM
DJ Scaife started 51 of 61 games during his five-season career at the University of Miami, extremely impressive for an offensive lineman who not only played in every game as a true freshman, but started seven of them.
His versatility also stood out, having extensive experience inside at guard and outside at tackle — mostly on the right side. But Scaife, a 6-3, 314-pound Miami native and former Under Armour All-American out of Southridge High, did not hear his name called in the 2023 NFL Draft.
Now, Scaife will use his ample experience to bolster his chances of making the final roster of the Miami Dolphins as an undrafted free agent. The Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson reported late Saturday that the Dolphins are signing Scaife.
The Dolphins also have added Hurricanes edge rusher Mitchell Agude, who overcame a three-day coma after a skateboard accident at age 9.
Sciafe said March 27 at Miami’s Pro Day that he envisioned himself playing guard or center, and that “it was very cool’’ representing his home town in college. At Southridge he played left tackle.
“I feel I could have [gone] anywhere coming out of high school,’’ Scaife said. “But coming here and letting my family see me every weekend felt good putting on for my city.”
Scaife was ranked by ESPN as 19th best offensive guard in the draft. At UM Pro Day, Scaife said he had 23 reps in the bench press, jumped 29 inches vertically and had an 8’1” broad jump.
“I do think this is a player who has the profile to win inside at the NFL level, has a firm punch and shows effective ability to anchor or manufacture movement vertically in the run game when he’s charged with firing off the ball,’’ The Draft Network director of scouting Kyle Crabbs said. “Keeping him in these conditions is a good way to maximize his ability.
“Scaife Jr. has been a persistent presence on the Hurricanes’ line since arriving on campus and has been exposed to an ample amount of football, including at multiple positions. This should, in theory, have him well aligned to fully understand concepts and be able to apply them versus numerous fronts when posed with new pictures at the line of scrimmage. His dense build offers plenty of mass and he has the kind of wide-body, boxy build that affords him natural leverage as a blocker.”
Scaife started 11 of 12 games for the Hurricanes this past season, and as a junior in 2021 made nine starts of his 12 games played. In 2020 he started all 11 games at right guard, extending his consecutive start streak on the line to 31 games by the end of the season. He allowed 17 quarterback pressures and three sacks that season, per Pro Football Focus.
In 2019 as a sophomore, Scaife started 13 games, including 12 at right tackle.
And as a true freshman in 2018, Scaife played in all 13 games, with seven starts.
