Here’s the word on UM quarterback addition Poffenbarger. And Canes personnel notes

A six-pack of Miami Hurricanes football notes on a Monday:

▪ Here’s what to like about Albany quarterback transfer Reese Poffenbarger, who will compete with Jacurri Brown and Emory Williams to back up Cam Ward this season:

He’s accomplished (having led FCS in passing yards and touchdown passes last season). He throws a nice deep ball, is mobile and is effective in play action.

As Rivals’ Steve Kraning noted: “He has a rapid, quick release and consistently puts the ball out early with air for his receivers to run under. All over his film are plays where he extends and makes magic downfield.”

He’s generally very accurate. As CanesInsider noted, Albany receivers dropped 27 passes last season. His adjusted completion percentage of 68.4 is very good.

▪ Here’s the concern: There’s limited body of work against Power 5 teams, and that small sample size is mediocre.

Against three FBS teams (Baylor, Marshall and Hawaii), Poffenbarger had a 63.3 passer rating, with 45 completions in 95 attempts for 437 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.

He was decent (13 for 26, 150 yards, one TD) in a 69-10 loss to Baylor in 2022, his only game against a Power 5 team.

He struggled badly last September against Hawaii, going 10 for 31 for 93 yards and an interception in a 31-20 loss.

He threw three interceptions and no touchdowns in his final game at Albany, a 59-0 playoff loss to South Dakota State.

So there’s nothing in the body of work, against lesser competition, that should give anyone a conviction that he will be a good FBS starter. But he’s not going to be asked to be.

▪ Several quarterbacks have successfully transitioned from Division II or FCS to FBS in recent years.

Shedeur Sanders went from Jackson State to Colorado and threw 27 touchdowns and three interceptions playing for his father, Buffaloes coach Deion Sanders.

Bailey Zappe went from Houston Baptist to Western Kentucky, where he set an FBS record for passing yards and touchdowns.

Ward went from Incarnate Word to Washington State, where he had 48 TDs and 16 interceptions for Washington State the past two seasons before announcing plans to transfer to UM.

Austin Reed from from West Florida to Western Kentucky and had 71 TDs and 22 interceptions.

Others have had mixed results. Jason Brown went from St. Francis to South Carolina and had eight touchdowns and six interceptions and then transferred to Virginia Tech, where he played sparingly.

The good news is UM isn’t relying on Poffenbarger; Miami basically is taking a flier on a player who could be good, with nothing significant lost if he isn’t.

The competition among Brown, Williams and Poffenbarger should produce a worthy No. 2 quarterback.

▪ UM’s 2025 quarterback commitment, Alpharetta, Georgia-based Luke Nickel, is rated the class’ No. 21 quarterback by Rivals, the No. 28 quarterback by 247 and the No. 33 QB according to On3.com.

FSU, North Carolina and Wisconsin were among his other offers. And he told 247 Sports’ Gaby Urrutia that Georgia and Oregon called.

“My eyes are locked in with the Canes right now and my focus is there,” he told 247. “One hundred percent locked in with the Canes and ready to do something special.”

He threw 39 touchdowns and five interceptions last season and threw for 3914 yards.

Nickel has been playing recently for Cam Newton’s 7-on-7 team, and Newton told Canesport: “There isn’t a quarterback in the country better than him. You’ all getting a winner.”

▪ Washington offensive lineman Nate Kalepo announced he committed to Mississippi, after visiting both UM and the Rebels. He likely would have been UM’s starting left guard, replacing NFL-bound Javion Cohen, had he opted for the Hurricanes.

Instead, Miami could go with Michael McCoy at left guard or sign a veteran in the portal.

▪ Quick stuff: ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. has Cohen as his fifth-best draft eligible guard, Matt Lee as the fifth-best center, Leonard Taylor III as the fourth-best defensive tackle and Kamren Kinchens and James Williams as his No. 2 and No. 7 safeties, respectively. Cohen, Williams and Kinchens are at this week’s Senior Bowl...

Neither the lead draft analyst for ESPN (Kiper) nor the lead draft analyst for NFL Network (Daniel Jeremiah) has a Hurricane in the first round. Pro Football Focus mocks Taylor 32nd overall, the final pick of the first round.

PFF’s assessment of him: “Taylor is a bit high-variance and isn’t as reliable as you’d like in the run game, but his explosiveness at 6-foot-3, 305 pounds as a three-tech pass rusher is pretty rare.”