How ex-Hurricane Elijah Roberts went from barely playing at UM to becoming NFL prospect at SMU

Elijah Roberts was part of a group of SMU players who kept an eye on the Hurricanes.

“We were checking the scores at halftime, trying to see if they were winning or not,” Roberts said.

Both the Hurricanes and Roberts’ Mustangs competed for a spot in the ACC title game last year. SMU kept its side of the bargain, earning a spot in the conference championship. UM fell short, losing two of its final three games and missing out on an ACC title-game bid.

If the Hurricanes had made it, it would have been an intriguing matchup. Several players on the Mustangs, including Roberts, started their college careers at Miami before transferring to SMU.

“It was funny because at first it was just a me and Jaylan Knighton thing,” Roberts said. “We talked about it. Me and him are really close, so when I was leaving, we didn’t really have a clue about SMU. Of course, we knew coach (Rhett) Lashlee was over there, but SMU was never in the talks of who we would want to play for. But once we left and were officially in the portal, it was just weird because Kyle Cooper — he was the point of contact, he was the coach that reached out to us — he was just like, ‘We’d love to have you guys up here.”

“When we went, it was just a me and a Jaylan Knighton thing. Then our other teammate, Jordan Miller, he came up and we kind of peer pressured him into committing. He committed, and then the next year is when we got like six more guys from Miami come over.”

Roberts and other former UM players were key contributors to the Mustangs’ successful first season in the ACC. After two strong seasons at SMU, the Miami native is preparing for the NFL draft.

“It kind of gets a little nerve-wracking just in this whole process, the uncertainty of it,” Roberts said. “Not knowing what’s going to happen, not knowing where you’re going to be at for the next few years of your life coming up within a month. All that stuff is a little bit nerve-wracking, but once you think about it and you sit back and kind of have a little gratitude toward the whole situation.”

Roberts did not get many opportunities to play at Miami. He participated in 20 games on defense and played 298 defensive snaps across three seasons. Roberts had 21 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and half a sack during his UM tenure.

After transferring to SMU, Roberts got the opportunity to start and rewarded the Mustangs’ staff for their trust in him. He had 37 tackles, 12.5 tackles for loss and 10 sacks in 2023, earning All-AAC second-team honors. When SMU moved to the ACC in 2024, he repeated his successful season; last year, he had 35 tackles, 11 tackles for loss and 7.5 sacks, earning an All-ACC honorable mention.

“It was definitely, I would say, not scary, it was just different,” Roberts said. “It was definitely different for me. Being a Miami kid, home town, born and raised here, playing here, staying for college. So it was like I’ve been here for what? At that point, it was like 21 years of my life. Having to go away, it was definitely different at first. but having the ties from the University of Miami to SMU kind of made it an easier transition. The coaching staff, having like five coaches there, and having the guys come over with me the first year and second year.”

Roberts said the encouragement he got from SMU’s staff made the biggest difference in his performance.

“Honestly, I would have to say I’ve always had this type of talent,” Roberts said. “Just more opportunity at SMU, and honestly, it was more of a confidence booster. It was like a confidence boost for me. I went from not having so much confidence in myself, not playing as much as I would like, being behind guys every single year and it just kind of felt like I was never going to get a chance to get to a role that I would like. … Going to SMU, coaches like Calvin Thibodeaux, Scott Symons, coach Rhett — they kind of put a lot of confidence in me and let me know from Day 1 like, ‘Listen, man, you’re going to be the guy. We need you to make plays.'”

Now Roberts is getting ready to start his pro career. He went to the NFL combine and is projected to be a likely Day 3 pick in the draft. Roberts said he has been working on position drills to prepare for rookie minicamp. He said he has spoken to the Titans recently and other conversations with teams set up for April.

“Whatever team gets me, they’re going to get a good player,” Roberts said.

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How ex-Hurricane Elijah Roberts went from barely playing at UM to becoming NFL prospect at SMU

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