This week, Mark Fletcher takes on the LOVE Index. He’s an interesting player to watch, given how Miami relied on him in the 2025 CFP and the loss of so many talented players from that team. To remind you, the LOVE Index is scored 0-100 and looks at four categories to help us understand the impact of a playoff contender’s schedule on CFF value (see below) for details.
0-25 points will be assigned to each of the following:
Losses and Playoff Vulnerability: Likelihood of their team losing an early game
Offensive Consolidation – When the going gets tough, how heavily is this player relied upon?
Volume Delta – The gap between their “coasting” volume and “desperation” volume
Elimination Window – How early and often a team faces an opponent that could ruin their playoff chances
Mark Fletcher, Miami (FL)
Losses and Playoff Vulnerability
Things don’t start so great for Fletcher on the LOVE Index, but it shouldn’t come as any surprise. Playing in the ACC means that your schedule likely doesn’t have many early landmines. Such is the case here. Road trips to Stanford and Wake Forest are the “tough” encounters in September, but October does start with a bang. Playing at Clemson could pose a mild threat, especially if their quarterback situation is proven and gelling with the offense.
Considering that Miami doesn’t see any real threats until October, Fletcher scores a 5 for this category.
Offensive Consolidation
If you look at the four playoff games plus four other close battles (Florida included) from 2025, you’re looking at a run rate in the mid-40%s for Fletcher. That’s a really good number for a running back in a deep room. There’s some reliance and trust in Fletcher, and that should only improve coming off their near national championship run in 2025.
Could Miami struggle to pull away from teams and need to rely more on the ground game/Fletcher? Possibly. Because we’re not grading how likely it is to happen, but instead, how Fletcher is used when that does happen, I have to give him 20 out of 25 points. The running back room is just as deep this year as it was last year, so there’s no reason to think anything changes.
Volume Delta
How is Fletcher relied upon when the going isn’t so tough? Against Pitt, Virginia Tech, Stanford, Bethune Cookman, and USF, Fletcher ran the ball just 66 times (36.5% run rate). One thing that doesn’t feel like a coincidence is that he scored 8 of the 16 rushing touchdowns during those games. So while he didn’t see big-time usage, he was still relied upon to find the end zone and was successful.
Touchdowns can be volatile, but I’m not going to ignore the 6’2″, 225 lb. running back’s ability to find the end zone against inferior opponents. Fletcher scores a 13 out of 25 here.
Elimination Window
Looking at the full schedule, there’s really only two challenging opponents on the docket: at Clemson and at Notre Dame. Besides those two games on October 3rd and November 7th, the next toughest matchups are a home game against rival FSU, followed by another home game against Pitt. In any other game, you’d have to really stretch it to convince yourself that the Hurricanes are in danger of losing.
With the ACC being so weak and everyone knowing this, Miami would have to win every other game, plus the ACCCG, if they lost to Notre Dame and Clemson. They would have zero noteworthy games if they fell to those two teams. Even then, this schedule plays very well for Miami. Fletcher is certainly hurt for this and earns just 5 points.
Total Score: 43
Standings:
1. Bo Jackson – 74
2. Mark Fletcher – 43
3. Dakorien Moore – 41
Scoring Explained:
85-100 = The Jeremiyah Love Tier – Elite ceiling disguised by low offseason volume projections.
70-84 = High Leverage – Safe baseline volume with big upside if an early loss occurs.
50-69 = Script Dependent – Talented player held back by a weak schedule/coaching style.
0-50 = Static Volume – Safe player that has capped upside. What you see is what you get.
