Amara Darboh
Name: Amara Darboh
Height: 6’2″
Weight: 216 lbs.
High school: West Des Moines (IA) Dowling Catholic
Position: Wide receiver
Class: Redshirt junior
Jersey number: #82
Last year: I ranked Darboh #20 and said he would be a starting wide receiver with 30 catches for 450 yards and 4 touchdowns. He made 36 catches for 473 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Last year Michigan’s clear #1 target – both literally and metaphorically – was Devin Funchess. Unfortunately, Funchess looked reluctant to carry that mantle, and the steadier target turned out to be Darboh. In a pretty weak passing game, he found himself open fairly regularly and almost never dropped the ball. Funchess made some spectacular plays, but Darboh was the possession guy. His best career game came against Indiana (whose doesn’t come against Indiana?) when he caught 9 passes for 107 yards and 1 touchdown.
This year Darboh is still a #2 guy in a lot of ways. He might be the best wide receiver on the team, but he’s not a guy who scares a defense or can take over a game. Furthermore, Michigan’s most talented catcher of passes is probably tight end Jake Butt, who will be deployed in a tight end-friendly offense. Because of his sure hands and solid frame, Darboh should be targeted often for a team that will probably need to dink and dunk its way down the field. The Wolverines have a couple speedsters, like Jehu Chesson and Drake Harris, but neither player has proven to be very reliable in their five combined years on campus. I expect Darboh to lead the Wolverines in catches and yardage.
Prediction: Starting wide receiver; 50 catches, 650 yards, 4 touchdowns
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I think that’s a pretty achievable prediction for Darboh. But with Chesson being around, and probably viable options like Harris, Canteen, Cole and maybe Ways offering more upside, I don’t think he belongs anywhere near this high in the list. It sounds like Grant Perry is doing very well and he’s a possession guy too. There are some possession receivers that have a lot of value, but it’s uncommon. On some rosters they are especially valuable, but I think Michigan has a number of guys who can do that job.
Darboh is a good steady presence, probably our best WR, and no one else is as as proven as he is. But he’s not anything close to what you want out of a #1 WR and I don’t think Michigan would be too affected if someone else had to step in. I’m not sure Darboh, if he went out for the year, would be missed anymore than say Jack Miller will be. Good player, valuable, but not a difference-maker IMO.
Someone else can step in, and with the WR position sounding like it might be deemphasized, Michigan should be fine.
We’ll see though, I underestimated Darboh last year and doubted he’d even start opposite Funchess. He’s our most impo
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Take Darboh out of the lineup, and who can you trust? Not Chesson with his questionable hands, and probably not a true freshman like Cole or Perry. There’s no big-play guy (at least not one who has shown his stuff), so I certainly don’t want to lose the only proven possession guy.
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Well, unfortunately, Darboh IS out of the lineup with a finger injury. But it sounds like both Harris and Perry have outdistanced him, though whether that was before or because of the injury isn’t clear. Hopefully he’ll be back soon, but my guess is we’ll see Harris, Chesson and Perry as the top 3 guys next week. Cole, unfortunately, seems to be making less of an early splash than hoped for, so it remains to be seen if he’ll make the field this year or redshirt.
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I don’t believe that to be the case (that those guys have surpassed Darboh). He might be injured, and there’s nothing we can do about that. You never know how long a finger injury will keep a receiver out. But if/when he’s healthy, I think he’ll be ahead of Chesson. Perry and Harris are sort of wild cards.
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Well, no “might be” about it…he IS injured. You’ve read the same reports I have, and you know he didn’t participate in the open practice. And yes, since Harris and Perry were with the 1s, they HAVE outdistanced him, at least for the time being. He may very well be back on top whenever he gets back (or he may not), and will almost certainly be ahead of Chesson, but he doesn’t really have the potential to be a #1 receiver, while Harris does, at least at some point, and possibly this year.
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What you and I have read is that Darboh was wearing a splint a week ago. Does that mean he will miss the September 3rd game or beyond? Not necessarily. Also, saying “Harris and Perry outdistanced Darboh” is like saying Jimmy Garoppolo outdistanced Tom Brady at New England. Furthermore, Perry has been working in the slot, so he and Darboh don’t have much to do with each other. In most two-receiver sets, Perry would probably be on the sideline.
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If Perry proves a reliable target, there’s nothing stopping him from being out there in 2 WR sets. Especially on 3rd downs.
The rumors of sets using multiple TEs, using Ty Isaac as a guy who can motion into a receiver position, and harbaugh’s love for FBs and TEs means we probably aren’t going to see as many 3 and 4 WR sets as most teams.
But yeah, Darboh having an injury for the moment doesn’t mean anything about the depth chart other than he is injured at the moment. Not to say it’s impossible he’ll get passed, but it would be a shock if he’s not one of the top 2 WR.
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Gallon and Funchess, our most recent #1 WRs both started working inside (at slot or TE, respectively) and then moved to mostly outside when they proved capable. The #1 WR before that (Hemingway) lined up in the slot regularly. The leading receiver before that (Roundtree) was a slot, who later moved to the outside under Hoke. Before Rodriguez, Manningham was the #1 and he lined up in the slot regularly too. If Desmond Howard was an 18 year old freshman he’d be labeled a ‘slot’ too.
The idea that the #1 WR has to be Braylon Edwards or Derrick Alexander.
Darboh is a poor man’s Jason Avant. In 2005 Avant was the #1 WR and caught 82 balls/1023 yards/8 TDs. His supporting cast that year included a young Manningham and Steve Breaston (who WAS mostly a slot because he wasn’t great at tracking deep balls and didn’t excel at route running). Those guys complemented Avant’s (very underrated) skills by providing a big play threat.
The hope for 2015 is that somewhere in this group of WR there is a big play capable guy. IMO, right now it sounds like the best bet may be Harris. But Chesson was a kid that has physical talent and came late to football IIRC correctly. He still has two seasons to show what he can do. Cole, Canteen, Perry, Ways — we can have some vague hopes there too, but like with Harris, we haven’t seen them enough to know what they offer.
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@ Lanknows 12:48 p.m.
“If Perry proves a reliable target, there’s nothing stopping him from being out there in 2 WR sets…”
As with several of your other quibbles, this can literally be said about anyone on the team. If Jaron Dukes proves to be a reliable target, he too could be out there in 2 WR sets. So could Jack Wangler.
The point is that Darboh is a redshirt junior who has a lot more experience, and he was higher regarded as a recruit. Darboh is high on the list because he is a proven commodity and is expected by almost everyone to be a starting WR. Any notion of downgrading him below Perry is based almost entirely on a few leaks from practice saying he “looks good” or “has been running with the 1s.”
With the lack of proven receivers on this team, I’m confused about why people would take our only proven commodity and say, “Meh, he’s no big deal.” Unless you think Michigan has found its Toby Gerhart in De’Veon Smith, Ty Isaac, or Derrick Green, we’re going to need somebody to be productive at wideout.
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OK – To clarify my point:
If Perry is good enough to earn the ‘start’ at slot, he’s probably good enough to play outside. I’d expect in unbalanced formations where there are 2 WR on the same side of the field and none on the other – he could be the 2nd guy. Sure that goes for Dukes too – but nobody is saying Dukes is good enough to start at slot right now.
I dont dispute that Darboh deserves being ranked higher than any other WR. What I dispute is that he deserves being ranked anywhere near Lewis. If we lose Lewis, I think the team really suffers, despite the decent depth and talent in the secondary, because he’s an elite player. Darboh is not.
And while none of the WR crew is particularly proven, there are a bunch of guys there that could feasibly perform at an overall level that is close to, if not better than, Darboh. So, his hypothetical loss would be felt, especially on some critical 3rd downs, but not as badly as a bunch of guys listen below him, IMO. If your starting WR are Chesson and Perry or Chesson and Harris, I don’t think the offense is going to fall apart. Butt is probably the most important pass catching target anyway and the system is very run-oriented.
Now you can say the same thing about a Peppers or Lyons or Stribling stepping in for Lewis, but I think that since nickel and dime packages are used regularly you WOULD feel that sting a lot more. Suddenly you’re putting a Safety out there at CB or utilizing a backup at nickel that can’t impact the game like Peppers can. In other words – trouble.
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I have little doubt that the RB position can produce a player who has Gerhardt-like abilities, or close to it. The run game will be productive if the OL makes the leap we all want it to. RB talent isn’t what is going to hold up this offense.
Darboh’s status as “most proven guy” just doesn’t mean that much because he’s still not very proven. He’ was clearly a notch above Chesson and Canteen (other guys who played last year), but it’s not like he has separated himself by a mile from those guys, and there are some talented new faces in the mix now who could surpass him.
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Think of it another way. If Devin Funchess was coming back this year, instead of Darboh, he wouldn’t rank too much higher than where you put Darboh.
It feels like he’s ranked this high a bit by default, because that’s just where the #1 WR goes, more or less.
Maybe he makes a big leap forward but the stats you predicted indicate you don’t expect him to be a dramatically better player than he was last year.
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There’s no ‘lineup’ till there’s a game. I think Darboh is clearly the #1 WR right now. Everything I’ve seen still indicates Darboh and Chesson are your starters. It’s good though, that Perry and Harris are making some noise.
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Are Chesson’s hands that questionable? I’m not convinced there is that much gap between him and Darboh, though I acknowledge Darboh is a sure thing.
It might be a leap of faith to trust Grant Perry, but the hype has been consistent and strong through the last few weeks. Sounds like he’ll be a good possession guy to me.
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Chesson has never been a very natural pass catcher. He looks awkward catching the ball at times. You just don’t see it that much because he doesn’t get targeted very often.
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Kind of agree with both of you guys. This may be a bit high for Darboh. I’m guessing the staff would lose a lot more sleep if Cole, Mags, Kalis, or Henry went down than Darboh. Just have a feeling that Darboh will not be able to build on his productivity from last year. Expecting some younger offensive skill players to break out a bit, but Chesson will not be surprising anyone. It is not just his hands that are a problem, he can’t track the ball in the air.
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Interesting – that would explain his lack of targets. Funchess being around probably had a lot to do with that too.
They’d miss Darboh for sure and maybe there isn’t a great might bring enough speed or big-play ability to mitigate losing Darboh’s reliability..
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