Spring Game Preview: Michigan vs. Michigan

Tag: Amara Darboh

13Apr 2013
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Spring Game Preview: Michigan vs. Michigan

Devin Gardner

Top five things to watch for when Michigan has the ball . . . 
1. That Devin Gardner’s ACL stays intact. Michigan has already lost two players to ACL tears this spring (linebacker Jake Ryan and backup quarterback Russell Bellomy). An injury to Gardner would be catastrophic, since redshirt freshman walk-on Brian Cleary is the current backup and Shane Morris won’t arrive until June.

2. The interior offensive line. Michigan’s defensive line should be playing at a pretty high level because of the guys who return on that side, so will the three “starters” at left guard, center, and right guard get the job done?  Those three positions seem to be held by Ben Braden, Jack Miller, and Joe Burzynski currently, but there are a few players hot on their heels.

3. Who’s next at wide receiver? We know Jeremy Gallon can be an explosive player, and we know what Michigan has in Drew Dileo and Jeremy Jackson.  Redshirt freshman Jehu Chesson has made some nice plays in practice, and sophomore Amara Darboh has done the same.  At least one of those two guys needs to step up by the fall if Michigan wants to have a high-powered offense.

4. Adequate Michigan running backs. The chance that we see a stellar performance from any of the currently available running backs looks slim.  With fifth year senior Fitzgerald Toussaint out with a broken leg, the job comes down to junior Thomas Rawls, redshirt sophomore Justice Hayes, sophomore Dennis Norfleet, and redshirt freshman Drake Johnson.  Rawls and Hayes have been unimpressive in their live game action so far – although Rawls did have a long touchdown in garbage time last year – and Norfleet was mostly limited to kickoff returns last season.  Drake Johnson has earned praise from the coaches at times, but he has looked so-so in a few spring practice clips.  It would be nice to see a developing, viable option this spring, but we might have to wait until Toussaint comes back or until Derrick Green arrives on campus.

5. What does the offense look like these days? Denard Robinson is gone, and we all loved him, but now Michigan should have an actual, bona fide quarterback.  The kind of quarterback that can sit in the pocket and throw the ball without tricking the defense into thinking it might be a run.  I don’t expect Al Borges to give much away in a spring game, but we should get an inkling of the direction he wants to take the offense.  If the Pistol isn’t installed by now, I would expect to see it in the fall; I also expect a little more threat of the downfield pass this year.

Top five things to watch for when Michigan is on defense . . .
1. How does Cam Gordon look filling in for the team’s best defender? Cam Gordon had a pretty darn good season when he was a redshirt freshman playing free safety and linebacker, although the free safety thing was a bit of a stretch.  Since that 2010 season, he has mostly been an afterthought.  Jake Ryan was a terror of a pass rusher and made his fair share of plays against the run, too, and Michigan will have to manufacture a replacement for him.

2. Safety reps. Thomas Gordon is capable of playing both safety positions, and he’s guaranteed to start at one of them.  Sophomore Jarrod Wilson can play free safety; senior Marvin Robinson can play strong.  Which player will get the most reps?

3. First world inside linebacker problems. Michigan probably has three starter-quality inside linebackers, along with some other guys who have potential.  As I have been predicting for a while, it appears junior Desmond Morgan will be your new middle linebacker (moving over from WILL) and sophomore James Ross will step in at weakside linebacker.  Meanwhile, sophomore Joe Bolden could conceivably be a starter at inside linebacker, although he might be a little large and stiff for WILL.

4. Cornerback depth. Redshirt sophomore Blake Countess might not do much in the spring game, since he’s recovering from an ACL injury.  His replacement last year, junior Raymon Taylor, continues to fight for his job, and senior Courtney Avery appears to have abandoned the nickel corner position to compete at field corner.  Two of the three will presumably start in the fall, but the starting combo we’ll likely see in the spring game will probably be Taylor and Avery.  It will also be interesting to see if young guys Delonte Hollowell and Terry Richardson have developed.

5. Freshman early enrollees. Defensive end Taco Charlton (6’6″, 265 lbs.), cornerback Ross Douglas (5’10”, 176 lbs.), and safety Dymonte Thomas (6’2″, 187 lbs.) enrolled in January, and each one has a chance to contribute somewhere in the fall.  Charlton apparently looks the part, but his technique was rough coming out of high school; Douglas came in bigger than expected; and Thomas has been practicing some at corner and some at the nickel position, both of which are departures from what he played in high school.

12Mar 2013
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Spring Practice Preview: Offense

It’s time to see what the Inkster product can do leading Michigan’s football team.

QUARTERBACK
Redshirt junior Devin Gardner is the clear front-runner for the quarterback job.  After Denard Robinson got hurt against Nebraska, Gardner started the next five games, going 75/126 for 1,219 yards, 11 touchdowns, and 5 interceptions.  Michigan appears to have a “franchise” type quarterback, but what will Michigan’s offense look like with him fully entrenched at the position?  Gardner is better from under center than Robinson ever was, so the I-formation stuff should be more prevalent.  He can still run the shotgun passing stuff, but he’s not a downhill runner in the same way that allowed Robinson to run for 1,000+ yards the past few seasons.
Others to watch: The only other scholarship quarterback on the roster for the spring is redshirt sophomore Russell Bellomy.

RUNNING BACK
With Fitzgerald Toussaint injured, Vincent Smith off to his post-college career, and Derrick Green not arriving until summer, the pickings will be slim this spring.  This should be Michigan fans’ first chance to see redshirt freshman Drake Johnson, who earned some praise from Brady Hoke around bowl time.  He has good size and speed, but that doesn’t always translate to success.  Junior Thomas Rawls (57 carries, 242 yards, 4 touchdowns) and redshirt sophomore Justice Hayes (18 carries, 83 yards, 1 touchdown) earned some carries, but neither one did much with his opportunities.
Others to watch: Sophomore Dennis Norfleet has moved back to running back after a short stint at corner for the Outback Bowl.  Sophomore Sione Houma and redshirt sophomore Joey Kerridge will fight for the fullback spot.

WIDE RECEIVER
In the five games that Gardner started at quarterback, fifth year senior Jeremy Gallon had 31 receptions for 511 yards and 3 touchdowns.  He looks to be the top receiver in 2013, but there’s plenty of room for others to emerge.  Two other seniors return in Drew Dileo (22 catches, 331 yards, 2 touchdowns) and Jeremy Jackson (4 catches, 31 yards), the former of which is a jack-of-all-trades, the latter a lumbering possession receiver.  Then there’s sophomore Amara Darboh, who played but was never targeted, and redshirt freshman Jehu Chesson.  Since Dileo appears to be nothing more than a complementary receiver, it would be good for Gardner and the Michigan offense to find another reliable target between Darboh and Chesson.
Others to watch: Fifth year senior walk-on Joe Reynolds (3 catches, 22 yards) worked his way into the rotation last season and has decent quickness.

TIGHT END
Sophomore Devin Funchess (15 catches, 234 yards, 5 touchdowns) should have playing time locked up at the U-back position.  Fellow sophomore A.J. Williams is a mammoth tight end who’s more of a blocker.  The wild card in the mix is freshman Jake Butt, who enrolled early and is physically developed enough to play as a freshman.  Williams isn’t much of a target downfield, so if Gardner can work out some chemistry with Butt in the spring (and summer), Michigan should have a nice 1-2 punch of receiving tight ends between Funchess and Butt.
Others to watch: Redshirt junior Jordan Paskorz has played in just one game (on special teams against UMass) during his three seasons, and the rest of the guys on the roster are young-ish walk-ons with little experience; the best of those is redshirt junior Dylan Esterline.

OFFENSIVE LINE
The two sure starters are the bookend, fifth-year senior tackles Taylor Lewan and Michael Schofield.  Between those two will be any combination of about a dozen other players, because the three interior starters graduated.  Redshirt freshman all-everything guard Kyle Kalis will probably step in at one guard spot.  That leaves the other two spots up for grabs between redshirt sophomore Jack Miller, redshirt junior walk-on Joey Burzynski, redshirt sophomore Chris Bryant, and redshirt freshman Ben Braden; the former two will probably vie for the center spot, while the latter two will fight for the right guard position.  None of them have played extensively, and if either Bryant or Braden starts the season, it will be his first ever game experience.  In the long term, Braden will probably end up at right tackle, so you could see Schofield and Braden flip if the coaches aren’t confident in Braden’s ability to pull.
Others to watch: Redshirt freshman Erik Magnuson will have every chance to succeed Lewan at left tackle, and classmate Blake Bars has practiced at both center and guard.  Both appear to be at least a year away from playing significant time.  True freshman Kyle Bosch has apparently impressed people with his size and work in the weight room as an early enrollee, but he’s very young; if the coaches wouldn’t play Kalis as a freshman, they probably won’t play Bosch, either, unless injuries occur.  But it will still be interesting to see how Bosch fares in the glorified practice.

6Jul 2012
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2012 Season Countdown: #55 Amara Darboh

Amara Darboh

Name: Amara Darboh
Height: 6’3″
Weight: 205 lbs.
High school: West Des Moines (IA) Dowling Catholic
Position: Wide receiver
Class: Freshman
Jersey number: #82
Last year: Darboh was in high school.  He had 48 receptions for 765 yards and 11 touchdowns.

Final TTB Rating: 77

Darboh achieved the above statistics in just six games due to a shoulder injury, which required offseason surgery.  Despite the injury, he maintained a place in the various recruiting sites’ top X lists.  He committed to Michigan in December over a pretty impressive list of offers that included Florida, Iowa, and Notre Dame.

Darboh has recently stated that he’s 6’3″ and around 210 lbs., which is very well developed for a freshman receiver.  People who have seen him this offseason say he looks like an outside linebacker rather than a wideout, which should bode well for his chances at earning playing time this fall.  In fact, that physical development is reminiscent of the now graduated Junior Hemingway (who was 6’1″, 202 lbs. as a true freshman).  Hemingway played as a true freshman, though he made a minimal impact that season.  I expect a similar experience for Darboh as a freshman.  Numbers at the wide receiver position suggest that he, Jehu Chesson, or both will see the field this season in some capacity.  He probably won’t touch the ball much, but he might catch one or two passes to get his feet wet.

Prediction: Backup wide receiver

7Feb 2012
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Amara Darboh Answers Your Questions

West Des Moines (IA) Dowling Catholic WR Amara Darboh
Four-star wide receiver Amara Darboh recently signed his National Letter of Intent for Michigan on February 1st, which was also his birthday. Less than 48 hours before his big day, Amara was nice enough to give us an update and answer several reader questions.

Experiences in Ann Arbor: “I’ve been there twice. I went there last summer and then I went there for the Ohio State game. When I went there in the summer, I got to see a lot of the town and it’s a really fun atmosphere. And then the Ohio State game was just unbelievable. The atmosphere was great; the fans were great. We sat in the front row on the 50-yard line. . . There seems like a lot to do there.”

Reasons for choosing Michigan: “When I went there it seemed like I connected with the players right away. And I was just talking to the coaches, and I had just got done talking with Coach Hoke and I looked out – because he has this balcony place outside his office – and I saw Devin Gardner and Jeremy Gallon playing catch. . . . Then I saw Roy [Roundtree] and I talked to him and Devin and Jeremy and we all got along great. That was one of the biggest things because you want to get along with the guys that you’ll be playing with next year, especially the older ones because they’re going to be the leaders. . . . And after I met all of the coaches, I had great feelings about them, and I can see why all of the players love them.”
Positive recruiting: “There were coaches at other schools that would say stuff about other schools and ask questions about other schools. But it seemed like Michigan didn’t really worry about other schools and just recruited me, so that was something I liked, too.”
Early playing time: “That’s something that I’ve always wanted to do. I’m not an impatient person, but I feel with my body type, I’m kind of like a mid-year guy already. . . . So yeah, that’s something that I saw the chance for at Michigan.”
Role at Michigan: “They [they coaches] are telling me that I’m more like the new Michigan type of receiver. Like an outside sort of a receiver, I have a bigger frame, and I weigh like 205 lbs. now. I’m a pretty big receiver, so I’ll be playing outside. So what [the coaches] were telling me was about the direction that they’re taking the program, and they like taking receivers like me. . . . They were comparing me to Hemingway and stuff; we’re both big receivers.”
Shoulder surgery: “I’m on the basketball team, but I had surgery during the year, so I only got a chance to play in a couple of games. . . . The surgery was on my labrum; I had dislocated my shoulder. So I decided to have [the surgery] early in basketball season so I could have time to recover and be ready by the time I go to Ann Arbor. It’s feeling pretty good right now. It’s been like a month since I’ve had the surgery. I don’t have the sling anymore and I can move it, but I don’t have full range of motion yet, but I’m going to physical therapy and it’s getting better every day. I should be good by March. So I’ll definitely be ready by the time July comes around.”
Roommate: “I think I’ll be rooming – at least during the summer – with Jehu Chesson. We took our official [visit] together and like talking.”
The #1 Jersey: “Yeah, I’ve heard about it. We’ve got a few Michigan fans around here, so I’ve heard about it. Braylon Edwards wore it last, I think. It’s one of my goals while I’m at Michigan, but it’s not like my first goal. My first goal is to get there, earn a spot and some playing time.”
College major: “I’m going to try to go into the business school. I don’t know if it’ll be like marketing, financing, or managing or what, so I’ll take some basic business classes and take it from there.”
The NFL: “That’s a goal of mine. That’s one of my goals for sure. I’ve worked hard before and I’m working hard now and in the end, that’s where I’m hoping to get to. . . . I like watching Brandon Marshall and other guys like Andre Johnson and Calvin Johnson. . . . I really like watching Brandon Marshall, so if he wasn’t on the Dolphins, I wouldn’t really like the Dolphins, so I guess I don’t really have a favorite [NFL] team.”
Leisure: “I play a lot of video games with my friends, like Madden and NCAA. And then we get ping-pong going, and we play pick up games, football and basketball. . .”
Managing criticism and feedback: “I like my coaches to be honest with me, but then there are some people who will just say things and they don’t know what they’re talking about. I’m the type of person who if you say something and you don’t know what you’re talking about, I’ll tell you. I won’t be rude about it, but I’ll tell you. But with my coaches, I feel like I’m a coachable player and I try to learn every day.”
Dunkin’: “I grew up liking basketball. I liked football, too, but basketball was more my thing back then. . .Yeah, I can dunk. I think that’s [one of the reasons] why I like basketball. Going into eighth grade, that’s the first time I dunked the ball. The one that I used to do all the time back in eighth is I’d throw it off the backboard. And then, have you seen when LeBron puts his hand behind his head and then dunks it? Yeah, I’d do that one a lot, too.”
Read more about Amara and learn about his unique personal journey in an AnnArbor.com story titled “War-time orphan to big-time football: Michigan recruit Amara Darboh survives to become Freetown’s finest.” Make sure to also check out his TTB commitment post.
26Jan 2012
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Ask a Question: Amara Darboh

Amara Darboh
(image via Ongo.com)
Four-star wide receiver Amara Darboh is expected to sign his LOI for Michigan on February 1st, which will also be his birthday. I’ll be having a conversation with him on January 29th, so leave a question in the comments section below if you so desire, and I’ll do my best to get it answered.