Earlier today, Michigan was able to get a commitment from Ladue (MO) Horton Watkins wide receiver Jehu Chesson. Michigan desperately needed two wide receiver prsopects in this class, and with chesson and Amara Darboh, it looks like Hoke and CO. succeded. Now, with only 4 spots left, the coaches can focus on landing some other highly regarded prospects.

Jehu Chesson(Photo Courtesy of  PurpleWildcats)

"Expert Rankings"

Scout	Rivals	ESPN	24/7 Sports
3*, #82 WR	3*, #89 WR	3*, 79, #51 WR	3*, 89, #53 WR

The four services agree that Chesson is 6'3" and around 180 pounds—he's a little on the skinny side, but has a very solid frame for a wideout. As for Chesson's skills, they're mostly in agreement as well, pegging him as a middle-of-the-road three-star. ESPN and 247Sports are a little higher on Chesson than Rivals and Scout, listing him around the 50th-best WR in the class instead of down below 80. As you can tell, Rivals and Scout are the outliers in there rankings compared to 24/7 and
ESPN.

Now onto the "expert analysis" of Chesson.

Allen Trieu of Scout:
Tall, lanky receiver who can go up and get the ball. Snatches it easily out of the air, but lets too many underneath passes get into his body. Great natural athlete with good leaping ability and straight line speed, but is not an elusive guy after the catch. Must add some bulk and strength, but is tough and willing to go over the middle and make catches.

From ESPN:
Comes off the ball with explosion and a nice stride. Gets into routes quickly and can eat up cushion with an imposing charge upfield. He has some value as a vertical target due to his frame/speed combination, but we are not convinced he is a great speed guy rather a competitive one. He can really elevate and adjust to the jump ball. Positions himself nicely and will high point the ball with good extension. Has flashed the ability to make the spectacular grab look easy and can make the acrobatic grab in a crowd. He consistently catches the ball well and wastes little time getting upfield to make things happen. Can adjust and pluck on the move on poorly thrown balls. He is pretty sharp as a route runner underneath ... Chesson is not quite as crisp at the intermediate levels ... He has the skill set and fluidity to be sharper. After the catch Chesson shows strength and some wiggle to not only make you miss, but also stiff arm and lower his shoulder to power through would be tacklers. He is not a huge homerun threat in space, but given his size he is pretty nifty and can gain valuable YAC and move the chains.

Tim Sullivan from Rivals
The physical abilities are certainly there. The 6-3, 185-pound Chesson has the size to outmatch defensive backs, though he will add weight and strength before contributing at the college level. He also possesses great speed as a high school receiver. He was the state champion in the 300 meter hurdles as a junior, and has run a time of 37.44 seconds - good for No. 34 in the country among high schoolers in 2011.
"I think the thing at our level that he does is before you even line up, he creates some matchup problems because of his height and length," Tarpey said. "He's got real long arms, he does a great job of catching the ball away from his body. I think that's a nice thing so teams planning for us definitely had to account for him."

Keith Niebuhr from Rivals analysis from when Chesson attended the Nike camp in Miami:
STRENGTHS: Chesson made a splash Sunday in Coral Gables by running crisp routes and catching seemingly every pass thrown in his vicinity. He's tall and lean, was quicker than most receivers on hand, and got in and out of his breaks quite well. A hurdler in high school, his leaping ability showed up often during position drills.
WEAKNESSES: Because Chesson is a bit wiry, getting stronger is a must so college corners can't push him around at the line of scrimmage.
Derek Tyson from ESPN:
He's a great pick up. I had a chance to see him play at the Miami Nike Combine this summer. He was the most impressive receiver I saw. He is very smooth, ran great routes and had excellent hands. Very solid player. Good kid too.
Honestly, there weren't many big-time receivers at that particular camp. Notre Dame commit Justin Ferguson was there, I thought Chesson just looked much more polished as a receiver than Ferguson. I've seen Diggs and Agholor at other camps. I wouldn't say he's quite as explosive as those guys, but definitely on the same level as far as route running, hands and body control. I think he has a tremendous upside.

My analysis:
Chesson is a tall, lenghty receiver that posseses good hands and has tremendous leaping ability. As a track star at his school, Chesson has good-to-great speed and seems to be extremely elusive. Chesson is a very sharp route runner who is very fluid going in and out of his breaks. With the ball in the hnads, Chesson has the power to gain extra yards by overpowering defenders.chesson might not ever be a field strecher who has homerun ability everytime he touches the ball, but he is very serviceable in space who constantly gets YAC.

Jehu Chesson Senior Highlights


Chesson's offer list, is pretty average outside of the Michigan offer. The other two finalists for his services were Iowa and Northwestern, and he also held offers from Akron, Bowling Green, Cincinnati, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Oklahoma State, and Purdue, according to Rivals. Scout also lists a UCLA offer and interest from Florida. Oklahoma State has had good success scouting and developing receiver in college so it's a sigh of relief to see them show interest in Chesson.

In his junior season, Chesson caught 53 passes for 605 yards and 11 touchdowns. In his senior season, Chesson caught 53 passes for 757 yards, an average of 14.3 yards per reception, and six touchdowns as a senior. He also scored twice on kick/punt returns.

Jehu Chesson shakes off a tackler(Photo Courtesy of The St. Louis American).

The future of Chesson looks to be very promising at Michigan. He may have to redshirt because Amara Darboh may be the more polished receiver commited right now, so I think Chesson gets beat out, but anyting can happen in a few months. Chesson will need to develop and get some good ol' fashioned conditioning before he becomes a great receiver,but like I said, the future is very bright for this young man.