Michigan only has four spots left in the 2012 recruiting class. After the coaches gained a commitment from Drake Johnson and  missed out on Brionte Dunn and a few other running back prospects, they seem to be done with RB recruiting this year. Theres nothing to worry about, though. Hoke and Co. are already looking forward to what the running backs in the 2013 class have to offer.

Kamani Thomas(Photo Courtesy of Rivals)

One 2013 prospect to look out for on the recruiting trail next year is Dallas (Ga) East Paulding High School RB Kamani Thomas. Thomas is a 5-foot-9 190 pound running back has been compared by some to Alabama's current running back, Trent Richardson. It's a general consensus that Thomas will be the number one running back prospect in Georgia for next year. Thomas is the complete package at his respected position. He is extremely elusive, which gives him the "shake and bake ability" that leaves defenders in the dust. He has enough top-end speed to outrun almost everyone that he faces on the turf. Lastly, he has the physicality and strength to plow defenders over while running in the open field. He doesn't shy away from contact whether it's on the edge of the field or between the hasmarks. He also resembles Richardson mainly because of his pass-catching ability out of the backfield, which may be Thomas's most valuable asset.Thomas said in an article a few months back that Michigan was his 'dream school'. "If it was my choice, I’d sign with Michigan,” Thomas told the AJC. “I’ve always been a Michigan fan. My dad is a Michigan fan. I’ve got a lot of family up there.”

Kamani Thomas runs around a defender(Photo Courtesy of Dallas-Hiram Patch)

I recently got in contact with Kamani and he agreed to talk with me and do a quick interview.

SimplyComplex: You've come out and said that Michigan is your outright leader, what do you like the most about Michigan?

Kamani Thomas: I've always liked michigan and now that there back to the I-Formation I like them even more.

SC: How did your Michigan visit go?

KT: The visit was okay, expected a little more out of it,though. (Me:What do you mean?)
I just figured we would be able to talk to the coaches more than what we did and really look at things around the campus or facilities.


SC: Did you talk to any of the coaches? If so, what about?

KT: I talked to Coach Montgomery for a second, but thats about it.

SC: Any you good friends with any other players in Georgia?

KT: Yes, I'm good friends with Shaq Wiggins. He's a great cornerback.

SC: What are you looking for in a university and coaching staff?

KT: In the coaching staff I'm just looking for that winning environment and that want for me as much as me for them.

SC: How does it feel to be the number one RB in the state of Georgia?

KT: Being No. 1 RB is humbling just gotta keep working hard to stay there.

SC: What kind of runner would you describe yourself?

KT: I would describe myself as a power runner, but fast enough to out-run a defender if I have to.

SC: What other schools have been recruiting you?
KT: Alabama, Georgia Tech, Georgia, Mississippi State, Vanderbilt, Tennessee, Duke, Southern Miss, Troy, and LSU.

Kamani Thomas Sophomore Highlights

As you can see, Thomas will be one of the premiere backs in the entire country come next year. As a sophomore, Thomas ran for 1,901 yards in 13 games, averaged 8 yards a game, ran an average 22 times a game, and scored 22 total touchdowns. Thomas visited Michigan a few weeks back, and came away thoroughly impressed. Thomas hasn't received a Michigan offer yet, but I'm positive that the coaches will be in contact with him soon enough to give him that prestigious Michigan offer.

2013 Ohio Athlete Jayme Thompson from Toldeo (OH) Central Catholic high school has narrowed his list down to three suitors for his services. Thompson is listed at 5'11 and weighs about 175 lbs ., and is expected to play defensive back at the collegiate level. The three finalists who made his list were: Michigan,Notre Dame, and West Virginia. West Virginia is the only one out of the three that has actually offered him, but Michigan and Notre Dame are waiting on his transcripts to make sure that he is capable of enrolling early next year. Thompson has been in meeting with his schools councelors to get everything in order to make that possible.

Jayme Thompson( Photo Courtesy of UnderArmour)

It's quite strange that a prospect would decide on a college this early in the recruiting process, but it's his choice. Thompson is officially going to announce his decision on New Year's Day. Chris Anderson, WVU recruiting analyst at  247sports said " When he intially reported an offer from Michigan, it seemed obvious that he was going to choose the Wolverines."

Thompson has visited Michigan twice in the past few months. He was on campus a couple weeks ago, and visited Michigan when the Wolverines took on the Boilermakers. None of the recruting sites have released a star ranking for Thompson, but he is expected to be a high three star/ low four star recruit come next year.

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.

Amara Darboh commited to Michigan on December 4th(I'm late, I know). Amarah Darboh is Michigans first wide receiver commitment of the 2012 class. Darboh hails from West Des Moines (IA) and attends Dowling Catholics high school.

"Recruiting Experts"

Scout	Rivals	ESPN	24/7 Sports
4*, #33 WR, #206 Ovr	4*, #31 WR, #208 Ovr	3*, 78, #77 WR	4*, 93, #19 WR, #191 Ovr

The four main recruiting services all have Darboh listed around 6'2 and inbetween 190 and 205 pounds--he has good size for a receiver.  Scout, Rivals, and 24/7 are really close in their evaluation of his talents, all ranking him as a four-star and right around the #200 player in the country, though 24/7 has him well higher than Scout or Rivals in their positional rankings. ESPN, however, has him ranked as a three-star and the 77th receiver in the country. It's clear that ESPN is the major outlier here.

Amara Darboh at Michigan game(Photo Courtesy of the Detroit News).

Here are some "expert analysis" on Darboh.

From ESPN:
Darboh is a combination of strength and quickness as a big receiver with a sturdy build, long arms and nice height. He is part playmaker and part possession player and against this level of competition he can really stand out. He can be an imposing player off the line and shows some physicality when pressed at the line ... Not afraid to go over the middle and will make the tough catch in traffic. Shows good leaping ability and can catch the ball thrown over his head. Tracks the ball well, and does an excellent job of adjusting to the poorly thrown ball or ball thrown to his opposite shoulder on down field throws along the sideline. Can be a body catcher at times, but secures the ball consistently. Has some wiggle in the open field after the catch for a bigger player and displays some natural open field run skills ... We are somewhat concerned about Darboh's top end speed. He does not play as fast as his listed forty times would indicate nor does he possess sudden change-of-direction after the catch.

From 247Sports:
Darboh shows exceptional speed as a bigger receiver and has another gear once he gets free from a defensive back. Quickness is another aspect that separates Darboh from his competition, as he consistently picks up big gains from short screens or pass patterns. Darboh shows excellent strength and athleticism by breaking tackles from smaller corners and staying up-right. Darboh has a natural feel for the game already by knowing where to sit in zone coverage and also working with his quarterback to find open space when he scrambles. One thing Darboh caught on to quickly was the importance of blocking at the position as he relentlessly blocks until the whistle.

High School Coach
He's a big, physical player," Dowling coach Tom Wilson said of his 6-2, 200-pounder. "I've seen him compared to Roddy White of the Falcons — a bigger guy that can run very well. He ran 4.42. He's a kid that's had an awful lot of big plays for us in his three years as a starter, and we don't have many three-year starters here. Amara is a special talent."

My Analysis
Darboh is a big, physical receiver that has elite blocking skills and has big-play ability everytime he gets his hands on the ball.  He has tremendous hands which are shown when he catches the ball in traffic. Has good body control when a poorly thrown ball is thrown his way. Has good vision when in space, and shows physicality which you can see by the way he breaks away from wimpy tacklers. Darboh needs to straighten out his stance on the line of scrimmage before the snap because he stands to high leaving him vulnerable to being jammed by the corner. His route running is a cause for concern, but that can be fixed with good teaching and a change in technique. I question his top-end speed,though. He appears quick and elusive rather than fast. This isn't a big concern, but something to look out for in the future.

Amara Darboh Junior Highlights


Darboh had a lengthy offer list, with finalists Notre Dame, Florida, Iowa, and Wisconsin joined by Iowa State, Kansas State, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska, and Vanderbilt. Rivals also shows interest but no offer from Oregon and USC. Darboh may have had more offers, but he suffered a shoulder injury during his senior season.

Despite playing in only seven games this season, Darboh amassed 48 catches for 765 yards and 11 touchdowns. As a junior, he had 49 receptions for 646 yards and 6 TDs, and in his sophomore year he recorded 25 for 371 and a TD.

Amarah Darboh makes diving catch (Photo Courtesy of Public and Paul Media)

With Michigans severe lack of depth at wide receiver,  Darboh could have a chance to start as a true freshman. Even though Michigan doesn't have great depth at receiver, there may be enough depth to let Darboh take a redshirt and add more bulk to his frame. Whichever route the coaches decide to take, Darboh should be a very special talent and maybe be an all-conference player in the B1G.