Here's my plan, I'm going to watch the highlight films of current Michigan commits, and do a deep breakdown of what I see. My hope is to give you a better understanding of what makes each player so talented. Also I hope to be more specific and less general.

Each player is unique in the way they play the game. For example Junior Hemingway is a much different receiver than Jeremy Gallon. Junior Hemingway is a physical receiver who is great at boxing out a DB on a jump ball, whereas Jeremy Gallon is a quick, elusive receiver who is good at running with the ball after the catch. My point is that every player has those attributes that make them unique and affect how they are used. After reading these articles I hope you feel like you know exactly what kind of player Michigan is getting.

We will start this series with commit 24, Jehu Chesson. As a Wide Receiver five skills determine how successful a player is: hands, route running, speed/acceleration, athleticism, and physicality/separation.

Highlights
Junior Year http://youtu.be/OUbwWqLOFOg
Senior Year http://youtu.be/y64PkHcuhrM

Hands- First thing that jumps out at me is the way he catches the ball, it's textbook. He catches the ball using his hands and fingers with his arms extended away from his body. This kind of technique leads me to believe he rarely drops passes. Rarely, if ever, does he catch the ball with his body. He is not afraid to catch the ball over the middle of the field. This is where catching the ball with your hands is very important. If you catch the ball with your body it's harder to maintain possession of the ball. If you have a firm grip on the ball with your hands it's easier to control. I also like the ability to catch under thrown balls near the ground, this shows great hand-eye coordination. He has multiple catches like this and is a valuable skill. Lastly, the first play of his junior highlight tape, you cant catch a jump ball any better than that. He high points the ball very well, (catches the ball at the highest point of his jump). In all, Chesson looks to have excellent technique catching the football.

Route Running- To me this is the area of Chesson's game that needs to improve the most. Running good routes is all about timing, especially in Michigan's offense. There are a couple different plays where Jehu gets pushed off his route or cuts off a route early and this causes him to be in the wrong spot of the field. That leads to inaccurate passes. Because these are highlight tapes this only leads to the sliding or diving ground catches I already talked about. I am assuming this caused a few incompletions that we don't see on his tapes. He needs to do a better job of breaking off his routes to get separation too. When making a cut you need to drop your hips, get low, and explode out of your break. Jehu doesn't really do any of that, more simply he just runs his routes from point A to point B to point C. I would say that isn't much different than most other high school wide receivers. One positive is that route running is something that can be coached and I'm sure the coaches at Michigan can't wait to teach him the correct way to run routes.

Speed/Acceleration- When talking about this I am only going by one thing, what I see. No forty times, track times, or any other measure of speed other than how fast a player looks on film. I will start by saying Jehu's speed is good not great. Jehu is a player that is great at catching screens and turning them into a lot of yards. His running motion is very fluid and he can absolutely be a threat at getting yards after the catch. However, too many times you expect him to hit that next level and just take off from the rest of the pack. That rarely happens with him and that is against high school level talent, players will be much faster in college. Luckily with his height at 6'3, he doesn't need to be a burner. He has plenty of speed to stretch the field and be a real deep threat without being a true game breaker.

Athleticism- This is what makes Jehu such an intriguing prospect to me, he really is a great athlete. At 6'3, body control and leaping ability can make an average player look like a superstar. And the first play in his junior year highlight screams superstar, that is an amazing play at any level of football. When he gets the ball he doesn't look to be explosive, but instead elusive. He is very good at making one or two cuts that get an extra 5-10 yards, that should carry over into college. What makes him great in my opinion is his leaping ability and body control while in the air. I already talked about the first play of his junior tape, but on many occasions he out jumps a defender or catches the ball and adjusts in the air. One play that to me really shows off his athleticism is at 3:05 on his senior highlight tape, he catches the ball and as soon as he lands he makes a cut away from the defender in front of him. You just can't teach that kind of athleticism.

Physicality/Separation- Jehu looks like a different player in his senior season compared to his junior season, this says to me that he is still developing physically. Watch the play at 2:30 of his Senior highlight tape and that will tell you everything you need to know about his physicality. At 6'3 and 185 lbs, he has the frame to add 20 pounds and be just as effective and athletic. Separation is always the overlooked skill every wide receiver needs to succeed. Separation is basically the ability to get off the line of scrimmage and get space between yourself and the corner back. There are two ways to do this. First one is to be quicker and faster than the corner. The second is to be more physical and out muscle the corner. Jehu has enough speed to get separation from some corners but his size and ability to put a defender on his back hip is what makes him special. That natural ability is what makes guys like Zack Novak good rebounders in basketball or how Junior Hemingway has saved all of us from doing a lot of cussing at Denard this past season.

In Conclusion- Jehu Chesson to me looks like a very complete wide receiver. He will never be a game breaker in the sense of a Mario Manningham or Steve Breaston. He is a taller receiver that can go up over a defense to make a catch and get some yards after the catch. In my mind I am seeing a Jason Avant type player. I am not sure how he is only a 3 star. I think we found a very good player that I am excited to see in the Maize and Blue.

Oh By The Way- Since this is my first post ever, I would love to hear feedback and opinions be them positive or negative. Also if you would like, please follow me on twitter @iAmBrookBanks
(Be advised, that is a personal account and is not Michigan sports based. I am a theatre student who performs stand up comedy and from time to time I like to make jokes. I just need more followers.)

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.