Rookie Profile: Amara Darboh, WR Michigan
Editor’s note: With the NFL Draft fast approaching, we’ll be covering the incoming skill position players in-depth with our rookie profiles. Using information from Player Profiler and Mock Draftable, we offer a taste of what each player has done, their athletic profile, and what they can achieve in the future.
I’ve become a connoisseur of Oreos over the years, trying every flavor that hits the market just so I can evaluate the taste of every new cookie that comes out. I’m not the only person who has struck an addiction for Oreos, since they tend to be one of the most popular cookies on the market.
E.L Fudges are a tasty cookie that can get devoured easily by the handful and can be considered the long lost cousin to the Oreo. This cookie has an amazing fudge filling that is sandwiched between two butter-flavored shortbread cookies. Just like its cousin the Oreo, it can easily be dunked in milk. When it comes to notoriety, the E.L. Fudges take a back seat and are almost forgotten, making them a very underrated option in the cookie isle when they are stacked against the excess variety of cookies.
Much like E.L. Fudge cookies, Aaron Darboh, wide receiver from Michigan, is considered a very underrated prospect who is camouflaged and hidden amongst of a bunch of other decorated prospects. The influx of talent in this draft class is going to conceal some of these prospects and prevent them from getting the notoriety they deserve and Darboh is potentially one of those prospects. DLF currently has him ranked 15th amongst rookie wide receivers and 40th in the entire rookie class.
Is he being overlooked, or is he just not very good? Players who are talented and being overlooked during the draft evaluation process tend to become late round steals in rookie drafts and it’s very critical to draw the proper assessment for some of these late round prospects. Being overly objective in your approach could help you find some diamonds in the rough.
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Darboh was a four star recruit from Dowling Catholic High School located in West Des Moines, Iowa. He caught 48 receptions for 765 yards and 11 touchdowns during his senior season. He was heavily recruited by Iowa, Notre Dame, Wisconsin and Florida before signing with the University of Michigan.
Statistics from Sports-Reference.com.
There wasn’t very much excitement during his freshman season, since he only played sparingly on special teams and as a reserve wide receiver. His sophomore season was hijacked by a foot injury that required surgery and prevented him from playing in 2013.
Darboh managed to see the field and gain significant playing time during his redshirt sophomore season in 2014, when he caught 36 receptions for 473 yards and two touchdowns. In week ten against Indiana he managed to catch nine receptions for 107 yards for his best performance of the season.
He started generating some buzz after his junior season by catching 58 receptions for 727 yards and five touchdowns with two games with over 100 yards receiving. His best game of the season came during week one against Utah, when he caught eight balls for 101 yards and a touchdown.
He finished his final year in college as a fifth year senior, making 57 receptions for 862 yards and seven touchdowns while owning a 31.28 percent market share of the team’s passing offense. He blew up against Michigan State in week nine, catching eight receptions for 165 yards. Darboh also led the team in receiving and was the team’s playmaker in tight games when the chips were down.
PlayerProfiler.com is one of my favorite tools to use to gather information about prospects. Let’s take a look to see what they have on-tap for Amara Darboh.
Darboh’s 33.1 percent college dominator rating is in the 59th percentile amongst wide receiver prospects, which is a shade above average. This isn’t an alarming statistic since he wasn’t hyper productive during his collegiate career. His breakout age, the age when a player first achieved a 20 percent dominator rating, was at 20.6 years old. The foot injury he sustained during his sophomore season could be the reason why there was a delayed breakout in his collegiate career.
His workout metrics are very intriguing, mostly due to his 110.6 height-adjusted speed score which is in the 91st percentile amongst wide receiver prospects, meaning he’s near elite when it comes to overall size and speed. With a burst score of 123.2, he has enough power to accelerate and change gears while running routes and eluding defenders.
Another amazing tool I like to use when evaluating prospects is MockDraftable.com. It’s a good source to use for comparing prospects and retrieving athletic metrics. Let’s take a look at his athletic spider-web profile.
Darboh tested above average in everything from his height and weight to his vertical jump. He’s not elite in any of the categories listed, which isn’t a bad thing, but suggests he’s not a high level athlete. The vertical jump was his worst event at the combine where he tested with 36-inch jump and it’s considered average when compared to most wide receiver prospects. His 124-inch broad jump tested in the 75th percentile and was his best event at the combine.
The main thing we can gather from both his profiles on Mock Draftable and Player Profiler is that he’s a good enough athlete to compete at the NFL level but he’s not athletic enough to dominate the competition with just sheer athleticism. He will never have the speed to burn past defensive backs, and he’s not capable of out leaping defenders for jump-balls.
The highlight reel below displays most of Darboh’s receptions from the 2016 season and provides a solid depiction of the variety of routes he runs. The film shows many of his clutch catches and some of his biggest plays of the season.
Darboh is an all-around solid football player. He’s a very smart route runner and is very fluid when it comes to getting in and out of his breaks. His route tree is semi diverse as he runs a lot of outs, ins, slants and hitches. Being able to utilize his size to box out the defender while the ball is in transit might be his greatest skill set, because it allows him to create just enough separation to haul in tough contested catches. He’s a tough, gritty player who is not afraid to make catches over the middle of the defense in traffic and will do whatever it takes to pick up extra yardage after the catch.
He’s not a quick-twitch athlete, and he lacks explosiveness which hinders his ability to accelerate to full speed. This can cause him to not be able to create separation from defenders downfield. This could also present some difficulties for him getting open against tight press coverage at the next level. His lack of burst also makes it hard for him to gain extra yards after the catch and pull away from defenders in the open field.Â
Another qualm that is important to note is that he’s not a consistent hands-catcher, and has a habit of using his body to pin that ball against his hands and forearms to make catches. He also has a problem with drops due to losing focus while trying to catch the ball.
Summary
Darboh is going to be a mid-late round pick in rookie drafts this summer. His fantasy value is going to be dependent on what team selects him in the draft. He needs to be tethered to a veteran quarterback to reach his true potential. Darboh has the upside of a WR2 in fantasy, but more than likely he’s going to serve more as a solid NFL player and not a consistent fantasy starter. He will need to be paired with an accurate quarterback that’s willing to pepper him with targets for him to be a viable fantasy asset. I feel he’s a very intriguing prospect who might be worth monitoring during the later rounds of your rookie draft.
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