Pick #106, Amara Darboh, WR, Michigan

[Bobblehead]

A friend of mine went to Michigan and follows the team closely. He loves Darboh, and like me, he compares his abilities to Anquan Boldin. If Amara has a comparable career to Boldin's, we have found a treasure.

Or any of the other comparables thrown out.. Gordon, Julio, Baldwin.. sheeez.

 

[Jimjones0384]

Harbaugh loves this kid, that's all I need to know, well coupled with what I have seen of him watching Michigan games the past couple of years. I have been watching a lot of Michigan lately, I love how Harbaugh is taking on Satan, I mean Saban. It was an auto correct problem. Lmao.

 

[cheese22]

A friend of mine went to Michigan and follows the team closely. He loves Darboh, and like me, he compares his abilities to Anquan Boldin. If Amara has a comparable career to Boldin's, we have found a treasure.

Or any of the other comparables thrown out.. Gordon, Julio, Baldwin.. sheeez.

Interesting bunch of comps. Not exactly the most similar 4 guys (compared to each other). I thought Darboh and Moore reminded me of Bolden's build and style. What Kearse is supposed to be? I like both of them but hope they are ps guys and won't bump McEvoy. I like McEvoy and would love to see Darboh take Kearse's spot sooner than later.

 

[massari]

Nice little vid on Darboh

[youtube]w2ieFhnECXY[/youtube]

 

[penihawk]

He has a cool story and seems like a great kid. I think he becomes one of the gems of this draft and my adopt-a-rookie.

 

[vin.couve12]

That throw in that OSU game for the touchdown was also late, low, and behind. He'll need those adjustment skills playing for the Hawks.

 

[Seanhawk]

Harbaugh loves this kid, that's all I need to know, well coupled with what I have seen of him watching Michigan games the past couple of years. I have been watching a lot of Michigan lately, I love how Harbaugh is taking on Satan, I mean Saban. It was an auto correct problem. Lmao.

By some accounts, Harbaugh hated Sherm and Baldwin so we really can't lose either way.

 

[LoneHawkFan]

Man there was a lot of love for this guy when we drafted him. But, then a 3rd year Husky who has played in 3 games in two seasons, with one catch for 8 yds in his career, has a good preseason....

I mean...literally every response was positive back in April. We were ready to replace Kearse's production with Darboh.

This wasn't, isn't, and never will be a wasted pick. I think his ceiling is higher than Kearse's ever was...and def higher than Kasen's.

Let's get back to reality here. Dude is big, strong, tough, understands the pro-style route tree, engages downfield blocking, 4.45 speed, good route runner...a gamer big-time. The Hawks do a good job of developing WRs that are willing to do the dirty work. This guy will be better than Kearse ever was for us.

 

[KiwiHawk]

It's "what have you done for me lately". Williams flashed in pre-season, and Darboh really didn't show. The coaches obviously liked what they saw from him in practice, but the fans only see the pre-season games, so aren't as impressed.

 

[LoneHawkFan]

It's "what have you done for me lately". Williams flashed in pre-season, and Darboh really didn't show. The coaches obviously liked what they saw from him in practice, but the fans only see the pre-season games, so aren't as impressed.

Yeah I get it.

The point is, all good to drop Kearse's production for a kid...but not Kasen's? It's just...funny. I'm a UW guy, too. I frickin' love Kasen williams. But this kid is legit, I think.

Big balls Pete. Gotta take the good with the bad.

 

[KiwiHawk]

It's "what have you done for me lately". Williams flashed in pre-season, and Darboh really didn't show. The coaches obviously liked what they saw from him in practice, but the fans only see the pre-season games, so aren't as impressed.

Yeah I get it.

The point is, all good to drop Kearse's production for a kid...but not Kasen's? It's just...funny. I'm a UW guy, too. I frickin' love Kasen williams. But this kid is legit, I think.

Big balls Pete. Gotta take the good with the bad.

Keep in mind that Williams has been on the squad for two years now. If it's a close call now between Williams and Darboh, then you go with Darboh because:

1: More years on the contract - This is the last year for Williams. Darboh is locked up until 2020.
2: If Darboh is already where Williams took 3 pre-seasons to reach, then you have to assume Darboh's ceiling is higher because his starting point is higher.

 

[LoneHawkFan]

It's "what have you done for me lately". Williams flashed in pre-season, and Darboh really didn't show. The coaches obviously liked what they saw from him in practice, but the fans only see the pre-season games, so aren't as impressed.

Yeah I get it.

The point is, all good to drop Kearse's production for a kid...but not Kasen's? It's just...funny. I'm a UW guy, too. I frickin' love Kasen williams. But this kid is legit, I think.

Big balls Pete. Gotta take the good with the bad.

Keep in mind that Williams has been on the squad for two years now. If it's a close call now between Williams and Darboh, then you go with Darboh because:

1: More years on the contract - This is the last year for Williams. Darboh is locked up until 2020.
2: If Darboh is already where Williams took 3 pre-seasons to reach, then you have to assume Darboh's ceiling is higher because his starting point is higher.

I'm right there with ya.

 

[Josea16]

It's "what have you done for me lately". Williams flashed in pre-season, and Darboh really didn't show. The coaches obviously liked what they saw from him in practice, but the fans only see the pre-season games, so aren't as impressed.

Yeah I get it.

The point is, all good to drop Kearse's production for a kid...but not Kasen's? It's just...funny. I'm a UW guy, too. I frickin' love Kasen williams. But this kid is legit, I think.

Big balls Pete. Gotta take the good with the bad.

Keep in mind that Williams has been on the squad for two years now. If it's a close call now between Williams and Darboh, then you go with Darboh because:

1: More years on the contract - This is the last year for Williams. Darboh is locked up until 2020.
2: If Darboh is already where Williams took 3 pre-seasons to reach, then you have to assume Darboh's ceiling is higher because his starting point is higher.

Duh.Though was born in the Bay Area, lived in the PW for most my life. So yes I dann well know a Superbowl team.

 

[sutz]

Darboh was injured IIRC and missed the first couple of pre season games. He came in and did fairly well in game 4.

Before game 3, I would not have been surprised if we cut Darboh. After game 4, I understand why they kept him. Sure, rookies are rookies, but Darboh appears to have the goods.

 

[Ruminator]

[youtube]mRYBafvyAAg[/youtube]

Envision this, only Russ throwing the pass. But watch OSU's defense. They did everything they could to try to deny Michigan, including big-time pressure on Speight and the vaunted Lattimore covering Darboh. Coverage has just a bit of breathing room thanks to Darboh's slightly juking him off as the play starts. Perfect throw, a bit low by necessity, and despite OSU's heavy pressure and Michigan needing to run the play perfectly and very quickly to succeed, Darboh makes the catch with bent knees millimeters from touching the ground as he collapses.

Darboh being able to grab balls at any elevation -- from leaping one-handed to near the turf -- gives me hope that he could be the missing RZO help we've sorely needed. It's all on Russ and Bevell to utilize him effectively in compressed field situations.

 

[chris98251]

2: If Darboh is already where Williams took 3 pre-seasons to reach, then you have to assume Darboh's ceiling is higher because his starting point is higher.

A player is a player, using your logic Doug Baldwin should have been cut a few years ago since he was a UDFA and had no real ceiling and was clean up guy at best as far as expectations, kind of like John Randle who never did anything in the league because he was I think a 14 round pick, or Kurt Warner a UFDA that had no ceiling at all, or Dave Krieg who's college doesn't even have football now.

People evaluate players wrong all the time, they look at stats, well stats don't tell you a player was used wrong in a system and his skill set will fit better in what you want to do. Chris Carson is a great example this year as well, nobody heard of him, he was a RB that was used on a passing team and didn't have a lot of stats who learned about running hard after a injury. That passing offense honed his skills in pass protect and receiving however, we are seeing that he learned to run hard. Also how many really good RB's are out there that have shit lines and OC's. This is why we see Pete and John take flyers on guys I believe.

Draft for us is trying to cherry pick the known guys and who we want, our real draft is finding the diamonds still in the dirt that everyone else walks over. That's rounds 4 - 7 and securing the UDFA we have made contact with prior to the draft to lock them up quickly. Roos is another one of those guys.

 

[LeftHandSmoke]

2: If Darboh is already where Williams took 3 pre-seasons to reach, then you have to assume Darboh's ceiling is higher because his starting point is higher.

A player is a player, using your logic Doug Baldwin should have been cut a few years ago since he was a UDFA and had no real ceiling and was clean up guy at best as far as expectations, kind of like John Randle who never did anything in the league because he was I think a 14 round pick, or Kurt Warner a UFDA that had no ceiling at all, or Dave Krieg who's college doesn't even have football now.

People evaluate players wrong all the time, they look at stats, well stats don't tell you a player was used wrong in a system and his skill set will fit better in what you want to do. Chris Carson is a great example this year as well, nobody heard of him, he was a RB that was used on a passing team and didn't have a lot of stats who learned about running hard after a injury. That passing offense honed his skills in pass protect and receiving however, we are seeing that he learned to run hard. Also how many really good RB's are out there that have shit lines and OC's. This is why we see Pete and John take flyers on guys I believe.

Draft for us is trying to cherry pick the known guys and who we want, our real draft is finding the diamonds still in the dirt that everyone else walks over. That's rounds 4 - 7 and securing the UDFA we have made contact with prior to the draft to lock them up quickly. Roos is another one of those guys.

Good post.

Re: the Roos example, I did some reading about LT Isaiah Battle and have half-talked myself into thinking that this monster has possibilities, despite how nasty a character he can be. Reminds a bit of Ifedi.

 

[KiwiHawk]

2: If Darboh is already where Williams took 3 pre-seasons to reach, then you have to assume Darboh's ceiling is higher because his starting point is higher.

A player is a player, using your logic Doug Baldwin should have been cut a few years ago since he was a UDFA and had no real ceiling and was clean up guy at best as far as expectations, kind of like John Randle who never did anything in the league because he was I think a 14 round pick, or Kurt Warner a UFDA that had no ceiling at all, or Dave Krieg who's college doesn't even have football now.

People evaluate players wrong all the time, they look at stats, well stats don't tell you a player was used wrong in a system and his skill set will fit better in what you want to do. Chris Carson is a great example this year as well, nobody heard of him, he was a RB that was used on a passing team and didn't have a lot of stats who learned about running hard after a injury. That passing offense honed his skills in pass protect and receiving however, we are seeing that he learned to run hard. Also how many really good RB's are out there that have shit lines and OC's. This is why we see Pete and John take flyers on guys I believe.

Draft for us is trying to cherry pick the known guys and who we want, our real draft is finding the diamonds still in the dirt that everyone else walks over. That's rounds 4 - 7 and securing the UDFA we have made contact with prior to the draft to lock them up quickly. Roos is another one of those guys.

I'm not talking about draft position.

If it's a close call between two players, then it's safe to assume they are close in performance, correct? Do you have any issue with that statement? I don't see how you could but maybe you're inferring some sort of draft-pick bias in there?

Anyway, assuming similar performance, if one guy has been in the pros 2 years, and one guy is in his first training camp, yet they are both performing at similar level, then doesn't it logically follow that the one who is in his first training camp will be even better after he's been in the league 2 years?

That's what I mean by higher ceiling. Has nothing to do with draft position. Has to do with where they are now, and where they can go. Darboh is likely to end up better because he didn't need two years to get to where Williams is after two years.

Doug Baldwin didn't spend 2 years on the practice squad. He was producing on the field in the regular season since his first season. You are not comparing apples to apples.

 

[chris98251]

Williams was in recovery when we brought him in the first year and still rebuilding his legs, that's why we gave him the time initially after the Bengals cut him. His advantage is he had been in the Pros longer then Darboh, on the flip side Harbaugh was his coach and the guys at Michigan are about as close to a Pro program as you can get, also why so many Michigan players are NFL ready out of the gate.

Having seen a healthy Williams play at UW many of us know what he can do or could do, he isn't there yet, he was better then Kearse in my book and Ross.

 

[Hawkscanner]

[youtube]mRYBafvyAAg[/youtube]

Envision this, only Russ throwing the pass. But watch OSU's defense. They did everything they could to try to deny Michigan, including big-time pressure on Speight and the vaunted Lattimore covering Darboh. Coverage has just a bit of breathing room thanks to Darboh's slightly juking him off as the play starts. Perfect throw, a bit low by necessity, and despite OSU's heavy pressure and Michigan needing to run the play perfectly and very quickly to succeed, Darboh makes the catch with bent knees millimeters from touching the ground as he collapses.

Darboh being able to grab balls at any elevation -- from leaping one-handed to near the turf -- gives me hope that he could be the missing RZO help we've sorely needed. It's all on Russ and Bevell to utilize him effectively in compressed field situations.

YUP. I most certainly DO envision exactly that ... and those are precisely the lenses that I was viewing this particular play under when I wrote this post back a few months ago. If you consider the gravity of the situation (noted above) and who it was whom he burned, it makes what Darboh did even more impressive. It speaks to him as a player -- that from everything I've heard about him I'd say he has that same kind of clutch gene that Kearse has.

It's funny, I had to go back to re-read through this thread myself this morning ... just to remind myself just what kind of a player Amara Darboh is. Here again is a reminder of what this kid can do on the football field ...

[youtube]jIXtQ1Ngiu8[/youtube]

And now that he's healthy again, I envision that he will be making those same kinds of plays for Russell Wilson and crew as well.