Portland (OR) Westview wide receiver Darrius Clemons committed to Michigan on Wednesday afternoon. He picked the Wolverines over offers from Auburn, Georgia, Notre Dame, Oregon, and Penn State, among others.
Clemons is listed at 6'3" and 205 lbs. and supposedly runs a 4.37 forty.
RANKINGS
ESPN: 4-star, 82 grade, #23 WR, #181 overall
On3: 4-star, 96 grade, #5 WR, #47 overall
Rivals: 4-star, 5.9 grade, #18 WR, #91 overall
247 Sports: 4-star, 93 grade, #30 WR, #172 overall
Hit the jump for more.
Clemons lived in Michigan for a while growing up, where he developed a friendship with Michigan receiver Andrel Anthony as a kid. Then Clemons started bouncing around the country a little bit, spending time out west. He considered Michigan early in his recruitment, but then things seemed to fall off. At different times he seemed bound for Oregon, Penn State, and Auburn. Then just a few weeks ago, he popped back up on Michigan's radar. Offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach Josh Gattis had kept up with him and finally convinced him to take an official visit, which resulted in Clemons signing with the Wolverines after all.
Clemons is a tall, thick, fast athlete. I thought he was a solid prospect as a junior, but he's bigger and faster as a senior. He has great acceleration off the line of scrimmage, which can't always be said about bigger receivers. He's a long strider with very good top-end speed, and he also understands how to set up routes, sink his hips, chop his feet, and come out of his breaks. He also catches the ball well with his hands away from his body. And with his big frame, he should be a plus blocker.
I think Clemons can improve his route running, and he may have to adjust his releases off the line of scrimmage. It seemed teams did not want to press him because they didn't have anyone able to handle him physically, but that just allowed him to get up to full speed quicker. College teams are going to put someone in his face at times and try to challenge him, so he will have to deal with that.
Overall, Clemons is a very good prospect. After initially thinking he would be a solid top-200 prospect, I now think he's a top-100 type of guy. So I agree more with On3/Rivals than ESPN/247. Much like what we see with Cornelius Johnson in 2021 (if he's singled up with no one over the top, take a shot), Clemons is that type of guy who's really going to stress a defense. Most teams won't have a guy who can handle Clemons one-on-one.
Michigan has not had a player from Oregon on its roster since James B. Wiley in 1962. Clemons is the third wide receiver in the class, joining Tyler Morris and Amorion Walker.
TTB Rating: 88
His Qb walks up to the LOS staring at the kid and pretty much doesn't take his eyes off of him until the play is over.
ReplyDeleteI can't say that I blame him, Clemons is a man among the boys playing Oregon HS football.
I don't believe that I have seen as many one hand catches in my life as I have seen this year across all of the football I have watched, which really hasn't been a lot. This causes me to think that along with heated seats, the Jugs machine is the single most effective invention in the history of inventing.
So this might be an even better WR haul than 2017? Now that's impressive. If we can get a bluechip QB in the next class, watch out. This Harbaugh program has some special momentum
ReplyDeleteThat's a pretty high ranking there. 88 vs the 89 DPJ got.
ReplyDeleteI see a big difference between Clemons and Johnson and that is speed. Johnson is a good all around player but hasn't been threatening too many teams deep because he doesn't have the pure speed to separate. Clemons 40 time is reportedly much better.
he should probably have a score if 91 or 92.
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