2021 Miami Northwestern (FL) S Kamren Kinchens signed with the Miami Hurricanes today.
The 5-11, 200-pounder is currently a consensus 4-star in the national rankings. According to the 247Composite, Kinchens is the #332 player nationally, the #23 S in the country, and the #54 player in Florida.
Recruiting Story
Since a breakout sophomore season in 2018, Kinchens has long been considered one of the top DB’s in South Florida for the 2021 class. Since offering him in February of 2019, the Canes and safeties coach Ephraim Banda treated him like a top priority and Kinchens reciprocated that interest with multiple campus visits to UM throughout the next year before coronavirus shut down campuses across the country in March of 2020. From the very beginning, Kinchens stuck to a plan where he was looking to decide in the summer before his senior year, as he ended up choosing the Hurricanes in July 2020 despite a strong push from schools like Auburn and Texas A&M.
Evaluation
Kinchens has been one of my personal favorite local prospects since 2018, and if you turn on the tape, it’s easy to see why. A regular at providing exciting, game-changing plays, and he is the definition of a true ball-hawk. The rare type of safety that has the ability to lock the offense out of all parts of the field in coverage. Ball skills are so potent that any QB absolutely must account for his whereabouts on each play; 11 picks in 2019 was one short of Jaiden Francois’ 2018 record in Dade County. With safeties being so key in the Manny Diaz defense, Kinchens’ value is that much more important; his great range on the back-end gives you the confidence to trust him in single-high coverages to clean up any mistakes, opening up a defense to throw more varied looks at their opponent. While he does have good speed, what helps set Kinchens apart is that he is a step quicker in reading and reacting to what he’s seeing, which allows him to get to and break up so many more passes, and also aids him in cutting down running backs out of the backfield.
High-IQ safety that understands the ins and outs of the position and is seemingly always in the right spot to make a play. Shows instincts to high-point the ball to either bat it away or make the interception in contested scenarios. While most of his value comes in the passing game, he demonstrates the ability to shed blocks to make stops in the run game near the line as well. Form tackling could use improvement at this stage. Compact frame that is physically ready to play at the next level. Adds value on special teams as a punt returner as well. At the Opening Miami Regional in February 2019, Kinchens recorded a 4.68 40-yard dash, a 4.40 short shuttle time, and a 31.7 vertical leap in testing.
The Team
Kinchens is the second safety signee in 2021, joining American Heritage (FL) 5-star James Williams. At safety, the Canes could lose Bubba Bolden and Amari Carter over the offseason, which would leave Gurvan Hall as the only experienced returnee that’s seen significant time at safety. Brian Balom saw most of the 4th string reps this season, with fellow freshmen Jalen Harrell and Keshawn Washington seeing mostly mop-up duty. Avantae Williams is expected to be healthy and return from his season-ending ailment in 2021 as well to add more depth to the position group.
Redshirt Probability: 5/10
Whether or not Kinchens gets a shirt is going to depend a lot on if Bolden and Carter leave, as well as if Miami actually uses James Williams in a traditional safety role full-time. With all that uncertainty ahead of him, it’s hard to say one way or the other if he will crack the rotation in Year 1, but Kinchens does profile as a prospect that is well-equipped to see early playing time at Miami. He will be enrolling early at UM in spring, he possesses a high football IQ, and he is already physically developed for the college level. It wouldn’t surprise me at all to see him leap-frog older players in the pecking order by the fall and become a contributor in 2021.
The 5-11, 200-pounder is currently a consensus 4-star in the national rankings. According to the 247Composite, Kinchens is the #332 player nationally, the #23 S in the country, and the #54 player in Florida.
Recruiting Story
Since a breakout sophomore season in 2018, Kinchens has long been considered one of the top DB’s in South Florida for the 2021 class. Since offering him in February of 2019, the Canes and safeties coach Ephraim Banda treated him like a top priority and Kinchens reciprocated that interest with multiple campus visits to UM throughout the next year before coronavirus shut down campuses across the country in March of 2020. From the very beginning, Kinchens stuck to a plan where he was looking to decide in the summer before his senior year, as he ended up choosing the Hurricanes in July 2020 despite a strong push from schools like Auburn and Texas A&M.
Evaluation
Kinchens has been one of my personal favorite local prospects since 2018, and if you turn on the tape, it’s easy to see why. A regular at providing exciting, game-changing plays, and he is the definition of a true ball-hawk. The rare type of safety that has the ability to lock the offense out of all parts of the field in coverage. Ball skills are so potent that any QB absolutely must account for his whereabouts on each play; 11 picks in 2019 was one short of Jaiden Francois’ 2018 record in Dade County. With safeties being so key in the Manny Diaz defense, Kinchens’ value is that much more important; his great range on the back-end gives you the confidence to trust him in single-high coverages to clean up any mistakes, opening up a defense to throw more varied looks at their opponent. While he does have good speed, what helps set Kinchens apart is that he is a step quicker in reading and reacting to what he’s seeing, which allows him to get to and break up so many more passes, and also aids him in cutting down running backs out of the backfield.
High-IQ safety that understands the ins and outs of the position and is seemingly always in the right spot to make a play. Shows instincts to high-point the ball to either bat it away or make the interception in contested scenarios. While most of his value comes in the passing game, he demonstrates the ability to shed blocks to make stops in the run game near the line as well. Form tackling could use improvement at this stage. Compact frame that is physically ready to play at the next level. Adds value on special teams as a punt returner as well. At the Opening Miami Regional in February 2019, Kinchens recorded a 4.68 40-yard dash, a 4.40 short shuttle time, and a 31.7 vertical leap in testing.
The Team
Kinchens is the second safety signee in 2021, joining American Heritage (FL) 5-star James Williams. At safety, the Canes could lose Bubba Bolden and Amari Carter over the offseason, which would leave Gurvan Hall as the only experienced returnee that’s seen significant time at safety. Brian Balom saw most of the 4th string reps this season, with fellow freshmen Jalen Harrell and Keshawn Washington seeing mostly mop-up duty. Avantae Williams is expected to be healthy and return from his season-ending ailment in 2021 as well to add more depth to the position group.
Redshirt Probability: 5/10
Whether or not Kinchens gets a shirt is going to depend a lot on if Bolden and Carter leave, as well as if Miami actually uses James Williams in a traditional safety role full-time. With all that uncertainty ahead of him, it’s hard to say one way or the other if he will crack the rotation in Year 1, but Kinchens does profile as a prospect that is well-equipped to see early playing time at Miami. He will be enrolling early at UM in spring, he possesses a high football IQ, and he is already physically developed for the college level. It wouldn’t surprise me at all to see him leap-frog older players in the pecking order by the fall and become a contributor in 2021.
