Kamren Kinchens: South Florida Safety Who Needs To Be A Miami Hurricane

Manny Diaz and his staff are recruiting their tails off, and with the verbal commitments from Romello Brinson and Jacolby George recently, Miami is looking for the next player to add to their 2021 class. For me, that guy is 4-star safety Kamren Kinchens out of Miami Northwestern High School.

Kinchens is set to announce his decision on Saturday, July 11th, and as of right now, it’s a three-way battle between Miami, Auburn and Texas A&M.

247Sports has Kinchens as the 20th-ranked safety in the country for the 2021 recruiting cycle, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he improves ranking throughout his senior season in high school. As a junior in 2019, Kinchens had 10 interceptions and 74 tackles, helping Northwestern win the 5A state title.

Kinchens would be the fifth 2021 player from Northwestern to announce a verbal commitment to Miami, along with wide receiver Romello Brinson, tight end Kahlil Brantley, cornerback Tim Burns Jr. and also linebacker JaCorey Hammett.

Several things stand out to me about Kinchens, first being he’s a playmaker. He doesn’t have elite speed or athleticism, but Kinchens is always around the ball and has great instinct, case in point with his 10 interceptions last year. And going along with 74 tackles, he’s the kind of defensive back that will lay the hammer, playing with no fear. Kinchens also has a good frame for a safety, at 5”11 and 200 pounds.

His mix of playmaking ability and tackling skills reminds me a lot of former UM standout safety Jaquan Johnson. Whenever the Canes defense needed a big play or a turnover, Johnson stepped up, and he was also one of the first players there to make a tackle.

The other thing that I love about Kinchens, and all his high school teammates for that matter, they’re coming from a winning program, as Miami Northwestern has won three straight state championships, going for the 4-peat as seniors. If you bring in those kind of players, who know nothing else but working hard and winning, that’s the type of culture you want to build at UM. Especially if they’re given the chance to keep winning in their hometown of Miami.

The depth that Miami is building at safety is really exciting. At the front, you have senior Amari Carter, as well as juniors Bubba Bolden and Gurvan Hall Jr. Then, you also have true freshmen Avantae Williams and Jalen Harrell, who I think will become stars for UM, and fellow 2020 commits Brian Balom and Keshawn Washington who’ll be solid for Miami’s defense.

Dream scenario for Canes fans, would be to add Kinchens, and also land 5-star safety and former Miami commit James Williams. If you could get those two, the Hurricanes secondary will be looking elite for the next several years.

With Kinchens scheduled to announce his decision in eight days, I think it’ll come down to Miami and Auburn. Kinchens is a player all Canes fans want, and he’s the kind of talent that’ll make him a household name for years to come.