Northwestern football signing day profiles 2016: WR Ramaud Chiaokhiao-Bowman

QUICK HITS

POSITION: Wide Receiver
HEIGHT: 6-2
WEIGHT: 191
HOMETOWN: Minneapolis, Minnesota
HIGH SCHOOL: Breck School
247 COMPOSITE RATING: ★★★ (.8444)
NATIONAL RANK: 981
POSITION RANK: 142
STATE RANK: 10
OTHER OFFERS: Ball State, Bryant, Cornell, Harvard, Lafayette, Minnesota, Nevada, North Dakota, Northern Iowa, Princeton, Southern Illinois, Wyoming, Yale
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BACKGROUND

Chiaokhiao-Bowman is one of Northwestern's two much-needed wide receiver commits for the class of 2016. The Minneapolis native was heavily recruited by Minnesota, but after receiving an offer from Northwestern, he jumped at the opportunity to come to Evanston. A week after the offer was sent he had committed to play for the Wildcats, making him the 16th commit of the class.

He attended high school at Breck School in Golden Valley, Minnesota, a western suburb of Minneapolis. In 2015, Breck went 3-7 on the season, but Chiaokhiao-Bowman racked up 45 receptions for 721 yards and 6 touchdowns. He also returned a punt for a touchdown and averaged 28.8 yards per return on kickoffs. Here are his senior year highlights:

Chiaokhiao-Bowman is a three-sport athlete. Not only did he play wide receiver for the football team, but he played basketball and rans track as well. While fellow commits Roderick Campbell and Jeremy Larkin played basketball as well, track is something unique to Chiaokhiao-Bowman. It further proves the speed that can be seen in his highlights which combined with his size and solid route-running make Chiaokhiao-Bowman an intriguing player for the upcoming season.

OUTLOOK

Chiaokhiao-Bowman has an chance to contribute right away due to both his talent and the current state of Northwestern's receiving corps. Whether or not he gets play on the outside, Chiaokhiao-Bowman should be able to contribute on special teams. With longtime return man Miles Shuler graduating, he might even get a shot to return some punts, but Solomon Vault is solidly entrenched as the kickoff returner.

As for the state of Northwestern's wide receivers, the group struggled in 2015, and now with Shuler, Christian Jones and Cameron Dickerson all graduating, the cupboard continues to look barer than ever. Rising senior Austin Carr will contribute, but there's not really anyone else who's a known commodity at this point. Flynn Nagel appeared to be coming on before an injury this year and Jelani Roberts should get an expanded role, but the opportunity is there for Chiaokhiao-Bowman to contribute in his freshman campaign.