Name: Andrew Robinson
Height: 6’0″
Weight: 221 lbs.
High school: Troy (MI) Athens
Position: Long snapper
Class: Redshirt junior
Jersey number: #49
Last year: I did not rank Robinson. He played in two games.
TTB Rating: N/A
A funny thing happened over the past year with Michigan’s long snapper position. Maybe it starts with the 2015 Michigan State game, in which a bad punt snap and then a poor decision by the punter led to a loss against the Spartans. But long snapper Scott Sypniewski never seemed to recover the full trust of Michigan’s coaching staff. Robinson played against Hawaii and Rutgers, and some people suggested he was snapping better than Sypniewski in practice. That may be what led Michigan to part ways with Sypniewski, who transferred to Vanderbilt this off-season.
Robinson steps up into the void vacated by Sypniewski. As the backup last year, he’s expected to be the man this year. It shouldn’t be lost that he’s arguably the #2 guy who could be on Michigan’s roster right now, and the actual backup might be the #3 guy. The hope is that the casual fan won’t hear (or at least remember) Robinson’s name, but he’ll be an important piece of the 2017 football team. In limited experience so far, he’s done a good job.
Prediction: Starting long snapper
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Harbaugh doesn’t believe in using a four or five year scholarship on a long snapper so that was likely the reason for the parting of the ways with Sypniewski. It appears many other programs share this belief although a scholarship can be earned (and he may very well be in line to earn one this year depending on attrition). I do agree that it is a very important position and I hope I never hear his name mentioned.
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It’s just interesting, because if you’re going to use a scholarship on a long snapper, then you might as well give it to your starter. The only way it makes sense to cut Sypniewski loose is if you’re not going to give Robinson a scholarship, but that’s got to be kind of demoralizing if you basically advertise that your snapper is never going to get a scholarship.
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I would have ranked him #31. Obviously, you’re drunk.
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Correct.
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OH SNAP
errr
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Last year we had Sypniewski rated #36, and his backup Robinson, rated #92 last year, had his number called.
So it seems you want to place Long Snapper comfortably in the two deep. Outside of TTB or mgoblog, there are three times I ever remember hearing a longsnapper’s name:
When Sypniewski was recruited.
When MSU offered Peppers a scholarship over our PWO offer.
When the 2015 horror happened.
It’s a position that’s needed, but we have two on the roster, and the job doesn’t seem to be incredibly difficult. My WR buddy in high school used to practice long snapping, and he was exceptional after two days. Thing came back quick on a tight spiral.
In my countdown I have the LS ranked in the 40s for those reasons. We have two on the roster, outside of Sypniewski, potential injuries aren’t that common, and I don’t doubt someone could step in and learn the skill in a hurry if something happened to those two.
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