Tag: Marvin Robinson

Marvin Robinson, ex-Wolverine

Marvin Robinson (#3) attempts a tackle on Michigan State’s Keshawn Martin

Rising senior safety Marvin Robinson has left the football program.  He will presumably transfer somewhere to finish out his football career, but his destination is unknown at this time.

A member of the 2010 recruiting class, the Winter Haven (FL) Lake Region product committed to Michigan in April 2009, choosing the Wolverines over Florida, Georgia, Ohio State, and USC, among others.  He was a 4-star and the #20 outside linebacker to Rivals, who thought that he would be too slow and stiff to play safety at the next level.  Perhaps they were right.

Robinson mostly appeared on special teams as a true freshman and made 3 total tackles.  As a sophomore in 2011, he earned a start against Notre Dame, making 7 tackles in that game and 9 on the season; he ended up in the coaches’ doghouse and didn’t see the field much for the rest of the year.  In his junior season, he was once again mainly a contributor on special teams and made 9 tackles and 1 fumble recovery.  He finished his Michigan career with 21 tackles and 1 fumble recovery.

As you can see in the commitment post linked above, I thought Robinson would be a good college player.  However, he did not seem to progress much in his pass coverage.  In the past year or so, I had succumbed to the idea that he would be able to help in run support, but not so much on passing downs.  Last season he was surpassed on the depth chart by freshman Jarrod Wilson, and it looked like Wilson would be the starting free safety with incumbent FS Thomas Gordon bumping over to the strong safety position.  Robinson likely would have been relegated to special teams backup strong safety.  Others vying for that backup SS role will be redshirt junior Josh Furman, redshirt freshman Jeremy Clark, and some true freshmen.

Robinson is the 17th member of the 27-man class of 2010 to depart early.  The only players remaining from that class are DT Richard Ash, CB Courtney Avery, DT Jibreel Black, WR Drew Dileo, Furman, QB Devin Gardner, P Will Hagerup, WR Jeremy Jackson, TE Jordan Paskorz, and LB Jake Ryan.  This departure will not affect the size of the 2014 recruiting class, since Robinson was scheduled to run out of eligibility after the upcoming season, anyway.  Instead, it opens up a scholarship for a walk-on guy like FB Joey Kerridge, WR Joe Reynolds, etc.

Check out the Ex-Wolverine Encyclopedia for stories and updates on other players who left early.

Spring Game Preview: Michigan vs. Michigan

Devin Gardner

Top five things to watch for when Michigan has the ball . . . 
1. That Devin Gardner’s ACL stays intact. Michigan has already lost two players to ACL tears this spring (linebacker Jake Ryan and backup quarterback Russell Bellomy). An injury to Gardner would be catastrophic, since redshirt freshman walk-on Brian Cleary is the current backup and Shane Morris won’t arrive until June.

2. The interior offensive line. Michigan’s defensive line should be playing at a pretty high level because of the guys who return on that side, so will the three “starters” at left guard, center, and right guard get the job done?  Those three positions seem to be held by Ben Braden, Jack Miller, and Joe Burzynski currently, but there are a few players hot on their heels.

3. Who’s next at wide receiver? We know Jeremy Gallon can be an explosive player, and we know what Michigan has in Drew Dileo and Jeremy Jackson.  Redshirt freshman Jehu Chesson has made some nice plays in practice, and sophomore Amara Darboh has done the same.  At least one of those two guys needs to step up by the fall if Michigan wants to have a high-powered offense.

4. Adequate Michigan running backs. The chance that we see a stellar performance from any of the currently available running backs looks slim.  With fifth year senior Fitzgerald Toussaint out with a broken leg, the job comes down to junior Thomas Rawls, redshirt sophomore Justice Hayes, sophomore Dennis Norfleet, and redshirt freshman Drake Johnson.  Rawls and Hayes have been unimpressive in their live game action so far – although Rawls did have a long touchdown in garbage time last year – and Norfleet was mostly limited to kickoff returns last season.  Drake Johnson has earned praise from the coaches at times, but he has looked so-so in a few spring practice clips.  It would be nice to see a developing, viable option this spring, but we might have to wait until Toussaint comes back or until Derrick Green arrives on campus.

5. What does the offense look like these days? Denard Robinson is gone, and we all loved him, but now Michigan should have an actual, bona fide quarterback.  The kind of quarterback that can sit in the pocket and throw the ball without tricking the defense into thinking it might be a run.  I don’t expect Al Borges to give much away in a spring game, but we should get an inkling of the direction he wants to take the offense.  If the Pistol isn’t installed by now, I would expect to see it in the fall; I also expect a little more threat of the downfield pass this year.

Top five things to watch for when Michigan is on defense . . .
1. How does Cam Gordon look filling in for the team’s best defender? Cam Gordon had a pretty darn good season when he was a redshirt freshman playing free safety and linebacker, although the free safety thing was a bit of a stretch.  Since that 2010 season, he has mostly been an afterthought.  Jake Ryan was a terror of a pass rusher and made his fair share of plays against the run, too, and Michigan will have to manufacture a replacement for him.

2. Safety reps. Thomas Gordon is capable of playing both safety positions, and he’s guaranteed to start at one of them.  Sophomore Jarrod Wilson can play free safety; senior Marvin Robinson can play strong.  Which player will get the most reps?

3. First world inside linebacker problems. Michigan probably has three starter-quality inside linebackers, along with some other guys who have potential.  As I have been predicting for a while, it appears junior Desmond Morgan will be your new middle linebacker (moving over from WILL) and sophomore James Ross will step in at weakside linebacker.  Meanwhile, sophomore Joe Bolden could conceivably be a starter at inside linebacker, although he might be a little large and stiff for WILL.

4. Cornerback depth. Redshirt sophomore Blake Countess might not do much in the spring game, since he’s recovering from an ACL injury.  His replacement last year, junior Raymon Taylor, continues to fight for his job, and senior Courtney Avery appears to have abandoned the nickel corner position to compete at field corner.  Two of the three will presumably start in the fall, but the starting combo we’ll likely see in the spring game will probably be Taylor and Avery.  It will also be interesting to see if young guys Delonte Hollowell and Terry Richardson have developed.

5. Freshman early enrollees. Defensive end Taco Charlton (6’6″, 265 lbs.), cornerback Ross Douglas (5’10”, 176 lbs.), and safety Dymonte Thomas (6’2″, 187 lbs.) enrolled in January, and each one has a chance to contribute somewhere in the fall.  Charlton apparently looks the part, but his technique was rough coming out of high school; Douglas came in bigger than expected; and Thomas has been practicing some at corner and some at the nickel position, both of which are departures from what he played in high school.

Defensive Backs Preview: Michigan vs. South Carolina

Jordan Kovacs was the team’s MVP this season

MICHIGAN
Starters: Michigan will be missing its two starting cornerbacks from the beginning of the year; sophomore Blake Countess tore his ACL in the opener, and fifth year senior J.T. Floyd has been suspended for the Outback Bowl for breaking team rules.  Sophomore Raymon Taylor (5’10”, 182 lbs.), who replaced Countess for most of the year, will likely slide over to Floyd’s boundary corner position.  Taylor had his share of ups and downs on the season, but did a fair job overall and ended the regular season with 42 tackles, 2 interceptions (1 returned for a TD), 1 fumble recovery, and 1 pass breakup.  Junior Courtney Avery (5’11”, 173 lbs.), who normally starts at nickel corner, will probably step in at Taylor’s regular field corner spot.  Avery struggled there in some limited time early in the season, but he’ll have more reps this time around; playing a new position against Alabama is an extremely difficult task.  This year Avery has 16 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, .5 sacks, 1 fumble forced, and 1 fumble recovery.  Fifth year senior strong safety Jordan Kovacs (6’0″, 202 lbs.) has actually seen his statistics decline a little bit this year, but he was named the team’s MVP by his teammates; he has 65 tackles, 5 tackles for loss, 2 sacks, 1 interception, 2 pass breakups, and 1 forced fumble.  Redshirt junior Thomas Gordon (5’11”, 207 lbs.) is more of a strong safety masquerading, but he has shown a knack for creating turnovers in the past; he has 75 tackles, 4 tackles for loss, 1 sack, 2 interceptions, 1 forced fumble, and 2 pass breakups.  This is not a great group individually, but along with Floyd, they had the #2 passing yardage defense in the country.
Backups: Freshman safety Jarrod Wilson (6’2″, 194 lbs.) has played more extensively than any other backup, but he hasn’t had a signature positive play.  The game is moving too fast for him, as it often does with young safeties.  He could play a little bit at the nickel corner and has made 7 tackles and 1 fumble recovery on the year.  Another candidate for slot corner is sophomore Delonte Hollowell (5’9″, 176 lbs.), who has 4 tackles and 1 fumble recovery but is more of a special teams player.  The most interesting candidate for playing time is freshman Dennis Norfleet (5’7″, 161 lbs.), who returns kicks and ran the ball occasionally; he has now moved to defense in an attempt to shore up the depleted cornerback position.  Junior safety Marvin Robinson (6’2″, 200 lbs.) is a run stuffer who has played sparingly on defense and made 7 tackles and 1 fumble recovery.  Redshirt sophomore Josh Furman (6’2″, 203 lbs.) plays a lot on special teams but is a liability on defense; he has 10 tackles.

SOUTH CAROLINA
Starters: Redshirt sophomore Victor Hampton (5’10”, 197 lbs.) starts at one cornerback spot; he has made 34 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, 1 interception, and is tied for the team lead with 6 pass breakups.  The other starter is senior Akeem Auguste (5’9″, 188 lbs.), who was injured early in the season and returned to start the last couple games; he has 15 tackles, 1 interception, 1 pass breakup, and 1 fumble recovery on the year. Senior D.J. Swearinger (6’0″, 210 lbs.) is the free safety and has 70 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, 2 interceptions, 2 fumble recoveries, 1 forced fumble, and 5 pass breakups.  Sophomore Brison Williams (6’0″, 205 lbs.) starts at strong safety and has made 48 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, 1 sack, 2 interceptions, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery, and 4 pass breakups this season.
Backups: Redshirt junior Jimmy Legree (6’0″, 189 lbs.), the other starting corner when Auguste was hurt, did a solid job.  Legree is a converted free safety and has 43 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, and 2 interceptions.  Redshirt freshman Ahmad Christian (5’10”, 189 lbs.) has 8 tackles and 2 pass breakups as the backup to Hampton.  Sophomore Kadetrix Marcus (6’1″, 185 lbs.) backs up the strong safety position and has made 5 tackles.

THE TAKEAWAY
The Wolverines have the #2 pass defense and #35 pass efficiency defense in the country, but quarterback play in the Big Ten has been woeful and they’ll be down a starting corner (or two, if you include Countess).  Meanwhile, the Gamecocks have the #16 pass defense and the #34 pass efficiency defense in a schedule that included Georgia’s Aaron Murray, Tennessee’s Tyler Bray, Arkansas’s Tyler Wilson, and Clemson’s Tajh Boyd, not to mention East Carolina and UAB teams that put up pretty decent numbers through the air.  The Wolverines have played a steady diet of teams that rank in the 70’s or lower in passing offense, and Alabama’s A.J. McCarron – whose team blew out Michigan – was the only decent passer on the docket.  I don’t think South Carolina quarterback Connor Shaw will shred the secondary, but the edge in defensive back play goes to the Gamecocks.

Advantage: South Carolina

Michigan vs. Iowa Awards

Captains Denard Robinson and Jordan Kovacs (image via AnnArbor.com)

Let’s see more of this guy on offense . . . Dennis Norfleet.  Now that Fitzgerald Toussaint is done for the season, I would like to see the coaches find a role for Norfleet.  Toussaint had some big-play capabilities due to his strength and good speed, and Norfleet is the only other guy who can take it to the house on any given play.  Thomas Rawls has been unimpressive, Justice Hayes hasn’t done much, and Vincent Smith is a third down back.  I don’t want or expect Norfleet to be a starter, but I would like him to get 3-5 touches out of the backfield.

Let’s see less of this guy on offense . . . Thomas Rawls.  Rawls appears to be a guy who’s just not quite good enough at any one thing to be a major player.  He wasn’t quite coordinated enough to tiptoe the sideline for a touchdown, he’s not quite fast enough to get to the outside, he’s not quite big and powerful enough to run over linebackers in the hole, and he doesn’t have great vision.  I do think he’ll get better at sticking with the play and finding the hole, but not necessarily in one week.

Let’s see more of this guy on defense . . . Marvin Robinson.  Robinson hasn’t played a ton of defense this year, but he has been a capable tackler.  He’ll never light the world on fire in pass coverage, but he looks like a capable replacement for Jordan Kovacs next year.  I would have liked to have seen him a little more on Saturday, although the Ohio State game might not be the best time to trot out projects.

Let’s see less of this guy on defense . . . Josh Furman.  I really just don’t see a future for Furman at safety.  The kid has good speed and does an excellent job on special teams coverage, but he gets caught flat-footed whenever he’s not attacking downhill.  He might end up like a Darnell Hood or Anton Campbell, a guy who’s a special teams demon his entire career but rarely sees meaningful time on defense.

Play of the game . . . Denard Robinson’s option pitch to Fitzgerald Toussaint.  There were longer plays, plays that scored, and perhaps more athletic plays.  But I’m choosing this one because of the creativity behind it and its success.  Out of basically a wishbone formation, quarterback Devin Gardner took the snap from under center and handed it off to Denard Robinson going right; Robinson then pitched the ball to Fitzgerald Toussaint, who gained 14 yards before getting tackled.  It was an exciting play to watch because it seemed to open up all kinds of possible plays for Robinson out of the backfield.  Unfortunately, it ended with an ugly injury to Toussaint.

MVP of the game . . . Devin Gardner once again.  He finished the game 18/23 for 314 yards, 3 touchdowns, and 1 interception; he also ran 9 times for 37 yards and 3 touchdowns.  It was a Micah Hyde interception away from being a game with virtually no faults.  Of course, it helped that Iowa’s defense had no clue how to play football, so thanks, Iowa!

Michigan vs. Illinois Awards

Thomas Rawls (#38)

Let’s see more of this guy on offense . . . Thomas Rawls.  Rawls had 9 carries for 90 yards, including a 63-yard touchdown run late in the game.  Granted, it was late in the game and Illinois had given up, but he still showed some nice speed when he got to the sideline.  Fitzgerald Toussaint just can’t seem to get going, and while I’m not sure that Toussaint should be benched, Rawls is looking more and more deserving of a chance to earn carries.

Let’s see less of this guy on offense . . . Russell Bellomy.  The offense really seemed to be limited when he entered the game early.  Here’s hoping that Denard Robinson can heal from that hand injury and stay healthy for the rest of the season.  I’d prefer not to see Bellomy until Michigan is blowing out the opponent.

Let’s see more of this guy on defense . . . Marvin Robinson.  Jordan Kovacs seems to be nursing a bit of an injury, and Robinson was flying around the field when he entered the game.  Kovacs played well and Illinois never really tested the safeties, but Robinson seems quite capable of supporting the run.  Hopefully Robinson is to the point where he can spell Kovacs a little bit, because someone needs to be groomed for the starting spot once Kovacs graduates.

Let’s see less of this guy on defense . . . nobody.  The defense allowed 134 yards and gave up zero points.  The only thing that really bugged me on “defense” was Josh Furman’s moronic personal foul when he ran into the punt returner way too early, but Furman rarely plays defense, anyway.

Play of the game . . . Denard Robinson’s 49-yard touchdown run.  It was a thing of beauty.  He danced around the tackles of about four guys and then exploded down the left sideline.  It was especially fun to watch Illinois defensive tackle Glenn Foster “fall” while chasing him because he knew that chasing Denard would be a waste of energy.

MVP of the game . . . Denard Robinson once again.  He was 7/11 passing for 159 yards and 2 touchdowns.  He also ran the ball 11 times for 128 yards and 2 touchdowns.  Most importantly, he didn’t turn over the ball.  When he temporarily got hurt early in the game, the offense bogged down and the entire fan base got scared, including me.  This team will really struggle if he’s unavailable.