2010 Countdown: #64 Marvin Robinson

Tag: Marvin Robinson


2Jul 2010
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2010 Countdown: #64 Marvin Robinson


Name: Marvin Robinson
Height: 6’1″
Weight: 190 lbs.
School: Lake Region High School in Eagle Lake, FL
Position: Spur
Class: Freshman
Jersey number: N/A
Prediction for 2010: Increasing role as backup spur

Robinson was a highly touted recruited all through high school, earning raves and hype from Michigan fans at least as far back as his sophomore year. As you can see above, he’s well put together. Despite the fact that Rivals changed his position from safety to outside linebacker in its ratings, all indications from Robinson himself have pointed toward him playing strong safety in college. He’s a big safety and will likely be 200+ lbs. by the time the season rolls around. He doesn’t have the speed and quickness to play deep safety at the Big Ten level, in my opinion, but he is a very good athlete and a hard hitter.

I expect Robinson to earn more and more playing time as the season goes along. He tried to enroll early, but there was a snafu with his graduation/enrollment and that didn’t happen. That will slow his development somewhat. But with the lack of experience in the defensive backfield, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Robinson beat out some of the less heralded recruits or former walk-ons who currently litter the depth chart. He’ll still only be a freshman, though, so a starting role is probably at least a year away.

1Jul 2010
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2010 Countdown: #67 Carvin Johnson

Carvin Johnson (#1) makes a tackle

Name: Carvin Johnson
Height: 6’0″
Weight: 185 lbs.
High school: Rummel High School in Metairie, LA
Position: Strong safety
Class: Freshman
Jersey number: N/A
Prediction for 2010: Redshirt

As a high schooler, Johnson led his team to a second place finish in the state playoffs. He played free safety and wide receiver, although he was mainly a decoy on offense. Johnson is a prototypical strong safety in my mind, although Cameron Gordon seems like a strong safety to me, too, so what do I know? For now I’ll stick with that assessment, although it looks like Greg Robinson is tweaking this defense in ways we can’t fully grasp yet. We went from having a former cornerback and Big Ten sprinter (Troy Woolfolk) playing center field to a slow-ish wide receiver who many projected as a college linebacker (Cameron Gordon) playing free safety.

I think there’s a fair chance that we’ll see Carvin Johnson playing defense this year. The depth in the defensive backfield is thin, and walk-ons litter the depth chart (Floyd Simmons, Jared Van Slyke, Jordan Kovacs). I don’t expect Johnson to earn a starting job this year, and he’ll most likely redshirt. But I don’t think Rich Rodriguez can afford to throw too many former walk-ons out there this fall and expect to win a bunch of games. Either Johnson or Marvin Robinson will play this fall, and I give Robinson the edge due to superior athleticism.

16Feb 2010
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Position Switch: Cameron Gordon to Safety

Wide receiver Cameron Gordon has switched to safety
AnnArbor.com published an article yesterday about wide receiver Cameron Gordon making the switch to safety. A former 4-star wide receiver, he came to Michigan in part because the coaches told him he could compete at wideout. He spent his freshman season redshirting. Reports from practice indicated that he had good hands and, at 6’2″ and 210 lbs., was willing to go over the middle. Unfortunately for him, Rodriguez’s offense at Michigan hasn’t shown a propensity for using wide receivers in the middle of the field. That would be practically the equivalent of having a rifle-armed defensive tackle. The offense predicates itself on getting athletes in space, and Gordon doesn’t have the speed or quickness to shake free from cornerbacks.

The article doesn’t identify which safety position Gordon will play, but one can assume that he’ll play the weak safety position, where he’ll likely compete with freshmen Marvin Robinson and Carvin Johnson, redshirt sophomore Jordan Kovacs, and redshirt junior Mike Williams. This position requires less speed and a more physically imposing presence than the strong safety position. As the article illustrates, Gordon displayed some good hitting ability during special teams practice, so much so that the defensive coaches hinted constantly that he should move to defense.

This switch is far from surprising. In last season’s preview profile of Gordon, I suggested that he would be better off on defense. I still think he’s best suited for linebacker, particularly the weak inside linebacker position held tenuously by Jonas Mouton. Perhaps this is the next step in a slow transition to WILL, because I don’t foresee Gordon having the speed to play weak safety, either. There are times in this defense where the strong safety has to roll over to play man coverage on the strong side, meaning the weak safety has to back up to play the deep middle or a deep half. In my opinion, this would expose Gordon, as it did Jordan Kovacs at times last year.

21Nov 2009
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Visitors for Ohio State game

WR DeAnthony Arnett – Saginaw, MI (2011)
DT Richard Ash – Pahokee, FL (official)
CB Courtney Avery – Lexington, OH (commit)
RB Dillon Baxter – San Diego, CA (official)
DT Jatashun Beachum – Dallas, TX (official)
CB Cullen Christian – Pittsburgh, PA (official)
LB Trey DePriest – Springfield, OH (2011)
LB Josh Furman – Millersville, MD
CB Doran Grant – Akron, OH (2011)
CB Ryan Griffin – Ann Arbor, MI (2011)
CB Tony Grimes – Hollywood, FL (official)
P Will Hagerup – Whitefish Bay, WI (commit)
RB Demetrius Hart – Orlando, FL (2011)
CB Delonte Hollowell – Detroit, MI (2011)
WR Jeremy Jackson – Ann Arbor, MI (commit)
S Tony Jefferson – Chula Vista, CA (official)
LB Antonio Kinard – Youngstown, OH (commit)
S Rashad Knight – Jacksonville, FL (official)
WR Ricardo Miller – Ann Arbor, MI (commit)
DE Clarence Murphy – Hollywood, FL (official)
OL Christian Pace – Avon Lake, OH (commit)
DE Jordan Paskorz – Allison Park, PA (commit)
DE Donte Phillips – Mequon, WI (2011)
WR Jerald Robinson – Canton, OH (commit)
LB Marvin Robinson – Eagle Lake, FL (official, commit)
WR Kenny Shaw – Orlando, FL (official)
WR Kenny Stills – Carlsbad, CA (official)
CB Terrence Talbott – Huber Heights, OH (commit)
DT Terry Talbott – Huber Heights, OH (commit)
S Ron Tanner – Columbus, OH (2011)
S Ray Vinopal – Youngstown, OH
RB Austin White – Livonia, MI (commit)
DE Ken Wilkins – Washington, PA (commit)
CB Adrian Witty – Deerfield Beach, FL

18Apr 2009
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Marvin Robinson, Wolverine

Finally. Highly touted safety Marvin Robinson, from Lake Region High School in Eagle Lake, FL, has publicly committed to Michigan. I say “finally” not because he should have committed sooner – I fully believe recruits should commit on their own time table – but because he’s been rumored to be close to committing several times and didn’t pull the trigger until today. The story goes that he committed silently to Michigan on his visit for the 2008 Michigan State game, but he didn’t want to go public with it because his high school coach is a big Buckeye supporter. Rumors say that the coach promised to bench Robinson if he committed to the Wolverines, but that story seems ridiculous.

Regardless, Robinson is the ninth player to commit to Michigan in the 2010 recruiting class – and the best, at least according to Rivals, which ranks him #99 overall. He also plans to enroll in January, meaning his prison abs (see above) will be even more impressive, what with Mike Barwis’s magic concoction of chocolate milk and wolf blood.

If you want a rundown of Robinson’s accomplishments and other people’s scouting reports, feel free to visit MGoBlog. Brian has a nice write-up and, as far as I know, is a full-time blogger and therefore has the time and inclination to do a great amount of research.

However, Brian @ MGoBlog seems to think that Robinson will end up at linebacker. I think otherwise. Regardless of what I heard when Robinson was a sophomore (that he’s a 6’3″, 220 lb. man-child), he is listed at 6’1″ and 190 lbs. And while he still has over a year before he first steps on the field for Michigan, it’s no guarantee that he’ll be big enough to be a linebacker. Even if he packs on twenty pounds by then, he’ll still be small-ish. By comparison, safety-turned-linebacker Jonas Mouton is currently 218 lbs. Witness Brandin Hawthorne as a counterpoint to my argument, but I still think Robinson is a safety. Here’s why:

Michigan’s safety position has been a black hole for years and years. The Wolverines have had adequate players there, but spectacular play has been hard to find. Robinson could help to change that. He has incredible ball skills for a safety and has the instincts to make up for other players’ mistakes. And while he doesn’t hit like Craig Loston, he is a sure tackler. Frankly, I don’t care if our safeties lay people out – I just want them to be able to take a man down in the open field. And according to Robinson, he’s being recruited as a free safety, so there’s that.

By the time Robinson gets here, these are the players who will be manning the safety positions (barring any further position switches or additions to the 2010 class):

1. Troy Woolfolk – A senior in 2010, Woolfolk moved from cornerback this spring and is vying to start at FS in 2009.
2. Vladimir Emilien – A sophomore-to-be in 2010, Emilien is currently coming off of ACL surgery. He has moved quickly up the ranks during spring practice, but he is obviously lacking experience.3. Thomas Gordon – A redshirt-freshman-to-be in 2010, Gordon is considered a project and I think Robinson’s talent would help him leapfrog Gordon.4. Michael Williams – He’ll be a redshirt junior in 2010 and might be locking up the strong safety job this year.5. Isaiah Bell – I think Bell will stick as a safety, but many think he’s destined for a linebacker position. He’ll either be a redshirt freshman or a sophomore in 2010.Out of those players, I think Woolfolk and Williams would probably be our starting safeties in 2010. But after that, Woolfolk will be gone and the FS job would be up for grabs. There isn’t a ton of depth at safety, and that depth gets even thinner if Bell kicks down to LB. In my opinion, Robinson will be roaming centerfield from 2011 onward.(Please disregard the ugly T-shirt on the gentleman to Marvin’s left. I have it on good authority that said gentleman lost a bet.)