 |
| Marvin Robinson (#3) attempts a tackle on Michigan State's Keshawn Martin |
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.
With the list of those remaining from the infamous RR class of 2010, I am curious to hear how you feel about the progress of Furman, Jeremy Jackson and Jordan Paskorz.
ReplyDeleteFurman is/was behind Robinson in the pecking order, so I don't see much of a future for him. I think he is a quality special teamer and not much more. I have never liked the idea of him playing safety because he was a rush linebacker in high school, and it's tough to move guys back in a defense. In my opinion, the coaches should have been bulking him up for a move to SAM for the past few years, but considering his build, maybe he can't put on weight.
DeleteJeremy Jackson has pretty much met my expectations. He is a slow possession receiver and nothing more. If Michigan had the talent they used to have at WR, he would never see the field except in blowouts.
Paskorz will never see the field in critical situations, in my opinion. He's a step slow as an athlete. I would not be surprised if he is not offered/does not accept a fifth year of eligibility after the 2013 season.
Given how heavily the coaches have recruited the safety position it's not a total shock, but still a bit of a bummer and a slight hit to '13. I figured MRob was going to be the first Safety off the bench, but maybe the young kids surpassed him already. We lose depth and a decent special teams player.
ReplyDeleteI'll mentally lump him with Ricardo Miller - a guy whose hype and expectations as a recruit never came close to being realized despite what seemed like good character.