Freshman to Watch: Offense

Denard Robinson
QB Michigan

Freshman
6'0" 174 lbs.

Week 1 vs. Western Michigan
2-4 18 yards, 11 rushes 74 yards TD

Denard Robinson was a highly touted freshman coming to play for Rich Rodriguez at Michigan and after watching him play on Saturday vs. a pretty solid Bronco team, Denard Robinson could easily be the next great Rodriguez QB following in the shoes of Pat White... only "Shoelaces" as Denard is known might be more explosive when running and might have a stronger, albeit less consistent arm.

During a broken play in the 2nd quarter on a botched QB read/run play, Robinson dropped the snap and when things broke down, he turned it up by taking the ball 43 yards while evading tackles, stopping and juking on a dime and then taking it through a safety and cornerback by accelerating through their angles.

He is definitely the future and could see himself moving into a solid role in the future, however, starting QB Tate Forcier won't give up the job willingly as he burned the WMU defense to the tune of 13-20 for 179 yards and 3 TDs.

Michigan Pro Day

Per NFL Prospect analyst Gil Brandt:

The players at Michigan’s pro day ran indoors on FieldTurf. Here are the notables:

DT Terrance Taylor (6-0 1/8, 311 pounds) ran a 5.15 and 5.08 in the 40 and had a 9-foot, 1-inch broad jump.

DT Will Johnson (6-4 1/4, 281 pounds) ran a 5.07 and 5.10 in the 40, had a 27 1/2-inch vertical, a 9-foot, 4-inch broad jump, a 4.61 short shuttle, a 7.51 three-cone drill and put up an astounding 47 bench press reps.

DE Tim Jamison (6-2 5/8, 260 pounds) ran a 4.99 and 4.95 in the 40, had a 4.60 short shuttle and a 7.40 three-cone drill.

In my opinion the Michigan Wolverines have pretty much shown that they are not what they used to be and that is evident by this horrible class of defensive linemen. Terrance Taylor has the best chance of being drafted high as he has good size and strength but he'll probably end up being a NT in a 4-3 as he is far too small, both height and weight wise to be 3-4 NT. As for the other defensive linemen, Tim Jamison has shot himself in the foot almost as bad as Plaxico Burress by being so incredibly slow for an undersized defensive linemen and the same goes for Will Johnson.

-Matty