The Total Contribution Of Dilithium

“THE CONTRIBUTION OF DILITHIUM”

Now that Denard Robinson has played his final game as a Wolverine, it seems fitting to take a look back and see the actual measurement on the contribution that this exciting, electrifying player made to the Michigan offense over these last four seasons.

Some of this data you will have seen before, for I did a “career to date” snapshot after the Iowa game in November, but of course it was an incomplete picture. Now, the statistical picture is definitely complete, and we can quantify the totality of “The Denard Effect”, as some have termed it.

One of the most telling summaries is below, I think. Here,  you can see, by season, his passing and rushing totals compared to team passing and rushing each season, as well as the percentage of the totals for passing, rushing and total offense. The last table in this series shows you total yards versus team total and percent contribution. You can peruse the individual numbers, but the last line says much – Denard Robinson was responsible for a shade over half of Michigan’s offensive output over the last four years.

I believe that this puts in perspective how difficult it might be to imagine him not being out there going forward, even though this team definitely has a bright future ahead of it with Gardner at the helm in the now coming season.

Next, I thought it might be interesting to see his average in-game contribution:

These aren’t quite as interesting as the first set of tables perhaps, but you get an approximation of what the level of contribution was on a per game basis. Obviously, it varies significantly from game to game, and indeed, there is a link below to a series of charts which I am now able to complete that show specific totals as well as one that lets you see the ups and downs of Robinson’s four seasons game-by-game.

I didn’t specifically lay out a table for this, but looking at these numbers in relation to the final NCAA stats for these last four seasons is still illuminating. This year, for example, we averaged 183.77 yards of rushing per game and Robinson’s typical contribution was 115 yards of rushing. Last year, we averaged 182 yards of passing per game, and Denard’s typical contribution would have been 167 yards of passing. I find these comparisons intriguing.

Below are the links to season-by-season and total career tables. The season-specific ones have yardage totals for passing and rushing. The career one simply allows you to see the total progression.

ADDENDUMS -

 The Obligatory Cat Photo:

Because I need to the right permissions to fix one of my systems right now and IT won't give them to me...

Conclusion:

If there is one, it is this - for all the discussions we have had about the particulars of Denard Robinson's game (and many of them were great, spirited discussions), those 10,745 yards, along with 49 passing TDs and 42 rushing TDs that came with them, make it difficult to imagine this team without his undeniable impact.