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.
CAREER PASSING: |
Denard Passing Yds |
Team Pasing Yds |
% Of Total Passing |
% Of Total Offense |
2009 |
188 |
2380 |
7.9% |
4.0% |
2010 |
2570 |
3252 |
79.0% |
40.5% |
2011 |
2173 |
2377 |
91.4% |
41.3% |
2012 |
1319 |
2389 |
55.2% |
26.5% |
CAREER TOTAL |
6250 |
10398 |
60.1% |
29.4% |
|
|
|
|
|
CAREER RUSHING: |
Denard Rushing Yds |
Team Rushing Yds |
% Of Total Rushing |
% Of Total Offense |
2009 |
351 |
2234 |
15.7% |
7.5% |
2010 |
1702 |
3101 |
54.9% |
26.8% |
2011 |
1176 |
2884 |
40.8% |
22.4% |
2012 |
1266 |
2591 |
48.9% |
25.4% |
CAREER TOTAL |
4495 |
10810 |
41.6% |
21.1% |
|
|
|
|
|
TOTAL OFFENSIVE CONTRIBUTION |
Denard Total Yds |
Team Total Yds |
% Of Total Yards |
|
2009 |
539 |
4664 |
11.6% |
|
2010 |
4272 |
6353 |
67.2% |
|
2011 |
3349 |
5261 |
63.7% |
|
2012 |
2585 |
4980 |
51.9% |
|
CAREER TOTAL |
10745 |
21258 |
50.5% |
|
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:
CAREER PASSING: |
Attempts |
Completions |
Interceptions |
Comp. % |
Yards |
Yards / Comp. |
Yards / Attempt |
TDs |
Passer Rating |
TOTAL |
747 |
427 |
39 |
57.2% |
6250 |
14.6 |
8.4 |
49 |
138.64 |
2009 Game Avg. |
3 |
1 |
0.4 |
45.2% |
19 |
13.4 |
6.1 |
0.2 |
81.67 |
2010 Game Avg. |
22 |
14 |
0.8 |
62.5% |
198 |
14.1 |
8.8 |
1.4 |
152.96 |
2011 Game Avg. |
20 |
11 |
1.2 |
55.0% |
167 |
15.3 |
8.4 |
1.5 |
137.89 |
2012 Game Avg. |
19 |
10 |
1.0 |
53.3% |
165 |
16.7 |
8.9 |
1.0 |
132.42 |
Career Game Avg. |
17 |
9 |
0.9 |
57.2% |
142 |
15.0 |
8.6 |
1.1 |
133.87 |
CAREER RUSHING: |
Attempts |
Net Yards |
Yards / Att. |
TDs |
TOTAL |
723 |
4495 |
6.2 |
42 |
2009 Game Avg. |
6 |
32 |
5.4 |
0.6 |
2010 Game Avg. |
20 |
131 |
6.6 |
1.1 |
2011 Game Avg. |
17 |
90 |
5.3 |
1.2 |
2012 Game Avg. |
16 |
115 |
7.2 |
0.6 |
Career Game Avg. |
15 |
92 |
6.2 |
0.9 |
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.
January 8th, 2013 at 12:39 PM ^
am i the only one who skims through mountains of tables and charts looking for a conclusion and is then bummed when there isn't one?
conclusions please for those of us in the TL;DR camp.
January 8th, 2013 at 1:10 PM ^
I might be a nerd, but I just like seeing the data. There is no real "conclusion" to any data; it's all just information that is part of a larger picture.
I do believe the nerve injury has been affecting Denard for quite some time and that the Nebraska game was just an aggravation of the existing damage. This accounts for Denard's drop in passer efficiency this season, and is probably a blessing in disguise for him. Why? I think the South Carolina game definitively shows that Denard can play a position that is NOT QB and be successful.
He was a great one and I will miss him. I am also ready to move on to the DG era. GO BLUE!
January 8th, 2013 at 2:45 PM ^
who skims to the bottom to see what crazy internet cat you used only to be disappointed that you did not use one?
cats please for those of us in the "I be like dang" camp please!
But seriously, can we have conclusions for the actual impact dilithium had here? We all saw what it was... Nice work
January 8th, 2013 at 3:27 PM ^
"Denard had a massive impact on the team during the four years he was here."
Amazing.
But it still gets a +1.
January 9th, 2013 at 12:52 AM ^
from this is that despite some people's complaining about Denard, we are losing a QB with a 138.64 career average passer rating. Just curious, were you using the NFL formula where the ceiling is 158.3? Or the NCAA formula with the higher ceiling? Either way, that's a hell of a good number (considering the NCAA D1 career record held by Sam Bradford is 175.6). And there were some people that hated on him? And then on top of that, oh yeah he also rushes for 6.2 yards a carry too.
Man I am going to miss him next year. We were truly blessed to have seen this spectacular athlete don the maize and blue. I've never watched a football game with as much anticipation as one where he was in at QB, because every play had the chance to be something special.
Viva Denard!
January 9th, 2013 at 6:01 AM ^
makes him a pretty solidly top third passer over the past three years. Using 141.09 for Hypothetical Average Denard (excising his backup numbers in 2009), you get a QB ranked: 42/116, 36/115, 34/116. These drop 6-7 places if you include the 2009 numbers, but he remains in the top third in FBS two years, and top half for one.
Obviously this fanbase in particular isn't going to be happy with passing numbers "merely" in the top third or so in the country, but I do agree that his rushing numbers more than made up for that in his three years as a starter, and made him something special and unlikely to be seen here again.
January 9th, 2013 at 2:17 PM ^
When is someone going to come up with the Denard egraph percentage stats comparing how he did in games vs lets say top 40 teams to teams outside the top 40?? I am interested...
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