Denard Robinson the Starting QB...Bold Prediction?

Submitted by blue16 on
Kind of new as a member but I've been reading the forums for a long time. Basic consensus seems to be that Tate will start at QB and if Gardner is too good, he'll take over eventually or beat out Denard for the backup position, at which point Denard will be swtiched to another position to make sure he sees the field. What I'm wondering is, is it so far out there to envision Denard winning the starting job next year? Yeah Tate has more experience, but Denard got some time in there. Tate performed better but had 8 months on campus before Game 1, whereas Denard had just one. With an entire year under his belt, the speed that he has, and the throwing numbers he had in high school, don't you guys think that it's much more possible that he wins the starting job outright than we give him credit for? Physically he is an absolute beast, once he gets the system/mental aspect down, which it's not inconceivable that this could happen in his first off season, he could be a deadly good spread QB. Personally, I still think it's likely Tate starts and they split time, but I'm just wondering what your thoughts are.
MGoBoard
Offense
Tate Forcier
Devin Gardner
Denard Robinson
2010
QB

chunkums

January 20th, 2010 at 3:01 PM ^

Tate will start. People seem to forget that after the first few games people over at the sports networks were grumbling about Heisman candidacy, and the kid was a freshman. With that said, I really wish we would run some wildcat. Denard can be my starting WC QB any day of the week.

Joined: 06/30/2008

MGoPoints: 29029

aaamichfan

January 20th, 2010 at 3:08 PM ^

With Denard being on the track team, it has pretty much ruled him out of becoming the starting QB next year. He will still be the backup, but I could see RR coming up with some awfully tricky formations to use Denard out of.

Joined: 10/23/2009

MGoPoints: 14362

Steve in PA

January 20th, 2010 at 3:23 PM ^

Neither of last year's major contributors at Qb could run the zone read well enough. Without that basic part of RR's playbook nothing else much matters. Whoever can run it best in Spring Practice will take the first snap against UConn.

Joined: 08/10/2009

MGoPoints: 6327

letsgoblue213

January 20th, 2010 at 6:13 PM ^

This reminds me of that "diclemeg" poster who kept insisting that Denard would start and never shut up about it. Then he thought he was like a prophecy because Denard started one game. Not that this poster is anything like that guy, but still it brings back memories.

Joined: 12/19/2008

MGoPoints: 40

Magnus

January 20th, 2010 at 7:37 PM ^

The funny thing about that is that Denard never started a game. Forcier started every game this year. It's just that there were rumors floating around that Forcier might be benched because he and Rodriguez had a bit of a tiff at practice one day.

Joined: 07/17/2008

MGoPoints: 166007

The Royalty of Roto

January 20th, 2010 at 6:28 PM ^

First of all, assuming that all of these three are competing for a starting QB job on the depth chart is the first notion. Secondly, one would assume that none will be redshirted. Under that assumption, my thoughts are this: Robinson will likely never start a game. I believe that Forcier is the safe choice in the short term. However, if he struggles this season, especially considering the circumstances, I don't think that Coach Rodriguez will be shy about turning to Devin assuming he progresses as expected by that point. From what I've seen of our footage and camps (as well as others), he's got one of the top two or three arms of incoming guys, and some athleticism that's only comparable because you've got a guy on the depth chart that runs almost a 6-flat in the 60 meter. If Forcier can lead the team to at least eight victories and doesn't give coronaries, he stays. Otherwise, it's turned over to Gardner, and there's probably little looking back.

Joined: 01/20/2010

MGoPoints: 10

Wolv77

January 20th, 2010 at 6:31 PM ^

I thought there was some debate among RR and the offensive staff whether to use the WVU run type spread or Texas Tech, Texas and Oklahoma passing spread next year. DR is a better fit for the run spread and TF is better for the passing spread.

Joined: 11/23/2009

MGoPoints: -1