The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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MICHIGAN FOOTBALL NFL Draft Evaluator Likes Denard Robinson's Potential skills that it takes to be a good wide receiver," McShay said. "Nobody's expecting him to be polished, but showing those skills will help gen- eral managers with their evaluation of him. "I think, ultimately, you're going to see he's too quick and too fast and too explosive to get out of the second day of the draft [rounds 2-3]. "He's such an explosive weapon, and especially in offenses today in the NFL there are just so many dif- ferent ways to use a guy like Denard Robinson. I think he's got a lot of value in that regard." Michigan hasn't produced a first- round NFL pick since the 2010 Draft, when defensive end Brandon Gra- ham went No. 13 overall to the Phila- delphia Eagles. U-M hasn't produced a first-round offensive lineman since 2008 (Jake Long, No. 1 overall to the Miami Dolphins), but that could change this year if redshirt junior Taylor Lewan goes pro. "You look at his frame, he's some- one that's in the 6-6 range, 300 pounds, he moves well, and he con- tinues to get a little bit stronger," Mc- Shay said. "This is not a good offen- sive tackle class, and when you have a class that doesn't have too many players, I see him being one of the first five to seven offensive tackles off the board." While senior quarterback Denard Robinson has made a huge impact at U-M as a signal-caller, enard Robinson may want to play quarterback in the NFL, but it's unlikely he will receive that op- portunity, according to scouts from the St. Louis Rams, San Francisco 49ers and Tennessee Titans who re- cently spoke to The Wolverine on con- dition of anonymity. Publicly, ESPN draft analyst Todd McShay is echoing those thoughts, sharing in a confer- ence call that he believes Robinson's greatest potential lies at receiver. "With Denard, the assessment hasn't changed because I don't think he has very much potential to play quarter- back," McShay said. "I think he has a lot of potential to make a move to a wide receiver/offensive weapon-type role and help the return game." D 40 THE WOLVERINE NOVEMBER 2012 some NFL scouts and draft analysts feel his professional future will be at wide receiver. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL Robinson has never caught a pass during his four-year Michigan career, though he did line up in the slot and in the offensive backfield in a 'deuce' package the Wolverines employed in 2011. His lack of touches at wideout or tailback has made it difficult for scouts to gauge his impact at those prospective positions, but Robinson's high-level talent will likely be too much for teams to pass on. "A lot of where he gets drafted or whether he moves up a little bit or down a little bit really will have to do with the pre-draft process, getting to a Senior Bowl, returning punts, showing that he can do those things — running routes, his crispness get- ting in and out of breaks, and the WHAMMY IS A RARE FEAT When Denard Robinson ran for two touchdowns and threw for two more in a 45-0 shutout of Illinois Oct. 13, he produced his seventh career contest with the two-score dou- ble whammy, a feat that has been achieved only 16 times in Michigan history by four different U-M quar- terbacks. DOUBLE-TD DOUBLE Don Moorhead became the first signal-caller in the program's exis- tence to accomplish the double dip, rushing for two scores and throwing for three more in a 45-7 blitzkrieg of Washington in 1969. It took seven years for another Michigan QB to match the achieve- ment, when Rick Leach ran for two scores and threw for two in a 70-14 win over Navy in 1976. Leach would have similar success four more times in his career, for five overall games with at least two passing and two rushing touchdowns.