Mailbag question: Tate Forcier and Denard Robinson

Posted at 8:00am -- 4/5/2010

Mailbag question: Tate Forcier and Denard Robinson

Hello GBMW,

There was a lot of talk before spring ball that Tate Forcier was in fact expected and all but sealed up his starting position going into the fall. Recently reading some reports out of spring practice and seeing some videos I have noticed a lot of talk about how incredibly "impressive" Denard Robinson has been as a Qb even to the point where he is now running with the 1st team. I am also hearing the Tate Forcier is running with the 2s and has been a BIG disappointment this spring. One thing I have always seen about Denard vs. Tate is that Denard has a much stronger arm and can throw the deep ball farther if needed. He is also much faster and quicker than Tate. The only area where he was lacking to me that put him behind Tate even last year was his knowledge of the offense and his accuracy. I am now hearing his accuracy is almost if not just as good as Tate's and his knowledge of the offense has caught up with Tate. This to me would give D-Rob the edge to win the starting position. Would you agree? And going forward is this just a fluke of Tate's progress or has Tate in fact hit his ceiling as a QB and is Denard just getting warmed up so to speak...What are your thoughts and what are you seeing and hearing out of practice so far from D-Rob vs. Tate? Is RR heading into the direction now that D-Rob is progressing very well to having a Pat White II high HD speed offense? Or will he settle for the Texas Tech throwing spread offense that would suit Tate's abilities better since he is not an elite running QB?

John

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Thanks for the question.

We are hearing rumors that Tate Forcier is not 100% and it is effecting his play this spring.

Seems like maybe his velocity isn't there like it was during last spring and including the beginning of the football season. Be interesting to see if he has a tired arm, something still bothering his shoulder, or just having a bad couple of days of practice which can happen especially when you have a long layoff from the past season.

We are not surprised by Denard Robinson's showing.

He is an outstanding athlete with the skills to make this an exciting offense. His speed and acceleration are on a completely different level. This is also Denard's first spring and chance to get the comprehensive coaching that comes with spring practices. This is an area that missing those fifteen bowl practices would have helped as well especially for players that didn't come in early such as Denard where they would have gotten to learn the system a lot more and get plenty of reps during the bowl practices.

We do not read too much into who is starting yet.

Coach Rod is on record of saying he would never name a starting quarterback during spring. The real competition for the job will begin this summer and continue right up to UConn week. Coach Rod is also on record saying that he would probably not tell the media even if he knew, the other coaches knows, and even if the players know who the starting quarterback would be.

Written by GBMW Staff

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