Why Denard Robinson is the Future at Michigan

A few weeks back, thanks to the awesomeness of the Big Ten Network (motto: "We'll broadcast anything so long as it has something--anything!--to do with football"), I was able to watch the entire Michigan spring game on television.

And after watching the maize and blue battle each other for four quarters, I had three thoughts:

1. Michigan is still awful on defense.
2. Michigan is still, at best, a middle-of-the-pack Big Ten team.
3. Tate Forcier is out of a job.

Sophomore signal caller Denard Robinson, a run-pass threat who served as Forcier's backup last season, was far and away the biggest star of the scrimmage, and anyone who saw the kid play that day--anyone who saw him not only show off his well-established elusiveness but also hit wideout Ray Roundtree for a 97-yard touchdown strike--had to be thinking the exact same thing that I was thinking when the day was done: That Rich Rodriguez finally has his quarterback, and that while the Michigan defense may once again be awful in 2010 (where's the talent, coach?), the Wolverine offense is almost sure to be a handful.

Thanks, mostly, to Robinson.

Yes, folks, this kid is that good--and that much better than Forcier, who isn't too shabby himself.

There's been no official word out of Ann Arbor yet, and I wouldn't expect any official word until late this summer, but more and more signs are pointing to Robinson taking the starting quarterback job away from Forcier, who started strong in 2009 but then fizzled (badly) down the stretch.

The latest sign? Well, how about the Detroit Free Press running a story about Robinson this week under the not-so-subtle headline, "Michigan's Denard Robinson Looks Ready to be Starting Quarterback."

In that story, Rodriguez downplayed the obvious-but-completely-unfair comparisons between Robinson and former West Virginia star Pat White, but also added that Robinson would bring a "certain dynamic and explosion" to the quarterback position. That's a "certain dynamic and explosion" that Forcier, for all of his talent and gutsy play, seemed to lack against better defenses last year.

On another team, or in better days at Michigan, Forcier probably wouldn't be in this position. Unfortunately, the current situation in Ann Arbor is simply not suited to a quarterback like Forcier--a kid who seems built more to be a "field general" than a "playmaker." The sad fact for Forcier is that Michigan, with a lack of big-time offensive talent, needs as many playmakers on the field as possible.

Including you-know-who.

Robinson isn't quite yet as polished a quarterback as Forcier (he's improving rapidly, however) and he probably isn't as football-smart yet either (Forcier comes from a family of quarterbacks; after years of training, playing the position is second nature to him), but he is a markedly better athlete and much more intimidating presence for opposing defenses. He is the proverbial home-run threat. And RichRod, facing enormous pressure to win this season, is in dire need of some home runs.

That's why, come September, it will be Robinson trotting out there with the first-team offense at the Big House.

That's also why Forcier will be over the sidelines, holding the dreaded clipboard, wondering how he lost the job that, just last season, seemed to be his for good.