The sophomore spotlight continues. After back-to-back defensive players we switch gears and jump back over to the offense.
Two years ago Demarcus Robinson’s recruitment captivated die hard Gator fans. Robinson first committed to Clemson in July of 2012 and he took visits to Notre Dame and Clemson during his senior season. Then, after only seeing Florida’s campus a couple of times, he decommitted from Clemson and pledged allegiance to the Gators two days before he would take an official visit.
Robinson’s commitment didn’t last long — five days — before he flipped back to Clemson. Robinson — an early enrollee — decided to keep his final decision quiet and just show up on campus of the school he would pick. This left fans and recruiting writers scouring his twitter feed for clues.
Robinson created seismic waves in recruiting but didn’t live up to that hip eon the field and he only has one person to blame.
2013 Stats: 5 receptions, 23 yards
Stats don’t always tell the whole story. These stats in no way indicate Robinson’s ability or potential; not even close. On the field, Robinson is a tall, fast and gifted receiver. He’s a matchup nightmare for opposing defenses with good route running, soft hands and the ability to go up and get any ball thrown his way.
However, he couldn’t get out of his own way off the field.
Robinson was suspended for a violation of team rules before Florida took on Tennessee. Robinson was suspended again, this time indefinitely, prior to the game against Georgia Southern. Will Muschamp simply said Robinson needed to “act right” before he would see the field again.
Robinson did make an impact, however, in the Orange and Blue Debut. He hauled in five receptions for 53 yards and a score. Robinson’s touchdown showed just what the player can do when he gets the ball in space, something Kurt Roper’s offense will aim to do as much as possible.
(Robinson’s catch starts at 1:47)
Muschamp and his coaching staff have recruited well. There is talent on the roster. Now it’s up to the coaching staff to pull that together, but they can only do so much. They can only put players in positive positions on the field and give them opportunities to make plays.
It’s up to Robinson to do things the right way off the field and as his coach said, “act right.”
If Robinson can grow up and mature off the field, he’ll be a terror for opponents on the field this fall.
The off the field problems were not Robinson’s only problem last yer. He was also a poor player when he got on the field. He didn’t run routes correctly and he was the reason for a Murphy interception when he developed T. Rex arms on a pass directed to him. Since he was just a true freshman, he gets a pass. Not many true freshman wide receivers make an impact, like a Sammie Watkins or Tyler Boyd. I’m a little jaded when I hear about how good a receiver is going to be based upon his performance in Spring or the preseason. It’s like a broken record, when the real season comes, it hasn’t been true for several years now.
Agreed, but I will add that the young man has shown flashes of greatness. You can tell that he’s something special. He along with Fullwood and Dunbar are going to breakout this year. Then throw in a more mature Debose and Sr. TE Mcgee and you have a pretty respectable receiving corps. Robinson does have potential, but potential only means he hasn’t done anything yet. 2014 we shall see.
Pedavis, I am excited about the addition of McGee. He is a proven commodity and gives the Gators a weapon that was missing last year. A good tight end is a quarterback’s best friend.