with poll: Post-draft hot topic: What is Denard Robinson's NFL position?
Will Michigan quarterback Denard Robinson, above, continue to throw passes in the NFL?
AnnArbor.com file photo
Mel Kiper Jr. thinks Denard Robinson has no business playing quarterback in the NFL.
One sports site predicts -- albeit somewhat playfully -- that the Michigan football team's dynamic quarterback will be a first-round selection by the Carolina Panthers in the 2013 NFL draft.
As an "athlete."
"Between Cam Newton, Joe Adams, Steve Smith and Robinson (he’s no NFL QB), the Panthers will be exciting," TheBigLead.com's Jason McIntyre wrote Tuesday. "Also, this is a for-fun pick, it will never happen.
"It’s way too early to tell if Shoelaces is a first-round pick."
Robinson's NFL future has been a hot debate topic for some time now, but where he'll be taken really isn't the pressing question. It's where he'll play once he gets there that seems to draw the most interest.
On Monday, Kiper -- an ESPN analyst -- told reporters via conference call that the 6-foot, 195-pound Robinson has "no chance" of playing quarterback after his college career ends next season.
Kiper suggested Robinson accept that fact, and go all-in as a wide receiver prospect once Michigan's 2012 campaign comes to a close.
Robinson has gone on record saying he'd like to pursue a career at quarterback in the NFL, telling The Associated Press just that during a March interview.
After being asked by a reporter last season if he felt like he could be on the receiving end of a pass during a game, Robinson quickly said he's not sure.
He's never done it.
"I'm going to tell you this, I never caught a ball before. I've always been behind the center," Robinson said at the time. "I never caught a ball during a game."
At nearly 200 pounds and with a high school 40-yard dash time clocked at 4.32 seconds, Robinson will likely have a future in the NFL in some capacity.
What might that be, exactly? That remains unclear.
What is crystal clear, though, is Robinson's immediate future as the starting quarterback at Michigan. Which seems to be more than enough.
For now.

AnnArbor.com