Michigan cornerback Troy Woolfolk dropped the biggest bomb at Big Ten media days when he started talking about the quarterback competition between Denard Robinson and Tate Forcier. Specifically, Woolfolk made it quite apparent that Robinson has been putting in more work this offseason, and as a result he may have overtaken Forcier as the favorite to start at quarterback.
"Denard has been out there through the thick and thin and been out there all the time regardless if he's hurting," Woolfolk said. "And Tate, he tries to come out, but he's not as consistent as Denard is. And that's allowed Denard to jump a little bit ahead of Tate and I think that Tate's going to have to do a lot of work to catch back up to Denard in camp this year."
Woolfolk expanded on what Forcier hasn't done this offseason that has put him behind Robinson.
"I personally have a lack of respect for (those who don't show up to voluntary workouts)," Woolfolk said. "The outlook on them is kind of diseased. Like you don't want to be hanging around those people because they have bad work ethic. But at the same time, it's my role to try to persuade them to come out more."
According to Woolfolk, Forcier hasn't shown up to as many workouts as he and the other seniors feel he should have, and Woolfolk said it's hurting his teammates' perception of their signal caller.
"The only reason he's not really labeled as diseased is because of the way he was able to carry the team last year before we started losing. People still trust him a little bit, but he's starting to lose that trust."
Although Woolfolk backed off the comments a bit later in the day on Twitter, the general point still stands. Forcier is going to have to work hard to win the starting job at quarterback again, because Robinson has been doing a lot this offseason to get better. That was obvious in the spring, and based on these comments, it's obvious that since the spring Robinson has done a lot more than Forcier.
As many others have already said about this situation, it's likely that both Forcier and Robinson will play in games. In that regard who is the starting quarterback may simply be a case of who leads the first series before the other guy comes in. Many think that is a bad idea because it can complicate things, but Forcier and Robinson are such different kinds of quarterbacks that the opportunity is there for both to play.
Forcier can scramble quite well but was a more accurate passer last year than Robinson. On the other hand, Robinson is very fast and can just run right by the defense for a touchdown. His passing has definitely improved since last season, but Forcier still has the edge with experience.
At the end of the day, this QB situation will sort itself out and I doubt these comments from Woolfolk will cause any problems like some think. If anything, they will make Forcier realize that he needs to get to work if he wants to keep his job as the starting QB, because Robinson is all in.
In other news involving Woolfolk, he provided the best quote I saw from Big Ten media days:
"It’s that time to get over the hill and end that (OSU) winning streak," he said today. "Everybody on the team, I can see it in their eyes every day when someone mentions Ohio State. Or even just on TV or I just see an O-shaped figure, I just get instantly angry."
O-shaped figure, like Cheerios?
"I don’t eat Cheerios, Froot Loops, Apple Jacks, none of that," he said, smiling.
Now that is taking hatred of a rival to a new level.