Ex-Sooners QB could give Owls 1-2 punch

Transfer draws good comparisons to Johnny Manziel.

BOCA RATON — Florida Atlantic coach Lane Kiffin had no problem with comparing his new players to former college football stars last year. Potentially Kiffin’s biggest — and most shocking — comparison came to a player who didn’t even see the field in 2017.

After watching Owls quarterback Chris Robison — fresh off a transfer from future College Football Playoff semifinalist Oklahoma — make his debut on the Oxley Center fields last August, Kiffin put the signal-caller’s name in the same breath as a former Heisman Trophy winner.

“I thought he had a little bit of Johnny-ish to him as far as moving around — Manziel — just kind of make a lot of plays, great energy on his film,” Kiffin said, referring to the former Texas A&M star and 2012 Heisman winner. “You watch him sprinting down the field to celebrate touchdowns with his team. I thought he just had a knack for making a lot of plays.”

All-America running back and rising junior Devin Singletary (American Heritage) inspired a Heisman movement of his own last season and will likely do the same this fall. But plenty of eyes will be on the redshirt freshman quarterback from Mesquite, Texas, who was originally supposed to be 2017 Heisman Trophy winner Baker Mayfield’s replacement this season at Oklahoma.

Instead, an April 2017 arrest for public intoxication and an August dismissal for violating team rules sent Robison packing from the Sooners to a Florida Atlantic program that added several former players who’d been dismissed from Division I programs. After redshirting in compliance with NCAA transfer rules, Robison will battle one of those players, ex-Florida State Seminole De’Andre Johnson, for the starting quarterback role this spring.

If Robison does win the starting quarterback job, he’d make his collegiate debut against those same Oklahoma Sooners, who will host the Owls in Norman on Sept. 1.

How can Robison continue to impress Kiffin and get the upper hand in the spring? Let’s take a look at the best — and worst — case scenar- ios for the new Owls quarterback.

Best case: Robison lives up to the Manziel comparison (at least, how Manziel looked carving up defenses at Texas A&M) and dazzles all spring, from March 20 until the Owls’ spring game on April 21. In addition, he avoids any nerves that come with taking first-team snaps on a team that went 11-3 last season and is the overwhelming favorite to repeat as Conference USA champions.

Worst case: Any progress that went into developing as a successful college quarterback that Robison made last year on the scout team is erased when the former four-star recruit sees meaningful, first-team snaps. Robison struggles to make plays against a ferocious, turnover-forcing Owls defense and goes into fall camp likely headed for a backup role but still resembling Manziel — at least, how Manziel looked with the Cleveland Browns.

Expectation: W hen spring camp ends, Robison will have a leg up on Johnson and go into the summer as the unofficial leader in the starting quarterback battle. FAU fans will quickly understand why Robison signed with Oklahoma and was expected to replace Mayfield.