Having spent time as a defensive back and quarterback at Hamilton High School, ASU sophomore Gerell Robinson knows what a tough cover looks like.

Robinson, at 6-foot-4, 230 pounds with deceptive speed, surely never had the nightmare of trying to guard a specimen of his stature in high school.

The converted wide receiver had his second consecutive standout scrimmage for the Sun Devils on Saturday, racking up 116 yards on four receptions — a week after nabbing eight balls against ASU’s first and second defensive units.

Robinson, who played sparingly last year — 3 receptions for 26 yards — could be one of the surprise offensive stars for the Sun Devils, who will be looking for whatever they can get to complement what should be one of the conference’s best defensive squads.

“G-Rob is a completely different player out there,” senior quarterback Danny Sullivan said. “He is a great player, and I‘m looking forward to having him on the field.”

In his transition to wide receiver last season, Robinson struggled with route running and consistently catching the football.

While Robinson is likely not as polished as he will be by the end of his collegiate career, he’ll have plenty of assets at his disposal.

In Saturday’s scrimmage, Robinson showed his speed by getting over the top of coverage for two long receptions down the sideline and his agility and quickness by making defenders miss in the open field.

“There are a lot of things you can do with him,” Sullivan said.

Perhaps Robinson’s biggest strength coming into the 2009 season is his size. Like a basketball player under the hoop, Robinson can box out smaller defenders and make himself nearly un-guardable down the sideline.

Robinson is sure to be one of Sullivan’s favorite back-shoulder targets.

“The saying is, ‘If you’re even, you’re leaving,’” Robinson said referring to positioning on a defender. “Even if the corner is on top, just throw it back shoulder. Throw it up and give me a chance and hopefully I’ll do my best to come down with it.“

It wasn’t all smooth sailing for Robinson during the scrimmage, though.

On his first big play of the day, Robinson fumbled as he was tackled by junior cornerback LeQuan Lewis, resulting in what could have been a momentum-swinging turnover had the Sun Devils been playing a real game.

“I was trying to break the tackle and once I broke the tackle [Lewis] had his hand on it,” Robinson said. “It was a big play on [Lewis’] part.

I was thinking two steps ahead instead of the present. That was my fault.”

Walking the line

Despite three sacks and numerous hurries, Robinson and Sullivan were quick to credit the Sun Devils’ offensive line for providing the protection that allowed numerous down-the-field pass attempts on Saturday.

“It all started with the offensive line,” Robinson said of his ability to get down the field.

While ASU’s aggressive front seven have won the majority of battles during camp, it appeared on Saturday that the pocket was at least clean enough to make for explosive connections at times.

While complaints against ASU’s offensive line have been all too commonplace during the last two years, the monotonous dissonance was not coming from post-game comments on Saturday.

“I thought our front protected [well],” ASU coach Dennis Erickson said.

Reach the reporter at nick.ruland@asu.edu.