Michigan RB Fitzgerald Toussaint Ready to Burst Onto the National Scene

Toward the end of last year, there were not many better running backs in college football than Michigan’s Fitzgerald Toussaint, who had four 100 yard games in the Wolverines’ last six contests. At the end of the Big Ten regular season, Toussaint was virtually unstoppable and was instrumental in Michigan’s wins over Illinois, Ohio State, and Nebraska, games which they scored 31 or more points.

The junior tailback stands at 5’10” 195-200 pounds, and is blazing fast in the open field. He will kind of lull you to sleep at times, because he’s really not much of a powerful back nor does he appear to be able to get extra yardage a lot of the time after initial contact, but he is an excellent speedster who can hit a hole and head for daylight if you give him even the slightest window.

I think he’s poised to break out in 2012. Not a lot of people are talking about Michigan as a serious title contender right now, but they could very well be the best team in the Big Ten, and they really return a lot of good, experienced, talented players from a roster that looked just awesome at the end of last season when they won four straight games and finished the season with a thrilling Sugar Bowl victory over Virginia Tech, not a bad team in their own right.

Toussaint will be a key piece of the Michigan offense, obviously. He battled two injury plagued seasons to start his career before finally showing out as a sophomore, and now he’s primed for a bigger role. I think with Denard Robinson’s growth in the new offense being installed at Michigan over the last couple of years, I think Toussaint will be more involved in the passing game as well as more of a focal point in the running game. There will still be games where Robinson leads the team in rushing, but for the most part, I think Toussaint is going to be the workhorse and will be one of the best backs in the Big Ten, certainly one of the most exciting to watch.