TALLAHASSEE — Duce Robinson enjoyed a 1,000-yard season at Florida State in 2025, his first after a transfer from Southern Cal.
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Robinson enjoyed the year at his dream school. But Robinson also saw where he fell short as a receiver, and where the Seminoles fell short in a 5-7 season. Robinson could have entered the NFL draft but he opted to return to be a leader and help build the program back to respectability.
“We’re doing a lot of the little things right,” Robinson said. “Last year we had an uberly talented team. Last year we put ourselves in position to win a lot of games. But I feel like we shot ourselves in the foot a lot. It came down to a lot of those little things that we didn’t handle the right way. And it feels like this year we’ve been very, very disciplined. We’ve been honed in on doing the little things right.”
Among the self-inflicted mistakes were turnovers, penalties and drops. It was that last area where Robinson took ownership, coming up short of hauling in contested passes in a few close losses.
Robinson had 56 catches for 1,081 receiving yards and five 120-yard receiving games, the most of any Power 4 receiver. He’s a preseason second-team Associated Press All-American for a reason, but the 6-foot-6, 230-pound Robinson also knew where he should focus his attention this offseason to improve. He’s also being pushed by coach Mike Norvell, a college receiver, and wide receivers coach/offensive coordinator Tim Harris Jr.
“There were a lot of areas I wanted to clean up in my game in my transition, deciding to come back from last season to this season,” Robinson said. “I’ve really been pushing my physicality, that’s a big thing. I’ve really been pushed to run better routes in my release game. Those are all areas that I’ve strived to get better. And those are all areas that coach Norvell and coach Harris have pushed me to get better in. And I’m really excited to be able to show the world what it looks like.
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Robinson has taken a young receiving group under his wing while also continuing to build chemistry with Auburn transfer Ashton Daniels. The Seminoles will also feature receiver Micahi Danzy, who owns the ACC 400-meter record, as well as sophomore Jayvan Boggs and freshman Jasen Lopez.
“He’s an ultimate servant for this team,” Norvell said of Robinson. “A guy that’s a great player. For him it’s just about pouring into who he does it with. He’s a wonderful, wonderful human being. He impacts this football team. He impacts this community, the university. It’s fun to go through life with somebody like that.”
Robinson is also seeking to be the first FSU receiver with back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons since Rashad Greene (2013-14). E.G. Green reached the milestone in 1995 and ’97, while Ron Sellers also did it in 1967-68.
Injury update
Norvell has been encouraged by the progress of camp injuries and the progress of players making a push to be ready for the opener. On Wednesday, in his last interview before Saturday’s game, Norvell said he thinks a few players could be game-time decisions. FSU does not have to deliver an availability report since this is a non-conference game.
“Devin Carter has been slowed due to injury,” Norvell said of the true freshman receiver. “He’d probably be one that would be unavailable this week. Couple other guys that I’m not ready to say whether they will or will not.”
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