Adrian Robinson is a 6-1, 250 lb, Senior from Temple University. With exciting rookie seasons from Doug Baldwin and Richard Sherman in the books, I tried to identify late round prospects with similar "gamer" qualities. My search turned up a handful of maybes and one definitely. Adrian Robinson is definitely a gamer.
The best way I can describe what it means to be a gamer is that it's less about what you do and more about how you do it. Yet there's no single way to be a gamer. Doug Balwin does it angry. Richard Sherman does it cocky. Adrian Robinson does it joyfully. The kid just loves playing football.
It remains unclear whether Robinson will become a draft pick. What is clear is that any team with an whiff of sense will want him at their training camp. Former Temple head coach Al Golden had this to say before the 2010 season...
Well, he has a great passion for the game. I don't think there is anybody who loves the game of football more than Adrian. He loves the competition ... the greater the competition, the greater is his motor and attitude. He is relentless.
Oh my gosh. Did he just say competition, twice? Someone please get Pete a glass of water. Stat. Now what current head coach Steve Addazio had to say...
Without a doubt, Adrian Robinson is truly one of the finest young men I have ever had the pleasure to coach. Adrian has been the quintessential role model for our program and has set the standard for which all players should follow."
Unfortunately the nuts-and-bolts scouting report isn't quite so compelling. Robinson is quick and strong-for-his-size, but not a prototypical NFL athlete by any stretch of the imagination. Further, he's too small to start at DE and too slow to start at OLB. Earning snaps as a rotational pass rusher might be the most he can hope for from his NFL career.
Robinson is not without some ability though. He won't burn any NFL tackles to the edge but if he can reach it with some leverage then he possesses the bend to flatten out and turn the corner. He has a nice spin move which you can see here in a sack against Miami (OH) this season. He can also press the edge and then plant and cut inside, using his inside arm for leverage.
Robinson loses ground against the run but has violent hands to shed and tackle. His reaction and diagnostic skills appear well developed, whether that means pursuing the QB out of the pocket or handling a zone. This supports his potential as a conditional pass rusher since he will contain broken plays and coordinators can drop him into coverage.
I can't decide if Robinson has enough athleticism to make an impact. However, he's a pass rusher and the Seahawks need more pass rush. I hope we give him a shot if he's still available come our last pick. At the very least he brings a positive attitude and would compete at area essential to the continued growth of our defense.
Past the jump you can watch him against Wyoming this season. Here and here are his two sacks against Akron.
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Big thanks as usual to DraftBreakdown for the excellent scouting videos they put together. If it wasn't for their hard, unheralded and humble work, we'd be forced to watch those godawful horrible highlight videos with terrible soundtracks all day. So, thanks to Aaron Aloysius, JMPasq, JPDraftJedi, TTN2810, MARI0clp and the whole DraftBreakdown crew.
UPDATE: