One player that has seen lots of links to the Washington Commanders in mock drafts this offseason but stirs up huge debate among fans is Texas running back Bijan Robinson. Most draft analysts, scouts and general managers will agree that in terms of overall talent, Robinson is one of the best prospects in this draft class. Having now watched Robinson for this article, I certainly wouldn’t disagree with that assessment of his talent. From a pure look at his ability on the field, Robinson is a very good running back prospect.
Robinson stands at 5-foot-11, 215 pounds and while that might seam a bit small especially compared to the two backs in Washington right now, don’t be deceived. He has a thick lower half that allows him to run through tackles and bounce off defenders, but is also light and agile enough to make defenders miss with a sharp and sudden cut.
This play is a good example of Robinson’s power and toughness to fight through contact. He takes the ball on a run to the left of the formation, however the Alabama defensive front uses a stunt to disrupt the blocking scheme up front. The defensive tackle stunts across the face of the center and while Robinson is able to work around that, the center has to peel back to seal him off, leaving the linebacker behind him free to make the play in the hole.
This doesn’t worry Robinson though, who simply lowers his shoulders to initiate contact, but also makes a cut as the defender commits to the tackle. This allows him to only have to take on one half of the defender instead of run over the entire defender. He’s able to run through the arm tackle and still shrug off the slot corner coming in to assist. In fact, he uses the momentum of the slot corner hitting him to spin out of the arm tackle from the linebacker and keep driving his legs forward. He nearly breaks free of both defenders but they just manage to grab onto his feet as another defender arrives to finally bring him down.
Being able to take on defenders and fight through contact is an incredibly important trait for a running back in the NFL. They won’t always have clean looks in the NFL and will need to be able to break tackles and fight through contact in order to maximize every single carry. But while Robinson brings that power option, he can just as easily make a jump cut to elude a defender and leave them grabbing at dust.
This time Robinson takes the ball on a carry up the middle. However, his offensive line ends up leaving a linebacker completely unblocked with a clear lane to run through and make the tackle. As Robinson secures the hand-off, he spots the linebacker coming and sets him up. Once the ball is in his hands, he angles his path to the right, faking that he’s going to try and bounce his run outside to the right in order to avoid the linebacker. But as soon as he gets the linebacker to lean that way, which only takes a step, Robinson sharply cuts back to his left. This leaves the linebacker in the dirt as Robinson accelerates away from him. As he works into the secondary, Robinson makes another sharp cut to try and get back inside of the safety and shows that toughness again at the end of the play to fight for every possible yard.
Even with this power and elusiveness, Robinson has more to offer. He’s also capable of playing in control and with tempo, finding the right hole and having the ability to get skinny to fit into small lanes.
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