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Homer: Getting to know middle linebacker Keenan Robinson

themurf

By themurf
in The Stadium

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themurf

themurf

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(photo by Brian Murphy)

The Washington Redskins made headlines by trading a bounty of draft picks for the chance to select a potential franchise quarterback in Robert Griffin III. But the Heisman Trophy winner wasn’t the only college player the Redskins selected during the 2012 NFL Draft.

By the time the draft had concluded, Washington had nine new players — and not everyone chosen came from the offensive side of the football.

In the fourth round, with the 119th pick overall, the Redskins selected Texas linebacker Keenan Robinson.

Robinson, who stands 6-foot-3 and 242 lbs., appeared in 51 games with 39 starts and was a two-time second team All-Big 12 selection. During his career, he posted 317 tackles, 5.5 sacks, 25 tackles for loss, 14 quarterback pressures, two interceptions, two fumble recoveries, three forced fumbles and 14 passes defensed.

The Omaha, Nebraska native started all 13 games as a senior in 2011, recording 106 tackles, 10 tackles for loss, one sack, one safety, 13 quarterback pressures, seven passes defensed and two forced fumbles. He was also named the 2011 Holiday Bowl defensive most valuable player.

“He’s a guy who could play both [inside and outside],” said head coach Mike Shanahan. “We like his speed. One of the reasons we drafted him is we had him at the Senior Bowl. He’s a quality young man. I just like the way he practices and handles himself. We think he can fit in well.”

Best of all for Robinson, who was a three-year starter for the Longhorns, he has a legitimate chance to earn playing time sooner rather than later with the departure of inconsistent linebacker Rocky McIntosh.

“I was happy when they drafted me,” Robinson said. “They’ve had guys like Orakpo here before me, and he’s been one of the leaders of this team. So I knew I was going to the right spot because Texas players have done well here in the past.

“As soon as I was drafted, Orakpo was telling the coaches they did a good job drafting another Texas guy,” he added. “He feels like we need more of us out here, and now we’ve got me, him and [cornerback] Cedric Griffin.”

Figuring that not everyone who cheers for the burgundy and gold was overly familiar with Robinson’s college career, I asked him to tell me a little bit about what he brings to the table on gameday.

“I think I had a pretty good career,” Robinson said. “I redshirted my freshman year and then had four good years. I had a lot of fun out there and feel like my four years on the field were well spent and helped make me a good linebacker. Now, the learning starts all over again. I feel like I’m a freshman again and I’m excited to work my way back up.

“My game is like any other linebacker,” he continued. “I try to play tough between the tackles. I’m good in pass coverage. That’s another element I try to bring to my game. I really feel like I can play sideline to sideline. As for inside or outside, it really doesn’t matter. I don’t really care where I line up. I’ve played 3-4. I’ve played in a 4-3. I really don’t have a preference, but I do have three years under my belt playing inside linebacker in a 3-4 defense.”

One of the first soundbites I ever heard from Robinson involved Griffin — with the linebacker essentially saying in the days leading up to a Texas versus Baylor game that “We know he’s good, but he’s not going to win the Heisman Trophy on our watch.”

Obviously, with the two now ended up on the same team, I was interested in hearing Robinson’s take on that story.

“Oh yeah, that’s probably something that every team said,” he said with a laugh. “I think we did alright against Baylor. He had some bad drives where they scored quickly. He had an alright game — it wasn’t his best game* because we were able to pick him off – but they had a great team. Unfortunately we weren’t able to get the job done, but no matter what he did against us that day, he was probably going to win the Heisman Trophy anyway.”

*Griffin threw for 320 yards with two touchdowns and one interception in a 48-24 victory over Texas, Dec. 3.

Having lived in Texas for a few years, I know just how insanely passionate people can be about the Longhorns. While they were always the biggest team in town, I suggested to Robinson that Griffin deserved a ton of credit for putting Baylor on the map in the Lonestar State.

“It is a pretty big deal,” he said. “You know, Texas is still the big dog out there, but Baylor is now probably the third biggest team after Texas A&M. As for Griffin, he’s going to be great. He’s a guy who works hard, he studies really well and you can tell he’s really smart. I think the sky is the limit with him. He’s gonna come in here, work hard in OTAs, work hard in minicamp and training camp and he’ll be ready to go once the season starts.”

With Robinson already looking ahead, I asked him what he needed to do between now and the Week 1 trip to New Orleans to put him in the best possible position to succeed.

“I just need to continue to work hard, continue to do the little things I did in college and make it a habit,” Robinson said. “I need to learn everything I can from guys like London Fletcher, Brian Orakpo and Ryan Kerrigan. I need to learn from all of the guys around me and put myself in a position to help this team any way I can.”

Since Robinson brought him up, I tracked down outside linebacker Brian Orakpo to get his thoughts on one of his newest teammates.

Click here for the full article.

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WellsHTTR

WellsHTTR

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Thanks for the write-up, Murf. I got really excited about the Robinson pick after I learned a little about him. Especially since the Cowboys drafted Sean Lee, I've wanted the Skins to pick up an ILB with some finesse to his play and who excels in coverage. Seems like Robinson just might be that guy. It's also pretty cool that he was teammates with Rak.

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moondog

moondog

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Word is he has a ton of speed and is great in pass coverage as far as linebackers go. The only knock I've heard on him is that he's too finesse and and does not really go after blockers or disengage from them very well. I'm sure he can change that under the tutelage of a guy like Fletcher, but even if he does not develop into a starter, we have Goff as well, who played very well his last healthy season in NY and is a young player himself.

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LD0506

LD0506

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Another good'un murf, you do fine work helping us to get to know the guys.

The one thing that struck me though, I'll be more than happy w/ Griffin doing "alright....not his best game" in a 320yd/2td/1int/48-24 win for us anytime at all

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themurf

themurf

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Word is he has a ton of speed and is great in pass coverage as far as linebackers go. The only knock I've heard on him is that he's too finesse and and does not really go after blockers or disengage from them very well. I'm sure he can change that under the tutelage of a guy like Fletcher, but even if he does not develop into a starter, we have Goff as well, who played very well his last healthy season in NY and is a young player himself.

I've heard the same criticism, but to be fair, if the guys up front are doing their job, then Robinson won't have to shed as many blockers.

Another good'un murf, you do fine work helping us to get to know the guys.

The one thing that struck me though, I'll be more than happy w/ Griffin doing "alright....not his best game" in a 320yd/2td/1int/48-24 win for us anytime at all

Well, when you put it that way ....

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Darth Tater

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There's something kinda' extra sweet to see Baylor and Longhorn players here when most of the fans of these guys in college are Dallas fans.

Extra sweet indeed.

Real enjoyable read as always Mr M.

Hail.

Don't know how it is now but in the 7 years I live in Texas, the Cowboys were not even close to the top team in Texas. Most people I knew cared more for college and even HS than the pros. I was also surprised to find quite a few 'Skins fans. Hell, for as good as the Cowgirls have been most of the time (that's hard to say), their old stadium often got taken over by fans of the other team.

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DCchillin89

DCchillin89

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DEPTH. This team has depth! It's going to be exciting seeing so much competition at every position, besides starting QB. I could see Keenan getting the Perry Riley treatment his rookie year, playing on special teams and watching Fletcher do his thing. Orakpo-Riley-Fletcher/Robinson-Kerrigan combo has me drooling.

Good read Murph

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Master Blaster

Master Blaster

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The person most overlooked in our LB corp right now is Goff. If healthy, he could be the run-stuffer this team has lacked at ILB the last few years and would allow Fletcher to move over to the weak side, which would play more to his strengths (2-man front vs. 3-man, flow more than taking on blocks, etc....).

A future of Goff on the strongside with Riley/Robinson on the weak looks good to me.

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JoeSkins

JoeSkins

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The person most overlooked in our LB corp right now is Goff. If healthy, he could be the run-stuffer this team has lacked at ILB the last few years and would allow Fletcher to move over to the weak side, which would play more to his strengths (2-man front vs. 3-man, flow more than taking on blocks, etc....).

A future of Goff on the strongside with Riley/Robinson on the weak looks good to me.

I sincerely hope Riley has a starting position locked up this season. Taking out the outlying Minnesota game the run defense improved greatly when Riley cracked the starting lineup. I know Goff has something to offer, I just hope it's not at Riley's expense.

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Master Blaster

Master Blaster

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I sincerely hope Riley has a starting position locked up this season. Taking out the outlying Minnesota game the run defense improved greatly when Riley cracked the starting lineup. I know Goff has something to offer, I just hope it's not at Riley's expense.

I don't see Goff competing with Riley for a spot. The only way Riley doesn't start is if Goff dominates on the strongside, allowing Fletcher to move to weak. If not, it is Fletcher and Riley starting. Goff would not do well on the weakside.

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JoeSkins

JoeSkins

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I don't see Goff competing with Riley for a spot. The only way Riley doesn't start is if Goff dominates on the strongside, allowing Fletcher to move to weak. If not, it is Fletcher and Riley starting. Goff would not do well on the weakside.

Oh I see what you're saying now. So the question becomes: is it better to have Goff on the strong side and Fletcher on the weak or Fletcher on the strong and Riley on the weak? It's going to be an interesting summer.

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Master Blaster

Master Blaster

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Oh I see what you're saying now. So the question becomes: is it better to have Goff on the strong side and Fletcher on the weak or Fletcher on the strong and Riley on the weak? It's going to be an interesting summer.

I think it really comes down to how healthy Goff is and the type of team we are playing. The Goff/Fletcher combo is better against the run. The Fletcher/Riley combo is better against the pass.

I agree it will be interesting. First time in a while there is some depth and options.

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moondog

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I've heard the same criticism, but to be fair, if the guys up front are doing their job, then Robinson won't have to shed as many blockers.

I completely agree and that is their job in the first place, especially in a 3-4 defense. That being said, linebackers, by definition, should not be finesse players. I love the pick and I think he'll be a great addition to the team but if he is a little softer, he'll need to pick up some of Fletcher/Riley's hardnose style - our defense needs some influx of attitude that it's lacked since Landry's dominant stretch before his original achilles issues.

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themurf

themurf

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Murf- I know the Caps loss was painful for ya, but selfishly it's nice to have you back focused on football writing on the B&G. Nice piece as always, brother.

It was a fun ride while it lasted for the Caps. Glad to be shifting gears back into football full time though. Thanks for the kind words.

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