2022 Rookie Spotlight: Brian Robinson, RB Alabama

Height: 6-2
Weight: 225
Hands: 9 3/4″
Arm: 31 7/8″
40 yard dash: 4.53
NFL Comparison: Deuce McAllister, Bernard Pierce

College Production (Final Season)
50% team rushes
9% team receptions
22% total team yards
23% total team TDs

Pros
– absolute unit of a human being; very beastly and physical
– excellent in pass protection
– very tough to take down once he gets a head of steam
– natural tackle-breaker
– 85th percentile size-adjusted speed score
– no fumbles in senior season
– could easily see him being a hammer at the goal line at the NFL level

Cons
– did not have a strong week of Senior Bowl practices; indecisive as inside runner
– likely lacks ideal vision to be an immediate-impact contributor at the NFL level
– upright runner, presents lots of surface area for opponents
– not much experience in a gap/power blocking scheme
– miserable explosive jumps: 7th percentile vertical, 54th percentile broad
– had to wait his turn at Bama, did not burst his way into early alpha status

Scouting Notes: The PFF numbers on Robinson say a lot about his viewable traits as a runner: he was 9th in FBS during the 2021 season in yards after contact (891) and 3rd in missed tackles forced (79). He’s a big, beastly runner with high-level size-adjusted, straight-line speed. He plays in the mold of a Deuce McAllister: an SEC volume-back with an upright and somewhat risky running style, and vision/patience that would take time to develop at the NFL level to go along with a battering ram attitude, powerful traits and straight-line speed. Some would say that Robinson benefitted by playing behind an excellent offensive line at Bama, and that’s certainly true, but the missed tackles forced numbers unequivocally show that Robinson was able to create on his own as well against SEC competition. The real question should be, why wasn’t he better at setting up and consistently following his blocks? Robinson is a handful for any defender in the open field when he finds it, something that he had a lot of trouble doing behind unfamiliar offensive linemen during 2022 Senior Bowl practices. Robinson presents traits that are mouth-watering, while his 9% market-share of team receptions in 2021 is perfectly suitable in projecting future passing game work, if not exceptional.

Fantasy Outlook: With an excellent landing spot, Robinson has all the room in world to move up from where he’s nestled in during early, pre-NFL draft dynasty rookie drafts, which is somewhere in the mid-to-late second round, depending on whether you’re drafting in a 1QB or Superflex setup. In that range, Robinson represents a worthy gamble to take given his obviously powerful traits, his excellent size-adjusted speed and his Bama running back pedigree. You may have to wait for him to fall into an NFL rhythm, but he has many of the requisite skills and traits to do so in the right situation, including the proven ability to carry the load and receive heavy volume.