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May 8, 2014
Miles, coaches visit Houma
May 8, 2014
This weekend, 256 college football players will pick up their ringing telephones and find out that they have been selected in the 2014 NFL Draft.
For the first time in the draft’s history, one of the first telephones expected to ring will have a 985 area code – a cellular device that belongs to former Thibodaux High School standout and Auburn offensive tackle Greg Robinson.
With his Herculean strength and dominant three-year career at Auburn under his belt, Robinson is regarded as a consensus Top 5 pick – a sure-fire lock to be selected sometime during tomorrow night’s First Round, which will be broadcast nationally on ESPN.
When selected, he will become the highest local draft pick in the history of the NFL Draft.
Many mock draft projections have Robinson going No. 2 overall to the St. Louis Rams – a team in dire need of an offensive tackle to protect franchise quarterback, oft-injured Sam Bradford.
“I don’t know how everyone else is going to perform, but I’m trying to perform my best,” Robinson told a pool of reporters during a conference call regarding the NFL Draft. “But I feel that it’s a personal goal for me, and it’d mean a lot if I were to get drafted as the top tackle.”
The thing NFL scouts like the most about Robinson is his combination of size and athleticism.
Robinson stands 6-feet, 5-inches tall and weighs a massive 332 pounds. But unlike most people with that frame, Robinson is a solid athlete with elite lineman speed.
Robinson ran a 4.9 in the 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine – easily the best mark among offensive tackles in the draft. He also did 32 bench press reps and had a 113-inch broad jump and a 7.80-second mark in the three-cone drill.
But more important than the measurables are the results. Robinson dominated SEC opposition last season in Auburn’s run-oriented spread offense. On several of the team’s most memorable running plays, Robinson had pancake blocks to spring the action.
The 2013 season was Robinson’s second as Auburn’s starting left tackle. He redshirted in 2011 – his first year on the Alabama-based campus. He then saw time as a starter in 2012 – his redshirt freshman season.
Robinson and the Tigers exceeded everyone’s expectations last season and advanced to the BCS National Championship Game in 2014, falling in a heartbreaker to Florida State.
Robinson said that he rested for a few days following the game, before praying and making the decision to turn pro. From there, Robinson said he’s worked harder than at any point in his life so that he can make sure that he’s in the best shape of his life when he enters the NFL level.
“Right after the BCS game, I took a few days off to let my mind recover before I got back in the weight room to work on my run form and everything like that. … Everything I was doing was just to maintain, because we worked really hard throughout the season.”
But while Robinson’s highlight tape is lengthy, scouts do note that all of his best plays came in the running game.
ESPN Draft Analyst Mel Kiper Jr. said recently that a few teams have Robinson down on their draft board because of his lack of collegiate opportunities to pass block in Auburn’s running offense. Mike Mayock, of the NFL Network, agreed and said that he has Texas A&M tackle Jake Matthews as the No. 1 offensive tackle in the draft.
Robinson said he understands the concerns that teams have about his passing blocking ability, adding that he plans to prove his doubters wrong.
Many teams don’t appear to be very concerned about Robinson’s deficiencies, pointing to his 40-yard-dash time as an indicator that he is athletic enough to be an elite pass blocker when given the opportunity.
“I excel at run blocking, and I think that’s because we worked on it a lot (at Auburn),” Robinson said. “But I’ve also worked the pass. It was limited, but I feel like I’m decent enough in that area, and I’ll prove myself if necessary to anyone out there that’s doubting whether or not I can pass block.”
Of course, in a perfect world, Robinson would have had the opportunity to return to school to polish some of those loose ends, while getting a college education.
That opportunity was available to the Thibodaux graduate, who had two collegiate years of eligibility on the table when he made the decision to turn pro.
But the former Thibodaux standout was very open about his reasons for leaving school, adding that they were financially based.
Robinson’s father passed away in 2013, and he said that his mother struggles to make ends meet. The Thibodaux native said he wanted to go pro so that he could have the money to take care of his family.
“I talked a lot about it with my family, and it’s basically a financial situation – I didn’t come from much,” Robinson said. “So this is something that I considered. I talked it out with them, and I promised my momma that I’d go back to school to get my degree someday.”
Whether Robinson does or doesn’t get that degree someday – no one besides a fortune teller could ever know.
But it doesn’t take a crystal ball to predict that Robinson’s phone will ring sometime early Thursday evening to signify that he’s been selected by a team in the NFL.
When he answers and hears the good news, local history will be made and Robinson’s dreams will come true.
“It’s amazing,” Robinson said. “It’s something that’s awesome to think about. I can’t wait to get going, find my new home and go play.”
LSU STANDOUTS EXPECTED TO BE GONE IN EARLY ROUNDS
Greg Robinson’s name will not be the only one called that will ring familiar to local sports fans during NFL Draft weekend.
In addition to the massive local left tackle, several LSU players will be picked in the draft, some of the players likely will go off the board in the first few rounds of the seven-round draft.
Wide receiver Odell Beckham is widely expected to be the first LSU player selected this weekend, likely tomorrow in the mid-to-late first round. After Beckham’s selection, players like quarterback Zach Mettenberger, halfback Jeremy Hill, fullback J.C. Copeland, receiver Jarvis Landry, offensive guard Trai Turner, defensive linemen Anthony Johnson and Ego Ferguson, linebacker Lamin Barrow and defensive back Craig Loston are expected to come off the board.
Down the road at Nicholls, the Colonels don’t have any outgoing seniors expected to be drafted. But a few players may be invited to NFL training camp and practice squad rosters.
Thibodaux native and former Auburn standout Greg Robinson runs down the track at the NFL Draft Scouting Combine. Robinson ran a 4.9-second 40-yard dash, the best time of any offensive tackle at the combine. Robinson is expected to be a Top 5 pick in the draft, which would make him the highest local player ever selected into the NFL. Scouts tout Robinson’s athleticism as his biggest strength.
