Vikings film room: Explaining why Kwesi Adofo-Mensah gambled on Cam Robinson
The Minnesota Vikings made a major trade on Tuesday night when they acquired left tackle Cam Robinson from the Jacksonville Jaguars. The compensation wasn't a lot and general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah found a way to keep his draft capital in 2025. What it does provide is a suitable replacement for Christian Darrisaw. Now, it should […]
The Minnesota Vikings made a major trade on Tuesday night when they acquired left tackle Cam Robinson from the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The compensation wasn't a lot and general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah found a way to keep his draft capital in 2025. What it does provide is a suitable replacement for Christian Darrisaw.
Now, it should be noted that Robinson isn't as good as Darrisaw nor should he be expected to play at that level. What he does give you is a large, athletic tackle who can do a little bit of everything at a high level, even if it's not the most consistent.
What are the Vikings getting in Robinson and why did Adofo-Mensah gamble on acquiring Robinson? I broke down the film to get a sense of what he is as a player.
Cam Robinson has a great profile
The Jaguars selected Robinson with the 34th overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft. After finishing his rookie contract, Robinson was franchised in 2021 before signing a three-year, $51 million contract starting with the 2022 season.
When he was selected, Robinson had an excellent profile, especially from a size and length profile.
His length is evident when you watch him play, as he can engage easily with edge rushers and those who have a ton of length don't have as easy of a time as they would against tackles with average arm length.
Now, you would like his quickness and explosiveness to be a little better with both being under the 40th percentile. However, his strength profile is more than good enough to overcome those testing elements from 2017.
Cam Robinson has good movement skills
When you weigh 335 lbs, there will be questions about how well you can move, especially when trying to climb to the second level on run concepts like outside zone and duo. Do you have enough foot quickness to be able to make those plays? It's especially important with how the Vikings like to call their running game.
With all that said, Robinson can move plenty well enough in space.
What allows Robinson to move that well is his feet. He takes short steps that aren't quite choppy but they allow him to stay controlled with his movements. It also helps Robinson keep his stance narrow and maintain his power once he gets in position to deliver his block at the second level.
Strength is Cam Robinson's biggest positive
When you weigh 335 lbs, you better be able to anchor in and win with strength. That is something that Robinson can do relatively easily.
Houston Texans edge rusher Will Anderson Jr. tries to use speed to power to attack Robinson. He gets underneath his shoulder pads and gets some pushback. That's not out of the norm because the low man wins and Anderson is a powerful edge rusher.
When you are Robinson, it's not about getting knocked back, but rather how you respond to it. He recovers really well here and re-anchors, standing up Anderson and preventing him from doing more damage.
He doesn't just have strength in his lower half, but also in his upper half, especially with his hands.
Being that this is a play-action play, Robinson is the aggressor here. He gets his hands locked onto Anderson and stands him up with ease and doesn't let him go. Robinson doesn't just win the rep, he dominantes it.
This rep isn't just good, there is one element that's worrisome on the play and it factors in to the concerns with Robinson.
Cam Robinson's concerns are real
The one thing about the above play that is concerning is Robinson's form. He plays very upright and that can be a problem when it comes to leverage and dealing with speed rushers. When they bend around the arc, they dip lower and that creates a situation where Robinson needs to reach, which causes him to bend at the waist.
At the same time, it allows players like Anderson to jack him up even more with speed-to-power. He does find a way to use his strength to compensate for that, but it's still an issue more often than you'd like to see.
It's not the only thing that is an issue for Robinson, as his technique also gets him into trouble.
The key to beating Robinson seems to be getting to the inside of Robinson. He has inconsistencies with his pass sets. Sometimes, Robinson will underset and leave his outside shoulder vulnerable. When he corrects that, he can underset and quick edge rushers can attack his inside shoulder.
These things have been consistent issues for Robinson and they aren't going away anytime soon. What the Vikings can do to help that is provide the occasional chip on the outside to help mitigate Robinson's inconsistent pass sets. That will allow him to get squared up with the better edge rushers in the league.
Now, it's not that he can't play well this year against good edge rushers. He did a really good job against the Texans and their dynamic duo of Anderson and Danielle Hunter. It's being inconsistent that will cost Robinson and it could do so when it matters the most.
How good was the trade?
Nothing is good about losing a player like Christian Darrisaw. You don't want to have to deal with that, but when it comes around, your response is critical.
The response from Adofo-Mensah was perfect in telling the locker room that he still believes they can compete for a Super Bowl. The reality about the National Football League is if you can make it into the playoffs, you can win it all.
The Vikings are 5-2 with a defense that was historically great in the first five games and an offense that has been really good in creating explosive plays in the passing game. Now, we have seen some regression in those areas and that was to be expected. However, the ability to do that hasn't gone away which could help the Vikings moving forward.
In essence, Adofo-Mensah continued this playoff chase with a really solid trade for a player who at his best can make plays like Darrisaw but is far from consistent in doing so. Robinson is a 6-7/10 player and that type of stability is an improvement over what they would have had in either David Quessenberry or Blake Brandel in that spot.
Even if the Vikings don't make a deep playoff run, they sent a clear message to the locker room that they believe in the players and coaching staff to make that run, and that type of culture is really important, especially as a young quarterback J.J. McCarthy is about to take over this team next year.
This team is set to take a big step forward thanks to the culture that O'Connell and Adofo-Mensah have built and more could be on the way.