Steelers' draft pick is just scratching the surface of his potential
PITTSBURGH – There's a funny irony about NFL players: They are creatures of habit, yet they must always be ready for change. Such is the case with Steelers seventh-round draft pick, Mark Robinson. The former Ole Miss Rebel played running back for most of his life, but made the switch to linebacker before his final […]
PITTSBURGH – There's a funny irony about NFL players: They are creatures of habit, yet they must always be ready for change.
Such is the case with Steelers seventh-round draft pick, Mark Robinson. The former Ole Miss Rebel played running back for most of his life, but made the switch to linebacker before his final year of school. To make the situation even more interesting, Robinson walked on to the program in 2020, but had to sit the year out because of some weird transfer rules.
It's easy to see why those circumstances would cause a player to fall behind and thus have an ineffective year, but that wasn't even close to Robinson's case. He immediately broke out during Ole Miss' spring practices, catching the eyes of his teammates and coaches, in particular.
That early success bled into the 2021 season. Robinson finished 2021 with the second-most solo tackles, fourth-most tackles for loss, and the fifth-most sacks on the Rebels defense. His 91 total tackles throughout the season were the SEC's 11th-most among all linebackers.
Robinson isn't the most athletic player and he's rather undersized to inside linebacker, however, he's strong and he has good short-area quickness thanks to his days as a running back. He also has the compact, running back-type body, which is useful when trying to work around blockers.
He's a good tackler and he can really lay a hit on his targets. Overall, if Robinson makes the roster, it seems like he could be used in base packages and on run downs while he works on his coverage skills.
There are questions with his coverage skills, but those can be coached up. Robinson never played defense in college, and it's unclear whether or not he did so in high school, so it makes sense for there to be struggles when it comes to reading offenses, finding drop back spots, etc..
There was a two-game span in 2021 that really showed off Robinson's potential: Tennessee and Alabama.
Against Tennessee, Robinson led the team with 14 total tackles. 12 of them were solo tackles. He recorded 5.0 TFLs, which was the first time a Rebel defender recorded as many since 1999. Oh, and he had 2.0 sacks in that game, as well. All three stats ended up as career-highs for Robinson.
He proceeded to log another team-leading 12 tackles the following week against Alabama. In all, it was a very impressive showing that really showed how effective Robinson can be.
The flashes Robinson showed in 2021 make it seem like the former walk-on is just scratching the surface of his potential. There's a great chance he makes the roster as a special-teamer, which allows him to stay in the mix at linebacker. All it takes at that point is hard work and some luck to possibly break into a contributing role on defense.
Robinson has shown he is more than capable of doing what it takes to succeed, which means his best days could very well be ahead of him in Pittsburgh.
Featured image via Albert Cesare/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK
