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Rams tackle Greg Robinson working to correct ‘technical’ issues
“I feel like I’ve made a lot of progress from year to year but there’s a lot I have struggled with technically this year,” said Rams OT Greg Robinson. Brad Mills/USA Tdoay Sports
Nick Wagoner, ESPN Staff Writer
EARTH CITY, Mo. — When St. Louis Rams coach Jeff Fisher announced Monday that he was making a change at quarterback, he emphasized that quarterback was far from the only issue facing his offense.
“They all need to play better,” Fisher said. “The receivers need to play better. The tight ends need to play better. Greg Robinson needs to play better. They all need to play better.”
While Fisher is correct on all counts, it was hard not to notice that the only player he called by name was Robinson, the 2014 No. 2 overall pick turned starting left tackle. The call-out came after officials flagged Robinson three times for holding and he allowed a sack against the Chicago Bears in a 37-13 loss. Robinson was far from the only problem on the offense, let alone the offensive line, but he was certainly one of the most glaring.
That tends to happen when you come with the expectations of being picked second in the draft. The Rams picked Robinson over more polished tackles like Jake Matthews, Taylor Lewan and Zack Martin because they believed that his upside would ultimately make him a better player than the others. Little more than a year and a half into his career, the lack of polish has overwhelmed whatever upside exists.
This season, Robinson is the NFL’s most penalized offensive player and is tied for the second-most flags of any player in the league, trailing only New Orleans cornerback Brandon Browner. Robinson has actually been flagged 11 times but two of those were not accepted.
To his credit, Robinson not only refuses to make excuses but also offers honest, detailed assessments of his performance. In fact, he’s the first to admit that right now, he’s just not good enough. The biggest reason? Fundamentals.
“I feel like I’ve made a lot of progress from year to year but there’s a lot I have struggled with technically this year,” Robinson said. “I feel like as the season goes on, I just gain more confidence, just grow as a player, take the coaching and just build off what I’ve already started.”
When asked to elaborate further on how he’s struggling technically, he pointed to one thing in particular that continues to hold him back.
“I think I struggle in pass protection just slightly when I kick, just kicking up,” Robinson said. “It’s something I see on film and it’s just lingered on for too long. So just this week, I’m focusing on my hands and just trying my best to be strict on my set.”
When Robinson says he’s “kicking up,” he means that he has a bad habit of taking a step forward when in pass protection and creating a softer edge, which allows defenders to run past him.
Robinson also said he has a habit of occasionally swinging his arms outside on defenders, which leaves his chest open for defenders to bull rush and sometimes leads to holding penalties.
“He’s making progress from the standpoint of knowing exactly what to do, but how to do it has been a little inconsistent here as of late,” Fisher said. “So, we have to keep working with him. The holdings, sometimes they’re called, sometimes they’re not. But, if they’re looking at him as a grabber right now, then he’s got to keep his hands inside.”
Moving forward, keeping his hands inside and making sure he’s not moving up in his set will be focal points for Robinson. It sounds easy enough on the surface, but it’s important to remember that Robinson came from a completely different scheme and mentality at Auburn. In the Tigers’ run-heavy attack, Robinson was almost always moving forward, looking for someone to knock over.
So it should be no surprise that he now has to unlearn old techniques before he can fully embrace new ones.
“It just comes with repetition,” Robinson said. “Once it happens to you one time, you learn from it and try your best for it not to happen again. But I feel like the things I was taught in college, I tried to transition it to the league and it’s just things that I think are fine are not and I don’t really know until the flag is called.”
Robinson’s struggles in Year 2 have undoubtedly brought outside skepticism about the draft pick from a fanbase that’s endured first-round whiffs at the position, such as Alex Barron and Jason Smith. But Robinson is still just 21 total starts (18 starts at left tackle) into his NFL career. He bounced back and forth between guard and tackle before his rookie year and has been inundated with different teammates at left guard throughout that time.
Patience can be hard to find because the Rams need Robinson to produce at a high level now. Robinson himself acknowledges that he’s been surprised by his inability to make the transition in short order, but also is remaining calm and working with offensive line coaches Paul Boudreau and Andy Dickerson to get better every week.
“Honestly, I thought my athletic ability would make up for a lot of it, but I’ve come a long way and I’m just taking the coaching,” Robinson said. “Coach Bou and Andy, they have worked a lot with me and I feel like I’m making progress. It’s just coming with time.”
AgamemnonIf that is true, I am not going to let one guy hold this whole team hostage. Greg can sit until he does it right.
AgamemnonI think it is a good thing we drafted all those offensive linemen. I even wouldn’t mind Battle starting at LT. I think his pass pro is better than Robinson’s at this point. I think Donnal is their second best RT. Reynolds is best at LG and he can baby sit GR. If Stanley drops in the draft, I would be tempted to draft him. He would have been the best OT in last year’s draft.
Agamemnon
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