SaintLeonard

Why Robinson is on the list


Lofty praise from the right sources is a good start.

During the Saints' playoff game at Seattle, FOX analyst John Lynch famously revealed that Bill Parcells phoned former pupil Sean Payton to chastise him for not saddling up Robinson, the next version of former Parcells workhorse Curtis Martin.

Parcells presented Martin at the Hall of Fame ceremony in 2012. That's rarefied company.

Undrafted out of West Texas A&M last offseason, Robinson settled for a three-day tryout at the Saints' rookie minicamp. By the time he dominated the game-winning field-goal drive to knock off the Eagles in January, Payton had anointed him the team's "most talented runner of the football."

Robinson enters his second season as Exhibit A in the argument against paying big money for running backs. He forced more missed tackles on 76 regular-season snaps than Ray Rice did on 730, per Pro Football Focus' metrics.

This is a demonstrated skill. Robinson also led the league in forced missed tackles during the preseason and averaged more postseason yards after contact per attempt than Marshawn Lynch and LeGarrette Blount, the latter of whom became the first player in NFL history with at least 150 rushing yards and four touchdowns in a playoff game.


Why devote first-round draft picks to college stars such as Mark Ingram and Trent Richardson when Robinson had already turned out a finer all-around performance in his fourth preseason game than either Alabama star has produced since entering the league?

At 6 feet and 220 pounds Robinson boasts three-down size and skills. What stood out on Game Rewind was his exceptional balance, above-average power, plus vision and a decisive burst when he put his foot in the ground and turned up field.

While other backs get tripped up by hits to the lower leg, Robinson consistently regains his footing for extra yards. He's not going down with an arm tackle.


Continue reading: Making the Leap, No. 19: Saints' Khiry Robinson - NFL.com

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billyt81

great article with great stats, my gut tells me Robinson leads the Saints in rushing this year, but Ingram is close behind and u cant count out PT

hagan714

dude learns to read and pick up the blitz he will be hard to take of the field. the way he carries himself i do not think he is afraid to sit his hat in there. i think it is a time to learn thing. Need to see him catch more before i give the title as a lead back. after all that is our bread and butter.
year two i have to say he needs to hold onto the ball. that seems to be the bug a boo for second year backs getting more carries in the nfl. they try to do to much and that always leads to strips. plus last preseason he did put the ball on the turf a bit.

"We may have lost the game, but you'll be hurting tomorrow." Doug Atkins

Rugby Saint II

He may force Payton to go to a featured back.

Marlboro Man

I don't have any doubts about Robinson's catching ability. You watch him catch the ball and its smooth and natural. You watch Ingram catch the ball and its anyone's guess if he'll catch it or not. He's got small hands which makes it harder for him.

TheDeuce

I'm glad that we have a stable of backs that can all perform at this level. However, I will say that I still think PT is our best back, does everything well and is an underrated rusher.

Utah_Saint

"Robinson can bolster his case for a bigger slice of the pie by learning his assignments and understanding protections in the passing game."

I think that's the most important sentence in that article. If he can learn blitz assignments he'll get a lot more playing time.

If he can learn blitz assignments AND show he can catch the ball, he'll probably get a lion's share of the offensive snaps next season.