Sky Is the Limit for Jaguars' RB Denard Robinson After Breakout Performance
In a 24-6 win over the Cleveland Browns, Jacksonville Jaguars running back Denard Robinson set career highs in rushing attempts and rushing yards.
The second-year former college quarterback had 22 carries for 127 yards and a touchdown. That is two more attempts than he had over the whole of his rookie season, when he was active for 16 games, and 127 yards are more than he had in his career prior to Week 7's victory.
But while Robinson was available for all the Jaguars' games as a rookie, it would be unfair to say that he was fully healthy.
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Robinson played through a nerve injury in his hand that limited his touches. He was regularly the Jaguars' third or even fourth option out of the backfield, as Maurice Jones-Drew, Jordan Todman and Justin Forsett saw the field before him. Based on what Robinson did when he got opportunities, though, it seems his hand trouble was likely the biggest reason he didn't get more touches.
Even though it took an injury to Toby Gerhart to get Robinson his first career 20-plus-carry game, Robinson had been the team's most impressive running back to start this season.
The former Michigan signal-caller has always been viewed as an electric talent with the ability to create space and big plays from anywhere on the field, but his all-around effectiveness was a concern. Nobody knew if Robinson could run routes, catch the football, pass block or be a natural between-the-tackles runner when he was drafted.
At this stage, many of those things are still unclear, but Robinson has proved that he is a natural running back.
With someone of Robinson's talent, big plays are always going to come. He is too elusive, too quick and has too much acceleration not to take advantage of space when it is readily available. The question mark for him is how he does when he has to create and find that space between the tackles.
It's important to use Robinson correctly, and the Jaguars appear to be doing that. The best runs to give him are those that send him off tackle with the offensive line moving in space. That should offer him cutback opportunities.
That's what happened in this play early against the Browns.
The Jaguars don't have a strong offensive line, but their biggest problems occur on the interior. Therefore, running outside is preferable for the offense as a whole, not just Robinson.
At the snap, the Browns edge defender crashes inside when Robinson is given the ball running to his side of the field. Robinson immediately recognizes this and continues his trajectory toward the sideline instead of running to the middle of the field.
Importantly, Robinson keeps his eyes up when moving to the outside, and he doesn't completely commit to that direction.
This becomes significant because the edge-rusher spins back to the outside and is in position to tackle him at the line of scrimmage if he aggressively runs outside. Instead of doing that, Robinson is able to recognize his positioning in relation to his blocker to cut back infield.
Robinson doesn't get a clean running lane, but he puts his head down and powers his way forward for a five-yard gain.
This kind of play isn't spectacular, but it's still a very important one for a back of Robinson's style. He is never going to be a runner who takes 20-plus carries between his guards and overpowers the defense. Instead he needs to be smart at exploiting space and reading his blocks on the outside.
On this play, Robinson showed off that understanding, which gave him five yards on 1st-and-10. If he had stayed outside to try to get a big play, he would likely have gained just one or two yards. And that is presuming he could gain forward momentum against the bigger defender.
Even though Robinson won't be a bell cow between the tackles, he is aggressive and smart enough to exploit space between the tackles when his offensive line executes.
For his longest play of the day we saw that.
As shown above, Robinson is lined up in the backfield alongside quarterback Blake Bortles late in the first quarter on 1st-and-10. The Browns haven't crowded the line of scrimmage or dropped a safety into the box, so they don't have a numbers advantage up the middle.
When the Jaguars give Robinson the ball, their offensive line is able to double-team the Browns' two defensive linemen. Robinson doesn't take the ball on a delay; instead he is reading the defense from the snap and attacking it immediately.
Because Robinson had his eyes up and is proving himself to be a smart runner, he was able to very quickly decide to cut back. Robinson locates the space over the middle of the field where he has two offensive linemen engaged with two defenders.
He has multiple running lanes to attack but again needs to read his blockers' movements against their assignments.
The blocker closest to Robinson pushes his defender farther across the field, giving the ball-carrier the chance to attack the running lane between the two defenders. Robinson accelerates through the lane but doesn't get through cleanly.
John Hughes, No. 93 on the outside, gets a hand to Robinson, but the running back is strong enough to slap it away while maintaining his balance. Robinson advances to the second level before evading the initial defender in space and running down the seam for a 20-yard gain.
Robinson didn't force this big play. He followed his blocking, read the defense and relied on his athleticism to highlight the space that was already there. This seems simple, but for a player with limited experience at the running back position, it's still very impressive.
Many more experienced, explosive backs will be too tempted to run outside where the space is typically available.
A running back who looks for the big play on every snap is like a cornerback who looks for an interception on every target. At times it'll work, and it will be great. But the best cornerbacks understand they can't give up touchdowns and big plays for rare turnovers.
The best runners understand that every play can only go so far, so they focus on reading situations rather than looking for big gains.
While the Browns defense didn't provide the Jaguars running game with significant resistant, it's more important to examine Robinson's traits moving forward rather than the specific situations he was in during this matchup. His most impressive trait is quite clearly his comfort.
On this play, Robinson is going to create 13 yards with his quickness, acceleration and understanding of how to set up his blocks. He is initially given the ball running off left tackle once again, but this time the defender has immediately set the edge outside.
Robinson doesn't waste any time reacting to that defender's positioning.
Instead of making one hard cut or hesitating to make his read, Robinson swerves his way inside of the edge defender before turning back toward the sideline once he reached the line of scrimmage. Robinson created a free running lane to the sideline, where he was put in space with another blocker out in front.
That blocker was engaged with a defender, whom Robinson drew toward the middle of the field with a hard step before turning back to the sideline for a first down.
Regardless of the quality of the defense, the comfort that Robinson showed off here was very impressive. The combination of his physical talent and his intelligence allowed him to very quickly diagnose the play before exploiting the space available.
These are the kinds of runs Robinson can build a long, productive career off.
Of course, he will also need to prove his ability as a receiver and pass-blocker over a longer stretch to really provide an idea of his potential. For now, though, Robinson and Storm Johnson are the future of the Jaguars' backfield rather than the Toby Gerhart-Jordan Todman combination.
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