Alabama DT A'Shawn Robinson Can Fill Valuable NFL Niche as 3-4 Defensive End
The 2016 NFL draft is rapidly approaching, as there are less than three weeks remaining before NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell takes the stage to announce the first round of the event. Drama and shock are guaranteed, as predictability is thrown out of the window once teams are on the clock to make a decision. Who lands where can ultimately lead to a successful career or set the player and team on a path for failure.
Ideally, coaches would be able to take in any talent and maximize his strengths to the fullest potential. This is often easier said than done, though, since players must complement one another in a repeatable scheme. Otherwise, there would be too much chaos to rein in to form an effective unit.
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It’s not uncommon for individuals to need a certain role to excel. Almost all NFL players benefit from this, with the most elite being somewhat scheme-transcendent. Those players are few and far above the average NFL talent spectrum.
One player who needs a defined role is Alabama star defensive tackle A’Shawn Robinson. He has been highly lauded throughout his athletic career and is now considered one of the best NFL prospects in this class. But unless he’s drafted into the right role and utilized properly, his career may not come to fruition as expected.
The bar was set high for Robinson from the jump, as he was rated as a 5-star high school prospect by 247Sports. He was ranked as the fourth-best player in the country in the class of 2013. Upon arriving at Alabama, he followed in the footsteps of current Buffalo Bills defensive tackle Marcell Dareus and immediately earned the starting job.
His success as a freshman suggested he’d fulfill the expectation set forth by his recruiting ranking. He notched 5.5 sacks, which stands as his career high. The last two seasons he played in a 4-3 front more than ever, and it caused a dip in his pass-rush production.
His lowered statistics are an indicator that Alabama realized he wasn’t the next Dareus. Instead of using him as a primary pass-rusher along the four-man front, the team employed him and Jarran Reed as gap-eaters for the edge players. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing to say about Robinson, although it should affect his draft value since he doesn’t bring premium talent to the position.
Robinson is receiving unanimous first-round projections from NFL.com analysts. The highest landing spot comes via NFL.com’s Charley Casserly, who has Robinson mocked 11th overall.
According to Pro Football Focus, Robinson was one of the best run-stuffers in the country the last two seasons. In 2014, he finished fourth in the site's grading; in 2015, he was 11th.
At 6’4”, 307 pounds, Robinson is not an interior pass-rusher. His skill set as a run-stopper who uses his length and excellent strength effectively makes him the ideal 5-technique in a 3-4 or 4-3 under defense. His usage is comparable to that of former Seattle Seahawks defensive end Red Bryant, who was an unconventional end who ate blocks on the edge to open space for outside linebackers to attack the line of scrimmage.
This takes some projection to reach this opinion. I charted six Alabama games in 2015 to see where Robinson was lining up pre-snap and gain some context on his production. The goal was also to see whether he has any upside as a pass-rusher.
The results were mixed, with the positives almost exclusively coming on run plays. Robinson’s upright nature makes it difficult for him to win the leverage battle. He got away with this sloppy technique at times, but the NFL will punish him if he does not improve.
| Opponent | Opponent Passing Attempts | Quarterback Pressures |
| Texas A&M | 45 | 0 |
| Wisconsin | 39 | 2 |
| Georgia | 31 | 1 |
| Tennessee | 22 | 2 |
| LSU | 19 | 2 |
| Clemson | 47 | 1 |
Above is a breakdown of the six games, including the total passing plays and how many times he affected the quarterback in the pocket. It’s alarming that his best outing featured just two quarterback pressures. In an example comparison, Mississippi State’s Chris Jones logged nine pressures in his matchup against Missouri.
Dominance should be expected from players who are thought to be first-round defensive linemen.
The flashes of a legitimate interior rusher often indicated a more limited player than someone with upside, even if he corrects his leverage issue. On the play above, Robinson catches the Tennessee blocker with his head down, so he wisely avoids initiating contact and runs around him. He had an open-field chance at quarterback Joshua Dobbs, who easily avoided his lunging tackle attempt.
His inability to finish in space is a constant problem and highlights a limited athlete. Robinson confirmed this suspicion at the NFL Scouting Combine. According to Mock Draftable, he ranked in the bottom 42 percent of all defensive tackles since 1999 in every athletic test except the broad jump. His closest athletic comparisons are Deandre Coleman and Cedric Thornton.
Like Coleman and Thornton, Robinson’s best position is at 5-technique. But both players were valued much lower than Robinson throughout their own draft processes and went undrafted.
This isn’t to say they should have been undrafted. On the contrary, there’s considerable value to what these players and Robinson bring to a defense. The Dallas Cowboys recently rewarded Thornton with a four-year, $17 million contract.
Similar to Thornton, Robinson is excellent at executing what he does best. It’s not attractive to watch a nose tackle in a 4-3 or end in a 3-4 crash to demand two blockers, but the play above illustrates the benefit of having a capable two-gapping presence. Creating isolated situations for edge-rushers is what allowed Crimson Tide defenders such as Tim Williams and Jonathan Allen to tally a combined 22.5 sacks in 2015.
On his own, Robinson won’t create much push. He maintains more than he penetrates. This stems from his lack of pass-rush moves and also limited explosiveness off the snap.
As a 5-technique, Robinson consistently sets the edge and forces running backs to reconsider their plan of action. His best game of 2015 came against LSU, when star running back Leonard Fournette had nowhere to run all game long. He finished with just 31 yards on 19 carries in the first of two games where he finished with less than 100 yards.
Robinson’s ability to extend his 34-inch arms with power and control a restricted area to manipulate the ball-carrier is critical. Since he’s not a legitimate impact player in the passing game, he has to be a rock along the defensive front. To his credit, not many backs were able to get to his outside shoulder and turn the corner.
Robinson offers at least two-down value. The question is what to do with him as the NFL continues to rely on sub-packages. Passing the ball is proving to be hyper-efficient, and NFL defenses played with five or more defensive backs 63.4 percent of the time in 2015, per Pro Football Focus via The MMQB’s Peter King.
Where would Robinson be valued if he wasn’t from Alabama’s storied program? His role is usually reserved for the middle rounds of the draft. According to Lance Zierlein of NFL.com, he played just 57 percent of all snaps. Part-time players who cannot contribute in the most important phase of the game (pass defense) should not cost a premium pick.
A first-round grade on Robinson could lead to great disappointment, as he’s not the type to put up Pro Bowl-caliber statistics. With the proper expectations on him and the right scheme fit, he could last a decade or more in the NFL. Just don’t ask him to be the next Aaron Donald or Gerald McCoy.
All stats used are from Sports-Reference.com.
Ian Wharton is an NFL Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report.
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