Greg Robinson still awaiting his opportunity --Wagoner

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RamBill

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Greg Robinson still awaiting his opportunity
By Nick Wagoner

http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/12455/greg-robinson-still-awaiting-his-opportunity

EARTH CITY, Mo. -- The first quarter of St. Louis Rams offensive lineman Greg Robinson's rookie season has passed. But if you're looking to assign him a grade, you'd probably have to go with an "I." As in incomplete.

That's because Robinson, the No. 2 overall pick in May's draft, remains stuck in a reserve role when it comes to offense. Most of his contributions have come while blocking on special teams. Through four games, Robinson has played just 10 snaps on offense, filling in briefly for Rodger Saffold in the opener against Minnesota.

After another rough day at the office for the offensive line against Philadelphia last week -- especially in the first half -- it's left many to wonder why Robinson isn't getting an opportunity to at least get some work in games.

Since the Rams drafted Robinson, it's been well known that it would take him some time to get used to pass blocking at the NFL level, but the Rams did him no favors by having him bounce between tackle and guard throughout the preseason. Robinson is still going back and forth during practice.

When asked about Robinson's progress earlier this week, coach Jeff Fisher gave his standard response.

“Greg just needs to keep doing what he’s doing," Fisher said. "He’s gotten much better over the last couple of weeks. He’s got a good feel for both of the positions. And just keep learning, working. He’s working hard on the practice field.”

The question then becomes when that hard work on the practice field will translate into actual playing time on Sundays. Considering the injury histories of four of the Rams' starting offensive line linemen -- tackle Jake Long, guards Saffold and Davin Joseph and center Scott Wells -- it would seem entirely possible that Robinson will get his chance at some point.

But that's not really the point. Joseph has mostly struggled in the first four games, failing to provide consistency in pass protection and not generating much push in the run game. For what it's worth, Pro Football Focus has Joseph down for allowing one sack, six quarterback hits and eight quarterback hurries in the first four games, not to mention three penalties (one offsetting).

If they wanted, the Rams could easily plug Robinson in at left guard and kick Saffold over to right guard in place of Joseph. Or, barring that, they could at least get Robinson in the game as part of a rotation, something they were willing to do last year at times.

Even if you operate under the assumption that Robinson will have his share of hiccups, especially as a pass blocker -- and he will -- why not get him in there to take some lumps while also adding a player who might be able to help the run game somewhere else besides the left side? If both Joseph and Robinson are going to have issues protecting quarterback Austin Davis, wouldn't it be worth seeing if Robinson can provide more punch in the run game?

The Rams are about to enter the teeth of their schedule with physical matchups against San Francisco and Seattle over the next two weeks. Robinson was drafted for just these types of games. But he can't help the Rams stare down the neighborhood bullies if he's not allowed to leave the house.
 

LACHAMP46

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My thoughts exactly...These types of games...not worried yet, but concerned....I'd be lying if I said NO.....
 

RamzFanz

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Yep. Time to let him play. We need something to spark the run game and the o-line
 

Ballhawk

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At this point any one would be better than Joseph. At least GRob would be able to block at least half of the time.
 

theramsruleUK

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Completely unacceptable that he isn't playing. I put this mainly on our coaching staff inability to keep the young man in 1 damn position.

He was suspect in pass pro already, lock him in at left guard from the start of TC and he's good to go. Why confuse him by switching him all over the bloody line.
This franchise needs to win now. No more project players that take years to bloom. It's obviously reasonable to assume that rookies will take time to adjust, but to have your no2 pick riding the bench is totally stupid

Step up GRob, we need you urgently :)
 

OC_Ram

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Mathews with the bloodline will be a career olineman. Grob was unnecessary risk at #2.
 
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I remember in wood work (or wood technology as we called it) at the age of around 13 I hadn't done any of the homework set for about a month, I got sent to the head of year with a note reading R&G's work is outstanding, I remember thinking "that's rather kind considering I haven't done any" so so far Robinson gets an outstanding from me.
 

thirteen28

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Completely unacceptable that he isn't playing. I put this mainly on our coaching staff inability to keep the young man in 1 damn position.

He was suspect in pass pro already, lock him in at left guard from the start of TC and he's good to go. Why confuse him by switching him all over the bloody line.
This franchise needs to win now. No more project players that take years to bloom. It's obviously reasonable to assume that rookies will take time to adjust, but to have your no2 pick riding the bench is totally stupid

Step up GRob, we need you urgently :)

My sentiments exactly. They knew it would take time for him to adjust to the pro game, so why throw so much at him at once? I would have rather just had him focus on G and get reps there where he could get used to the speed of the game. He could work on learning OT next offseason. This is the number one reason he hasn't seen the field yet, and it could be delaying his long term development while hurting the team in the short term.
 

Sum1

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No guys...this is a good thing that he isn't playing. It means we are so good on the offensive line that we don't need to start the number 2 overall pick.

Or so I was told.

:(
 

12intheBox

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Xavier Su'a-Filo is getting abused tonight in his first action w the Texans.

Not that that has anything to do w this - but it's true.

I want to see G Rob play so badly - but I can be patient if I absolutely have to be.

After all, Brian Quick.
 

Elmgrovegnome

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So far Robinson is looking like a hinge reach at 2. I wanted the more polished Matthews. I wish Martin was there for the Ravens trade because rounds 2 and 3 look like wasted picks at this point. Martin at ORG would be sweet right now. The Rams would not miss Joyner and trading away the second rounder to move up possibly pushes the third rounder into a DB pick.

Anyway, it is frustrating to see two of the top three picks riding the pine and the other one miscast in his role on the field. I'd like a do over.
 

Merlin

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Just wait until the staff feels he's ready. They're undoubtedly running him through drills in pass blocking to ensure he's not a liability, and I am certain as soon as he's ready they'll start working him in.

If he's too raw, he actually can do worse than Joseph. Joseph is bottom 5 or so supposedly, however there's still room to do worse. Plus throwing him out there before he's ready can potentially stall his development if his confidence suffers.

Just trust the staff on this one, IMO. Six weeks from now he's probably gonna be out there coming into his own or playing downright well, and folks will forget about all the "OMG he's a bust as a second overall pick" silliness.
 

DaveFan'51

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My thoughts exactly...These types of games...not worried yet, but concerned....I'd be lying if I said NO.....
Me too Bro, BUT, I just keep telling myself 'It's just pre-Monday Night Football, against th49ers, Jitters!!' Have Faith in Fisher, and keep a bottle of this Medicine Handy..
1208.jpg
 

SaneRamsFan

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This has just been a weird season. Between all the Mike Sam drama, Sam Bradford going down for the season, the losses, the inability for the top draft picks to make any kind of contribution (other than Donald). Throw in all the LA rumors and the refusal of the FO to give any kind of denial to the rumors-and what you have is a situation where it's difficult to be a Rams fan. But beating the no good stinking arse sucking whiners would change all that at least for a while. Go Rams
 

RamzFanz

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I remember in wood work (or wood technology as we called it) at the age of around 13 I hadn't done any of the homework set for about a month, I got sent to the head of year with a note reading R&G's work is outstanding, I remember thinking "that's rather kind considering I haven't done any" so so far Robinson gets an outstanding from me.

Like my grandma always told me, if you don't try, you can't fail.
 

Ballhawk

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I want to see G Rob play so badly - but I can be patient if I absolutely have to be.

Yeah, instead we get to watch Joseph play so badly. I'd rather see GRob get game experience instead of watching a joke of a veteran screw up play after play.
 

VegasRam

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So far Robinson is looking like a hinge reach at 2. I wanted the more polished Matthews. I wish Martin was there for the Ravens trade because rounds 2 and 3 look like wasted picks at this point. Martin at ORG would be sweet right now. The Rams would not miss Joyner and trading away the second rounder to move up possibly pushes the third rounder into a DB pick.

Anyway, it is frustrating to see two of the top three picks riding the pine and the other one miscast in his role on the field. I'd like a do over.

Hindsight is such a wonderful thing. Appropriate as well given your avatar.
Funny enough, haven't seen any Quick haters around for awhile now. :huh:
 

Elmgrovegnome

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Hindsight is such a wonderful thing. Appropriate as well given your avatar.
Funny enough, haven't seen any Quick haters around for awhile now. :huh:

Is it hindsight or is it actually foresight? I didn't advocate taking Robinson at #2. I thought he was too raw and never proved he could actually pass block. There was a lot of risk there. I wasn't a fan of Joyner either for that matter. If it was hindsight wouldn't that be on the part of people who actually wanted the players to begin with?

Either way I hope I am wrong and the two of them become stars in short order. I don't mind being wrong and in this case I would hate to be right.

But lets take the case of Brian Quick, since you broght him up, and compare it to other second round picks where you get instant production. Lets use Alshon Jeffrey for instance. For the record I didn't want Jeffrey. The out of shape/doesn't like to practice stuff turned me off. I know that all second rounders don't pan out btw. Say Jeffrey and Quick both are productive for the next 10 years. That means the Rams lost two years on the player, which is significant unless Quick becomes noticeably better than Jeffrey. Ron Bartell took too long to reach the potential that the Rams saw in him and it didn't last that long due to his injury. I don't usually like projects in the first two rounds. I was not particularly against Quick though because you could see potential when he did make plays.