Chiefs Hidden Gem: Demarcus Robinson
In 2016, when talking “coverage” there’s no one who stands out more than rookie Demarcus Robinson. Yes, he’s drawn a couple of flags this year but his speed and ability to get down on coverage is uncanny. Here’s a picture of Robinson covering a punt against the Indianapolis Colts.
Robinson beats his man in the first 15 to 20 yards. At the 25 yard line his man is trying to reach out to hold him back but at 6-foot-1 inches tall and 203 pounds of quick-twitch muscle, Robinson is no contest for this Colts defender.
Demarcus was the 126th pick in this years NFL draft and the Kansas City Chiefs 3rd pick of the 4th round behind LG Parker Ehinger, 105, and DB Eric Murray, 106. He was suspended four times while playing for the Florida Gators and while he’s one of the players who were a surprise pick in that he was one of the players with question marks next to his name that the Chiefs drafted, he has shown an obvious talent for getting free and covering punt returners and kick coverage in general.
The reason(s) that Demarcus Robinson appears to be vanquished to the outer realms of Special Teams coverage likely has to do with his needing to establish trust through consistency on the field. However, with WR Albert Wilson’s rancid 2016 performance so far this season (1.7 catches per game with a 7.8 yards per catch average, and he’s ranked the 104th best WR by PFF, which is worse than pathetic considering he was supposed to compete for the Chiefs #2 WR position this year), so it’s easy to project Robinson to his position… eventually… but probably not until 2017.
There’s no way to quantify the impact that a tackle causing a fumble has on the rest of a team but that’s exactly what Demarcus Robinson provided his teammates with seen in the following picture:
In the face of a game which provided a number of questionable hits by the Indianapolis Colts, Robinson shows here how to play the game the right way, and he produces results by doing that. No, the Chiefs didn’t recover this fumble but you have to be excited about the way Demarcus goes low to grab a leg and just so happens to get his helmet on the ball helping to jar it loose in the process. Robinson could have lit him up by planting his helmet in Ferguson’s chest (or hitting under the chin illegally) but instead, he went for a sure-fire technique that will produce a tackle… and possibly a turnover. It’s also a plus because you have to assume that special teams coach Dave Toub taught him these techniques and any player who is “teachable” is going to move up the ranks… which is exactly what I’d like to see with Demarcus Robinson.
Getting a release from a couple of blockers at the line of scrimmage is a skill that’s equatable to getting separation while running a route. So, things are looking up for Demarcus Robinson and we can only hope he’s “looking up” only to have a few passes fall in his lap… very, very soon.
What do you think Chiefs fans? Anyone else as excited about Demarcus Robinson’s potential as I am?.