The 2024 NFL Draft is getting close, making it an excellent time to highlight some of the class' best players with scouting reports. Each report will include strengths, weaknesses and background information.
Here's our report on Darius Robinson.
Darius Robinson 2024 NFL COMBINE RESULTS
- Height: 6-foot-5 1/8"
- Weight: 285
- 40-yard dash: 4.95
- 10-yard split: 1.73
- Vertical jump: 35"
- Broad jump: 9-foot-3
- Arm length: 34 1/2"
Darius Robinson 2024 NFL DRAFT SCOUTING REPORT
STRENGTHS
- Big man with outstanding length and physical measurables
- Played to his strength with jarring power in his hands
- Powerful man who consistently generated forceful separation from blockers with hand strikes and leg drive
- Strong point-of-attack defender in the run game while using his hands to jar and disengage; took on pulling offensive linemen with short-area power
- There were run-game snaps in which his hand strength and arm extension allowed him to instantly control and displace offensive tackles
- Generated strength and power in confined space to control offensive tackles then played off contact with short-area quickness
- Flashed some burst off the ball as a pass rusher with enough quickness to counter inside working underneath the tackle
- Power rusher with strength in his hands and arms to drive back offensive linemen, and he locked out with extension to keep his legs clean
- Pass-rush snaps in which he got inside the tackle and drove him back into the pocket
- Power and force are his best rush traits.
- Showed effective rip move as a pass rusher, and he deployed the move off contact to work half a man and gain leverage
- Worked half a man effectively as pass rusher, using natural strength to drive through inside or outside shoulder
- Showed functional short-area burst and enough body flexibility to be effective as the looper in a tackle-end stunt game
- Outstanding playing personality with a relentless motor. Also a high-level competitor who always fought through contact
WEAKNESSES
- There’s some stiffness and tightness to his movement, and he looks labored at times. A big man but not fluid or quick
- Will not challenge the edge-outside shoulder of offensive tackles with burst or speed off the ball and is not flexible to be a bender
- There were power pass-rush snaps he got stuck on the tackle and could not play off contact effectively, lacks needed hip flexibility
- Limited pass rush at this point, relying almost exclusively on power and force, and needs more moves and counters
- The question is whether he can add meaningfully to pass rush arsenal given that he lacks hip and core flexibility
NFL TRANSITION
Robinson’s size, physical traits and country strength are very reminiscent of the old-school strong side DE in 4-3 under-over fronts with his power capacity and lock-out strength two of his most defining traits. Robinson is a big man with outstanding length and mass throughout his body and his game reflects those physical attributes with strong hands and arm extension to lock out two of the most critical traits in his arsenal.
What consistently stood out watching Robinson’s tape was his strength-power generation in confined space to control offensive tackles and then his short-area twitch and quickness to play off contact and make plays in the run game.
As a pass rusher, Robinson was a power player who generated speed and velocity off the snap and then used his strong hands and body power to bull rush tackles and drive them back into the pocket or some cases right to the ground. Robinson’s tape reveals there is much more to unleash as he continues to develop with coaching and experience at the next level. The bottom line is that his game is based on strength and power, and while he can add better technique and more moves and counters as a pass rusher, he will not become an explosive bend-the-edge, flatten-his-rush-path athlete.
Robinson likely projects and transitions best to the next level as a strong side defensive end in a 4-3 defensive front or a 3-technique/4i/5-technique in a five-man front with the strong likelihood that he would be reduced inside as a defensive tackle in a four-man pass-rush front.
Is there a comparison to be made to Cam Jordan? Can Robinson become that kind of player as he grows and develops? Can he stay outside as a DE even in pass run fronts? Is Denico Autry a better NFL comparison, the kind of player who can play both outside and inside depending on the front and the other personnel?
OTHER NOTES
Robinson played five years at Missouri with 30 total starts. In 2023 he was First-Team All-SEC with 8.5 sacks and 14 tackles-for-loss.
Robinson lined up in multiple positions in Missouri’s defensive front depending on personnel and down and distance. He was a wide defensive end pass rusher in four-man fronts and at times lined up inside at 3-technique and 4i in 5 man fronts.
Against Georgia, he had a third-down snap in which he lined up as a standup Joker off the ball in the middle of the defense. His sack vs. Georgia is a defining snapshot of what Robinson is as an edge pass rusher: Burst off the ball.
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