Josh Robinson, on his growing pains

[dead_poet]

http://espn.go.com/blog/minnesota-vikin ... um=twitter

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers targeted Robinson nine times on Sunday, according to Pro Football Focus, and hit on eight throws for 81 yards and a touchdown.

He has allowed 50 catches in 56 targets, according to Pro Football Focus, and quarterbacks are 38-for-40 for 426 yards against him in the slot, with 276 of those yards coming after the catch.

[Funkytown]

If this is all that it takes, I think I can play in the NFL.

Unreal.

[VikingPaul73]

If this is all that it takes, I think I can play in the NFL.

Unreal.

hahaha good one. Seriously, I wonder, what is the average completion percentage between a QB and a WR during practice drills with NO defense....maybe just a couple of tackle dummies out there for the WR to run around. It CAN'T be much better than 50/56!!!!

So how much is he getting paid per incompletion!!??

But seriously, I was nervous about this during training camp when Josh Robinson himself was stating that he didn't feel comfortable in the slot, NEVER in his career at any level in his career has ever played the slot, he feels out of place in the slot, etc. etc. Didn't that raise some red flags with the coaching staff???

[Just Me]

If this is all that it takes, I think I can play in the NFL.

Unreal.

Well... You'd only give up 6 more passes than Robinson at worst. So, when is your tryout?

[Funkytown]

Well... You'd only give up 6 more passes than Robinson at worst. So, when is your tryout?

Exactly. I couldn't do much worse. I'd much rather play offense, though. I'm only 5'0. I think I could make some plays on all those throws into the ground we've seen over the past few years with our awesome quarterbacks. But really, if it's planned and done correctly, you can't defend that low pass that the receiver basically falls to the ground to catch it. Let's do it in the end zone! I'm ready!

[Reignman]

That's just atrocious. And he has what, only 3 passes defended all year too? Although I don't remember any of them. Allen, KW, and Fred Evans each of 3 passes defended on the D-line. It appears all our DB's suck except Smith. Our secondary has sucked for a very long time. Someone tell me again how it's not coaching or scheme? I mean is it possible to draft this many busts at DB?

13 passes defended by our secondary this year (by comparison the D-line has 12).

3 Sherels
3 Robinson
3 Smith
2 Cook
2 Rhodes
0 Blanton
0 Sendejo
0 Sanford
0 Raymond
0 Jefferson

Yay cover 2. If you rank CB's by passes defended, 3 would put you at 67th in the league. That's right, our starting CB's rank behind other teams bench players when it comes to knocking down passes. And when you consider our defense is on the field a league worst 35 minutes per game, and only 4 teams have allowed more pass attempts per game (40), the futility is magnified. That's a lot of opportunities to knock down passes to be this bad.

[Hunter Morrow]

None of our secondary has any field awareness nor do they make plays on the ball or get their hands up in the air to block
stuff that is going to the end zone. Nobody. Not only that, they started the season catching INTs and now they're dropping
sure fire pick 6s at least twice a game.

Hey, you wanna ring up 250 yards and 2 touchdowns on the Vikings? Find Robinson and Cook and target them 10 times a piece. There ya go.

38/40, more than 10 yards a pass in the slot for Robinson. There is growing pains and then is objectively being the worst slot
defensive player in the freaking league.

Going from Winfield to Robinson is like going from Superman to Jimmy Olsen.
And I wanted Winfield cut! God, do I feel stupid!

[Just Me]

Going from Winfield to Robinson is like going from Superman to Jimmy Olsen.
And I wanted Winfield cut! God, do I feel stupid!

I still think Olsen can cover better than Robinson at this point.

[majorm]

I was nervous about this during training camp when Josh Robinson himself was stating that he didn't feel comfortable in the slot, NEVER in his career at any level in his career has ever played the slot, he feels out of place in the slot, etc. etc. Didn't that raise some red flags with the coaching staff???

It's becoming more and more apparent to me that this coaching staff does not get high marks for putting their players in the best position to succeed. I don't think JR is the only square peg they're trying to fit in a round hole.

[Mothman]

It's becoming more and more apparent to me that this coaching staff does not get high marks for putting their players in the best position to succeed. I don't think JR is the only square peg they're trying to fit in a round hole.

Who is the "round peg" that should be playing in the slot?

[The Breeze]

To me, this is the biggest disconnect(cutting Winfield) between the FO and coaching staff this year and where the ship got off course.

I was taught to believe that CB was the most physically difficult/demanding position in the game....guys like Michael Haynes and Lester Hayes were worth their weight in gold.

Then Chris Collinsworth says on Sunday night that Slot-corner is the most difficult CB position to play.

Looking at the way this defense has suffered from a complete lack of onfield leadership from the LBs on back...and knowing that Fraizer understands all of the above, as well as how important Winfield was as the QB of the entire defense, there is no way I would ever believe that he was for cutting AW or even consulted on the matter.

When you watch how smart QBs have moved the ball on this team with underneath stuff and how that has pushed the issue with coverage and more blitzing, which has led to more big plays opening up due to the fact that they get no pressure up front, it's pretty easy to see how much they miss him due to his abilities and leadership back there,. He pretty much had mastered his position in this system....plus he knew where other guys should be and had the competence to call a friggin timeout if need be.

He helped in the run game too.... a lot.

The fact that all the reports on the situation say that Spielman never even talked to Winfield about sticking with the team screams about how clueless he was to the specific role Winfield play and how impactful he was. It was all about money and it was a stupid move IMO.

Hindsight and whatever....now he has thrown money at a QB WITH A MENTAL IMBALANCE hoping that he will be the leader of this entire team. Absolutely mind bottling....(yes I know what I typed)

All the emPHAsis on the wrong sylLAble.....spending money and energy on weapons at the expense of the foundation as well as drafting guys who don't fit this system expecting them to replace, in short order, guys who have mastered it. They are not on the same page......

Hopefully we draft another TE and resign Fusco and Johnson to mutli-year deals this offseason.

[Funkytown]

Hopefully we draft another TE and resign Fusco and Johnson to mutli-year deals this offseason.

Yesss!

Wait...are you serious?

[S197]

Who is the "round peg" that should be playing in the slot?

The guy has gotten a lot of heat in the past but I think Sherels should be given the slot. When he's come in on reserve duty he's more than held his own. He's very unlikely to be the long-term answer but when you have someone performing this badly, I think you need to start looking at other options. This doesn't mean you have to give up on Robinson, it's a transition going from outside to inside, but he can learn some of that transition on the practice field, it doesn't have to be getting burned week in and week out on gameday.

[PurpleMustReign]

[The guy has gotten a lot of heat in the past but I think Sherels should be given the slot. When he's come in on reserve duty he's more than held his own. He's very unlikely to be the long-term answer but when you have someone performing this badly, I think you need to start looking at other options. This doesn't mean you have to give up on Robinson, it's a transition going from outside to inside, but he can learn some of that transition on the practice field, it doesn't have to be getting burned week in and week out on gameday.

Robinson, like Ponder, will never be benched with this coaching staff. I agree that SOMEONE else on the team should be put in the slot, but nooo-ooo... we have to keep our gys in there so they won't get their feelings hurt.

[mondry]

Robinson, like Ponder, will never be benched with this coaching staff. I agree that SOMEONE else on the team should be put in the slot, but nooo-ooo... we have to keep our gys in there so they won't get their feelings hurt.

It's true that it's very frustrating from a fan perspective and I even agree the guy can learn in a back up role rather than being forced the starter but that's the way the coaches have decided to approach this rebuilding process.

The problem I have is actually a bit different, and it's that they're inconsistent. Robinson and Ponder have to learn on the field as the de facto unquestioned starters, but Patterson, floyd, rhodes, sherels, etc have to come off the bench.

IMO, it seems to be one of two things, either we want to try and win as much as possible in which you play Cassel, Rhodes, Sherels, kevin williams and Patterson (the best players) or it's all about the rebuild and developing young players at all costs for the future. Right now it just feels like a weird mix of "we're starting these guys cause they give us the best chance to win but then we're starting these other guys like Ponder / Freeman / Robinson because the future is all that matters."