Wan'Dale Robinson (UK Athletics Photo)
A few weeks ago on WLAP Sunday Morning Sports I asked former Kentucky all-SEC running back Anthony White if he thought UK junior receiver Wan’Dale Robinson was ready for the NFL.
“He does seem a better route runner than Randall Cobb. I just want him to have a little more polished season before he leaves,” said White. “I would like to see the UK offense grow. If he comes back and the young talent UK has and is getting produces, he might get more one-on-one chances and put up even bigger numbers and move into the first or second rounds (of the NFL draft).”
Now Robinson has 31 catches in the last three games, including 13 for 166 yards and one score in the 45-42 loss to Tennessee last week when he was targeted 18 times.
Offensive coordinator Liam Coen admits Robinson is even better than he anticipated after he transferred to UK from Nebraska.
“When I first got to talk to him, I knew he was a different kid in his ability to have upper-level conversations about football,” Coen, who came to UK from the Los Angeles Rams, said. “He is a total gym rat.”
He’s also tougher physically than Coen and others expected.
“He has exceeded expectations because of his toughness,” Robinson said. “He is cracking on safeties, laying out (for catches), getting whacked (by defenders). He is a total competitor.
“When he showed up from Nebraska I knew he was not soft if they were putting him in the backfield. We did not go live (with tackling) in the spring (practice) and I did not know what type of dog he is.”
Robinson has become such a “dog” that he has a chance to be UK’s first 1,000-yard receiver in a season since Randall Cobb in 2010 and just the sixth Kentucky receiver ever to do that. Robinson has 71 catches for 825 yards —11.6 per catch — and six touchdowns in nine games with three regular-season games and one bowl game left.
Craig Yeast had 1,311 yards receiving in 1998 — still the most in UK history. The only other receivers with 1,000 yards in one season are Stevie Johnson (1,041 in 2007), Keenan Burton (1,036 in 2006), James Whalen (1,019 in 1999), and Cobb (1,017 in 2010).
Only five times has a UK receiver caught more than 71 passes in a season — Whalen, 90, 1999; Yeast, 85, 1998; Cobb, 84, 2010; Anthony White, 78, 1998; and Yeast, 73; 1997.
Coen said Robinson is a much better route runner than he anticipated.
Not a lot of routes he can’t run that he is not successful with,” Coen said.
The offensive coordinator said the goal against Tennessee was not for Robinson to be targeted 19 times.
“The ball just finds him. Other guys contributed (against Tennessee), but ultimately our dog made plays,” Coen said.
2 Responses
The ball finds him because he gets open and he catches the ball. The other receivers should take note. Kentucky has a lot of recruiting work to do. Receivers and defensive secondary talent is badly needed.
Ditto.