Commanders 2022 UDFA spotlight: Tyrese Robinson

Washington currently has 14 UDFAs and a pair of 7th round drafted rookies on the roster, but that list of players is subject to a lot of change. In previous years, we’ve put together profiles of players only to see them cut by the team a day before the profile was set to publish (or a day after it did publish). In fact, in just the 4 weeks or so that followed the 2022 draft, we saw a lot of churn in this part of the roster among both UDFAs and veteran free agents.

These articles about the bottom-of-the-roster players are not intended to suggest that any given player is bound for glory; rather, the articles are intended to celebrate the ongoing fight of each player to extend his NFL dream.

For those of you who appreciate the fight of the underdog, I hope you enjoy today’s article and the others that will follow in this “2022 UDFA Spotlight” series.

Tyrese Robinson, Offensive Line, Oklahoma

I enjoyed this quote from Simon Carroll, Head Of NFL Draft Content at Touchdown.com:

Watching Tyrese Robinson is a hell of a lot of fun. A true tone setter on the Sooners o-line, Robinson is a guy who helps establish a dominant culture within a group, and backs it up on the field with a no holds barred approach to winning in the trenches. Robinson comes with obvious limitations; he’s not the most agile and despite having experience on the outside will be playing guard at the next level. He stands to get better quickly if he can channel his aggression and play a little more controlled, improving his footwork and positioning as a result. But ultimately he looks to be a backup in the NFL whose sheer enthusiasm to go and hit someone into submission will rub off on his teammates.

Robinson is 6’3”, and the Commanders website lists him at 324 pounds. At Oklahoma, Robinson started at right guard for two seasons before 2021, when Robinson made the move to right tackle to help coaches put the best five linemen on the field. In his new role, he started all 13 games and earned Second-Team All-Big 12 honors from the Associated Press.

In the NFL he will almost certainly play guard, but his year of experience at right tackle in the Big 12 conference will provide a bit of positional versatility as well.

On a Ron Rivera coached team, I think it’s clear that there will be 10 offensive linemen on the 53-man roster. When you count up the veterans and draft picks ahead of Robinson, I don’t think there’s any question of him competing for a spot on the regular roster in 2022. The UDFA will almost certainly spend training camp trying to earn a spot on the Practice Squad, where he can develop his strength, understanding of the game and positional techniques to the level where he can eventually compete for a guard spot in the NFL.

A quick glance at his measurables in spider chart and tabular formats will show that he does not have an elite athletic profile:

Still, this is a guy who had 38 starts in a major college program (15 at right tackle; 23 at right guard) and was named 2nd team All-Big 12 (AP) in 2021. Opinions vary, but he seems to project anywhere from a career practice squad player to an eventual starter. To reach his highest potential, he’ll have to use technique and intelligence to overcome physical limitations.

He’s quick off the snap and understands his blocking assignments. When blocking in the zone run game, he positions himself well and works well in combination with teammates. You can see that he plays to the whistle.

In power blocking schemes, Robinson is both strong and aggressive. He continues to show the ability to double team well, and has the needed mobility to pull from either guard or tackle. He finishes strong with play strength, leg drive and tenacity.

Here, he puts a Texas Longhorns linebacker on his back pulling from the right guard position.

When pass blocking, Robinson again shows good quickness off the snap. He gets his feet set and shows the mobility needed to mirror pass rushers.

Here, against Baylor, playing right tackle, he handles the twist and picks up the pass rusher looping to the outside.