James Robinson, Illinois State
Robinson basically unstoppable last season, putting up a stunning 1889 yards on the ground and 18 touchdowns. He never averaged less than five yards per carry in his four seasons at Illinois State, topping out at 6.3 yards per carry as a Junior in 2018.
Robinson is a stocky 5-9, 219 pounds and finds his gap quickly and shoots through like a ball out of a cannon and plenty of punch to blow through defenders at the point of attack.
Three knocks on him coming out are the level of competition, tread on his tires, and lack of speed. He played in the MVFC conference in the FCS and carried the ball nearly 800 times and ran a pedestrian 4.64 40 at the combine. These concerns are easily alleviated.
As to the level of competition, he put that concern to rest at the East-West Shrine Bowl when he broke off several huge plays in the game. As to his speed, he has plenty of it when it matters most, as evidenced by his 1.55 10-yard split. Oh, and he has a 40-inch vertical. As to his wear and tear, that only matters to a team looking for a long term workhorse. The Raiders would want him for 7-10 carries per game, so his tread is just fine for their needs.
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