When the Washington Huskies hit the recruiting trail in search of help at linebacker, linebackers coach Robert Bala and director of player personnel Matt Doherty were in search of big, long, athletic body types with plenty of production at the high school level. They found that in Loyola Academy (Ill.) product Donovan Robinson.
But, once Robinson arrives on campus in March, he might not be confined to just linebacker.
“What led us to him was the versatility and kind of that ambiguity,” Doherty said during Washington’s signing day press conference. “He will have a landing spot, obviously, once we determine where he’s best suited. But he is every bit of 6-foot-3, he’s 215 pounds. You see him play both on the back end at safety, and he’ll come up and play in the box and the front seven as a true stack linebacker. He returns punts, he plays wide receiver. So you’re getting a big, long body who’s used to contact and has pretty exceptional ball skills for a player who lines up in some of these alignments.”
Robinson’s athleticism allows him the freedom to align anywhere in the formation, which could lead him to also play safety in defensive coordinator Steve Belichick’s scheme. His fluidity and athleticism, combined with his vision and football IQ, identifying plays quickly and attacking downhill in the run game could lead him to a full-time position at linebacker, but safeties coach Vinnie Sunseri is also looking to take advantage of his abilities in the secondary.
“I don’t want to put him in a box right now,” Doherty said. “Vinnie Sunseri claims him upstairs, and so does (linebackers coach) Robert Bala. We’ll let the two of them sort it out. He’s a very exciting experiment, I think.”
Multiple members of Washington’s defense have spoken at length about how Belichick’s scheme allows them the freedom to play to their strengths, which could give Robinson multiple avenues to success, depending on how the Husky coaching staff wants to deploy him.
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