The 2020 NFL Draft was a unique process for America as the annual event was done digitally for the first time due to the coronavirus pandemic. Despite that, it was well-received and earned a record of 55 million views, giving the nation a much-needed jolt of entertainment during a rough time.
Of course, for the league, the process came with its hurdles as front offices had to make their selections from home. In the Jags case, general manager Dave Caldwell even had to convert his family theater into a war room, while many others had to do the same with parts of their homes.
The draft made things especially difficult for scouts who were in charge of contacting undrafted free-agents, and longtime Jags scout Marty Miller can attest to it. After the team made their 12-man selections, Miller was given the task of getting in contact with the undrafted running backs of interest for Doug Marrone and Jay Gruden.
According to NFL Draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah, who joined us on the “Bleav in Jags Podcast” recently, the search initially wasn’t going well for Miller. But it all panned out in the end as he acquired a steal for the class thanks to his family, who were a part of his makeshift war room.
“I don’t know if it’s even been told yet, but there’s a really cool story about him because scout for the Jaguars, Marty Miller, is a great guy and he’s been with the team forever,” Jeremiah said. “Marty was in charge of the running back position after the draft in terms of getting that coordinated work with the coach and getting that done. So everybody’s at home [scouting], and it’s a lot easier to coordinate that when you’re all inside the team’s facility.
But he recruited his kids and his wife to help him after the draft and make sure they were able to get phone calls out to these different kids. They put a little makeshift board up and were kind of going off the board. They had some guys they thought they were going to get and they all kind of fell through. So Marty was disappointed and was trying to come up with another name [at running back] and his wife goes ‘well, what about James Robinson? You had him way up there,’ and he’s like, ‘there is no chance he’s still available, he would have gone really early in free-agency and should’ve been drafted.’ So she encouraged him to call him.
Sure enough, Marty calls him and the rest is history. [Robinson] ended up signing [with the Jags]. So it was an assist from Marty’s wife at home. That’s how they were able to land Robinson after the draft.”
If there is a lesson to be taken away from this story, apart from the admirable tenacity of the veteran Jags scout, it’s that teamwork makes the dream work — even if the circumstances are a little unusual.
Miller’s wife, Kerinda, helped the Jags get a player who probably should’ve been a draft selection in James Robinson. Some evaluators had him graded anywhere from the fifth to the seventh-round. When looking at him on film and his time at Illinois State, it’s easy to see why. He was a workhorse back who put up astronomical numbers (4,444 rushing yards and 44 touchdowns).
James Robinson with ANOTHER big run 🏃♂️💨
The West take back the lead 🏈
📺: @ShrineBowl on NFL Network pic.twitter.com/p7P2AtAta9
— NFL Network (@nflnetwork) January 18, 2020
In our recent 53-man roster projections, we had Robinson making the team. His mix of power and patience could benefit the Jags’ running backs group, which has uncertainty behind Leonard Fournette, Ryquell Armstead, and Chris Thompson.
Feel free to listen to the archived episodes of “Bleav in the Jags,”too, and subscribe via Apple podcasts, Google Play, or Spotify.
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