Josh Robinson, Junior, Cornerback, UCF
Overview:
Josh Robinson was not supposed to make a huge impact on the UCF secondary right away, but he did. As a true freshman the cornerback was fifth on the team with 69 tackles and led the squad, not to mention all freshmen, with six interceptions. As a result, Robinson was named to the All-Conference USA first team and a variety of Freshman All-American squads.
Of course Robinson was slated to start at one of the cornerback spots heading into 2010, but many wanted to see if he could keep up his impressive production. Robinson did not put up the same numbers he did in 2009, but that was partly because the opposition now knew not to test the Sunrise, Florida native. He still ended up with 59 tackles, two interceptions, 13 pass break-ups and even a fumble returned for a touchdown.
Final Projection:
The UCF defense has been stellar during Robinson’s time in Orlando. He certainly deserves part of the credit and he will get more recognition as an upperclassman when he starts to become a leader of the unit. Even as a corner, Robinson is fast and has great instincts. Yet, he uses that speed as a punt returner as well and that will only make him more valuable on draft day.
3/17/12 Update:
Despite advice from many, including the NFL Draft Advisory Board that said Robinson would not be selected in the first three rounds, the cornerback opted to head to the NFL anyway. And then Robinson got to work doing what he has done for years; prove everybody wrong. It was not a huge surprise, but Robinson blew away most of the competition at the combine. He is a speedster and everybody knew it. However, he did run the fast 40 at the NFL Combine and that got him noticed. He also outperformed just about every other player in the secondary in a wide variety of drills.
See all NFL Draft Profiles and Rankings
