Defensive lineman Darius Robinson is the lesser known first-round pick of the Arizona Cardinals. Selected late in the round after the Cardinals selected receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. fourth overall, he doesn’t have the expectations heaped upon him that Harrison does.
Harrison is expected to start, be a 1,000-yard receiver as a rookie and perhaps compete for NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year.
Robinson enters a defensive line room where starting might be hard. The Cardinals signed veterans Justin Jones and Bilal Nichols in the offseason and nose tackle Roy Lopez seems to have secured a spot in the starting lineup in that role.
But Robinson is doing well. In the Cardinals’ preseason opener against the New Orleans Saints, Robinson had a “couple of violent run clips there,” said head coach Jonathan Gannon.
There are things he needs to clean up, Gannon noted, but added, “he’s tough to block if he does the right things.”
But he is doing well enough that a starting role is not only not out of the question, he “1000%” has a chance to start.
However, it is important to remember that “starting” doesn’t necessarily mean much. Remember how linebacker Isaiah Simmons “started” the first four games of his NFL career in 2020 but played a total of 44 snaps over those four games?
Starting doesn’t matter if it is only good for show.
What matters is whether or not he has a key part of the rotation.
What might be the easiest way for him to be a “starter?”
Because he is able to play on the defensive interior and on the edge, and because the Cardinals have a bit of an uncertain void about a starting job at outside linebacker with BJ Ojulari’s season-ending injury, it would be easy to have him “start” on the edge opposite Zaven Collins with Jones, Nichols and Lopez starting on the interior.
With Ojulari’s injury, Robinson will certainly be asked to play the edge in some packages.
It is his “physical skillset, the size, the length and then the juice that he has” that allows him the positional versatility.
It doesn’t really matter if he is on the field for the first snap of the game, which technically makes him a starter.
Though with that comment by Gannon, keep an eye out on the possibility of Robinson being in the starting lineup but still having a complementary role.
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