Josh Robinson’s nickname, “The Bowling Ball,” would probably inspire excitement in most fanbases, but Colts fans are still scarred from three years of unrelenting Pagano-isms, the most infamous of which is the comparison of Trent Richardson to a “rolling ball of butcher knives.” I could compare Richardson to a lot of inanimate objects, but I wouldn’t pick that one. Fortunately, though both are advertised as small, powerful backs, Robinson and Richardson are hardly similar players. If I was going to force a comparison to any Colt, it would be Frank Gore, though that level of praise is a bit rich.

In fact, Robinson has drawn comparisons to pretty much every tough, small running back from Maurice Jones-Drew to Ahmad Bradshaw, who are essentially the ideal forms of the < 5’11, > 210 lb running back. Robinson can’t match Mojo’s electricity or Bradshaw’s pass protection, and he’s even a tad bit shorter than the 5’9 Gore. Still, his burst is evident, tacklers slide off him like criminal charges off a rich man, and unlike pretty much every other position in football, being small can actually be a boon for running backs so long as density is maintained. Shorter backs have an easier time hiding behind linemen and squeezing through gaps, and lower centers of gravity can make them a real bitch to tackle. That’s certainly the case with Robinson. I could show you a bunch of gifs of him breaking tackles, but that hardly seems necessary. Most of you already know that he was among the statistical leaders in yards after contact in 2014, and the rest of you have already seen this. Gore, Jones-Drew, and Bradshaw are very different players, but all were known for their ability to bounce off of tacklers and keep their legs churning through contact. Robinson’s reputation for this exact trait precedes him.

The term “power back” is often a source of confusion for fans, as it is used by analysts in two different ways. The first sense is the most obvious; a “power back” is a powerful running back, one that can push the pile and punish tacklers. The second usage has a more schematic meaning. A “power back” is a back that is best suited for a scheme that primarily employs man or gap blocking, as opposed to zone blocking. The rudimentary concepts behind the two schemes are described here, and if you are interested, I highly recommend researching blocking schemes further on your own, as they are central to each team’s offensive identity. But as a Colts fan, you only really need to know that the Indy runs a man/gap scheme, and so in searching for their back of the future they’ll likely value patience, strength, and decisiveness over speed and even vision. Donald Brown and Boom Herron enjoyed recent success in Indy’s scheme not because they had special vision, but because they followed their blockers and exploded into the play without hesitation. Any “kind” of back can succeed in a gap scheme by doing this, but only powerful, disciplined guys like Gore can be truly exceptional.

At this point, it is important to note that Robinson ran mostly behind zone blocking in college, with quite a bit of read option mixed in. I’m actually impressed that he was so productive in this system, as I don’t consider it to be a good fit for a back like him. He is not a Jay Ajayi or Duke Johnson “one cut runner.” He is better at navigating his way through the teeth of a defense than flowing to the outside and bursting down the sideline, yet he did not play in an offense that emphasized that strength. This, if anything, limited his effectiveness in college, and disguised his better traits while magnifying his limitations. Only one of his combine numbers stands out, and not in a good way. He certainly looks faster in the open field than his 4.7 40 would suggest (see the following gif), but he does have a limited ability to beat a defense to the edge. He has enough burst to make plays, but it would be unwise to ask him to beat defenders to the sideline on the majority of his snaps.

I think running so much zone also led some to undersell his vision. He has a more natural feel for running between the tackles than trying to pick a lane outside of them, and his decision making regarding when to cut back is the source of most of his mistakes. The following play results in a nice gain, but there wasn’t really a reason for him to cut back, as the blocking develops fairly well on the play-side (it is important to realize that the Center is supposed to peel off of the double team and block #22 of Kentucky, but Robinson cuts back before the play develops to this point).

#50 fails to react and disengage in time to trip Robinson up, but that’s not a mistake an NFL defender is likely to make. Robinson is significantly shiftier than I expected from a back of his density, but he isn’t agile enough to get away with these bad habits at the next level.

Mississippi State also likes to give their crappy quarterback (Dak Prescott) plenty of passing options for him to ignore when he tucks the ball after two seconds, meaning that they didn’t often keep Robinson in the pocket as a pass protector. When they did, he made an effort, but his technique was lacking. He’ll need to develop that to be a competent protector at his size.

Fortunately, there is no need to rush Robinson onto the field. Gore should be getting the lion’s share of the carries, and Herron is a solid backup option. Robinson will have all the time he needs to develop, and you couldn’t pick a better mentor for him than Frank Gore. His sheer power might even allow him to contribute early, so it shouldn’t be too long before we start to see the Bowling Ball on the field. And you know that Luck is the kind of guy that watches those bowling championships on ESPN38, so I foresee a great relationship in the future.

(deal with it)

Handsome Rating®: 6/10

What is up with these Mississippi guys and their beards? It’s like they don’t even care about our rating.

gifs are from draftbreakdown.com

Just so you guys know, we don’t only watch draftbreakdown videos when evaluating prospects, but their gif capture tool is very handy, so you’ll mostly see clips from draftbreakdown games in these articles.