Jaden Robinson Rising Though Florida Gators Defensive Ranks

His name doesn't come up much when discussing defenders, but the sophomore linebacker is quietly having a standout season

Florida Gators sophomore Jaden Robinson has quietly been taking care of business on the gridiron / Angelina Alcantar/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Much of the talk surrounding the Florida Gators linebackers is centered around Shemar James and Grayson Howard, but another name in this unit has been just as good or better than these two this season.

That other name who is playing some solid football this season is sophomore Jaden Robinson. 

The local product, coming out of Columbia High School in Lake City, Fla., has been quietly going about his business in 2024. Despite not making much of an impact in the first two games of the season against Miami and Samford, Robinson has been constantly popping up on the stat sheet over the Gators' last four games. 

He’s totaled 23 tackles (13 solo, 10 assisted), 1.5 sacks and 1.5 tackles-for-loss during this four-game stretch against Texas A&M, Mississippi State, UCF and Tennessee.

And arguably his best game yet as a Gator came in the loss to Tennessee last Saturday. Of his 23 tackles, seven of them came in Knoxville against the Volunteers. Additionally, he recorded his first sacks and tackles-for-loss of his Gators career in this game. 

The stats don’t stop there either for the sophomore. Robinson received an overall defensive grade of 82.4 against the Volunteers, per PFF. This was the highest graded Gator in this game as well. Pretty good for a player many didn’t think was going to contribute like he has this season. 

Highest graded Florida Gators defensive players vs Tennessee (10 snap minimum):

LB Jaden Robinson - 82.4
DB Sharif Denson - 77.7
LB Grayson "Pup" Howard - 74.7
EDGE Kamran James - 73.0
EDGE George Gumbs - 72.2
DL Desmond Watson - 72.1
DL Brien Taylor Jr. - 71.4
DL Caleb Banks -…

— Brandon Olsen (@WNS_Brandon) October 13, 2024

Another great aspect of Robinson’s sophomore campaign is his tackling ability. Missed tackles have been an unfixable problem for the Gators for what feels like the past three years under Billy Napier. Yet, Robinson bucks the trend. He hasn’t missed a tackle so far this season, per PFF. 

Also, his PFF tackling grade this season is 89.3. This is the highest among all Gator defenders and the next closest is from fellow linebacker Howard at a tackling grade of 84.7. 

Robinson is certainly making a case for the need to have him on the field at all times, but he’s also showing just how deep this Gators linebacker unit is. 

Depth is always an important part of a great team and while the Gators may not fit in the category of great, Robinson’s individual performances this season is showing that the Gators have one of the deeper linebacker departments in the entire country.