Falato's Film Room: CB Aaron Robinson, UCF

Nick Falato breaks down what UCF cornerback Aaron Robinson brings to a defense.

This film study references to the following video highlights:

Everyone one of the Giants selections on the first two days of the 2021 NFL Draft involved a trade. This one was a bit more predictable as Dave Gettleman traded a fifth-round (164th pick) selection to move up from 76 to 71 with the Denver Broncos. The Giants selected cornerback Aaron Robinson out of the University of Central Florida, who was an Alabama transfer who sat out the 2017 season due to the transfer portal.

Robinson is a bit undersized in terms of his weight, yet has solid height, but is a very versatile player who went down to the Senior Bowl and measured in smaller than UCF’s website had him listed. He played the majority of his reps in the slot but also has experience on the outside. Surrendered six touchdowns in college with three interceptions and 21 passes defended.

Run Support

I love the competitive toughness that Robinson displays in run support. He has no fear and uses every bit of his 5’11", 186-pound frame. He executes good technique while tackling; he stays square, breaks down, and uses his adequate tackle radius to secure tackles to the ground. Will drop his shoulder and drive through ball carriers.

He uses superior athletic ability to be a good pursuit defender and to cut off advantageous wide receiver angles. He has good play strength and no fear as a cornerback in run support which has to be a reason why the Giants were very interested in this player.

At 1:05, one can really see how he stays square and drives downhill on ball carriers while bringing a very good securing ability to the tackle point.

Coverage

I really like Robinson’s fluidity and movement skills. The hip mobility and ability to flip and not lose momentum is a skill that is paramount among cornerbacks, and Robinson possesses this skill; one can see the fluidity at the 2:00 minute mark and the 3:08 mark where he transitions in and out while staying on top of his assignment. It looks effortless, and his hips are very smooth while performing this action.

Robinson also does a solid job staying patient at the line of scrimmage. His press technique could be better; he punches and doesn’t always bring his feet with him, albeit his hips allow him to recover (he has great recovery speed).

I would like for his jams to have more authority and better technique, but when he doesn’t employ the jam, he does a solid job with his feet at the line of scrimmage. Stays patient and latches onto the hip in man coverage while staying in phase at all three levels of the field, including horizontal crosses.

His eyes in zone aren’t terrible either. He can see the field when he’s in the intermediate parts of the field, but he doesn’t do well near the line of scrimmage. This can be seen at the 6:30 mark and the 8:43 mark, where he loses passing assignments and seems to get tunnel vision on the quarterback. His instinct in this area needs a bit more time to develop.

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Ball Skills

One thing I really enjoy about Robinson is his ability to close to the catch point. He has that quick ability to click & close downhill and really bring his disruptive nature to the catch point--it’s one reason why he had 21 passes defended in 22 games. Robinson has a good knack to rip at the football and force passes defended when the receiver has a realistic shot of securing the pass. It’s this physical nature and competitive toughness that appeals to this Giants coaching staff.

Robinson also has shown the ability to high point footballs with soft hands and hold onto the catch through contact. He was a slow starter in college and had to transfer, but his last two seasons in college were very productive, and his Senior Bowl performance was also something that helped get him drafted early in the third round.

Fit with Giants

New York added Adore Jackson in free agency and drafted Darnay Holmes in the fourth round last year. Holmes was hurt a bit towards the end of the season, and his snap count was reduced by Xavier McKinney’s presence in week 17. The addition of Robinson isn’t a referendum on Holmes, but it may lead to an end of Sam Beal and possibly Isaac Yiadom’s time with the Giants.

Robinson is an easy upgrade of Yiadom and probably an upgrade over Beal, albeit we have hardly seen Beal play. Robinson’s versatility may allow him to play outside, which appeals to Patrick Graham, but it’s Robinson’s man coverage ability and fluidity in space that will allow Graham to play man coverage if injuries happen to the Giants secondary.

This is a depth addition of a good player. However, the Giants passed on some talented interior offensive lineman to trade up and select Robinson; let’s hope the Giants can develop the likes of Will Hernandez and Shane Lemieux on the inside.

You can never have enough secondary pieces; we saw way too much Ryan Lewis and Isaac Yiadom last season. With Robinson, Graham has a lot more flexibility to run different coverages while also having depth. The Giants added a good player. I just hope they still look to add competition along the offensive line. 

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