How James Robinson's Path Took Him From Illinois State to the Jaguars

The soft-spoken undrafted free agent had a dominant career, but only two teams were interested in him following the draft -- one of them just happened to be the Jaguars.

When James Robinson takes his first carry against the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday afternoon, it will be quite the change from the last time he took carries at the East-West Shrine Game in St. Petersburg or for the Illinois State Redbirds in Normal, Ill. 

This time, it will be under the stage of the NFL. And this time, he will be taking the bulk of the carries for an NFL team in the Jacksonville Jaguars instead of in an All-Star game or in the FCS. 

For Robinson, the last few weeks have brought a multitude of unexpected developments. First, running back Leonard Fournette was released 13 days before the season opener. Then Robinson, who signed with the Jaguars as an undrafted free agent in April, was named the team's starting back a few days ahead of Week 1. 

But the soft-spoken Robinson has been preparing for Sunday since his days at Illinois State, and even before then. 

While starring at Rockford Lutheran High School in Rockford, Ill., Robinson set state high school records with 9,045 rushing yards and a staggering 158 rushing touchdowns. But despite those gaudy numbers, Robinson went relatively unnoticed as a three-star recruit, being ranked just the 120th running back in the nation by 247 Sports.

“I would say coming out of high school, I didn’t have that many offers. I didn’t go to a lot of camps when I was in high school. I just didn’t like to. I felt like it really didn’t do anything for me," Robinson said during a media conference on Friday.

Robinson would end up at unheralded Illinois State and he quickly made a name for himself at the FCS level. Much like he dominated the Illinois high school ranks, Robinson dominated the competition in college. 

Robinson became the team's starting running back as a sophomore and was named first-team All-Missouri Valley Football Conference after rushing for 933 yards and 12 touchdowns. As a junior, he rushed for 12 touchdowns and nearly 1,300 yards, earning first-team All-MVFC honors yet again. 

Finally, in 2019, Robinson put an exclamation on his college career by rushing for 1,899 yards and 18 touchdowns, becoming a consensus first-team FCS All-American as well as being named All-Conference for the third straight time.

But despite a wildly successful college career, Robinson didn't receive much attention leading up to and after the NFL Draft. He was invited to the NFL Scouting Combine, but a 4.64 40-yard dash didn't help him stand out, though he impressed in other drills.

“Yeah, once I left, I felt like I did pretty well and I would have good chance of being drafted," Robinson said. 

"Honestly, everyone wants to get drafted, but towards the end, it wasn’t really looking good. So, I was waiting on a team to call and pick me up and the Jaguars did and I’m thankful for that.”

Even then, though, the Jaguars had their eyes on Robinson -- but so did one other team. In fact, the other team that showed interest in Robinson is arguably the best team in the entire league at evaluating and coaching running backs. 

"After the draft, [Running Backs] Coach [Terry] Robiskie called me before the last pick and said that he was going to try to get them to draft me, but he wasn’t going to make any promises," Robinson said Friday. 

"I said, ‘Okay’, but at that point I was just looking to get on the field somewhere. Another team that called me was the [San Francisco] 49ers and that was really the only two.”

Once the clock starts to tick on Sunday, Robinson's astronomical rise from undrafted free agent to starter won't be quite as important as it has been over the past week. He still has to show he can handle the duties of an NFL running back on game day, even if he has impressed in practice and earned the trust of his coaches and teammates. 

Robinson has seen a lot through his football journey. He has toted the rock more than many other players in similar spots, and he has done so with great success. Now, he is hoping to continue his success at the NFL level.

“I would say it didn’t pay off just yet. I mean I still have to play, but it means a lot for me and my family. I’m in a position to try to take care of them, well, I will take care of them, but it’s a long season and I still have to continue to work hard and just go out there and help my team," Robinson said.

Robinson isn't the first undrafted rookie to earn a major role heading into Week 1, but he is one of the most notable recent cases since the Jaguars opted to release the former No. 4 overall pick in part because of Robinson. 

But even if he isn't a first, he is the only James Robinson. He is the pride of Illinois State and of his hometown, and he is hoping to make them even proud on Sunday as they look to him as an example to follow.

“It means a lot. For me, I think it’s just great because I know there’s a lot of kids that obviously have the same dream. A message from me to them is to keep working and you never know what can happen and never take a day off.”

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