Jacksonville Jaguars Midseason Rookie Recap: Allen Robinson

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Heading into their bye week after a brutal loss in London, the Jacksonville Jaguars are a little more than halfway through the 2014 NFL regular season. The bye week also means it’s time to step back and briefly evaluate how some of the players have performed so far. The second year into a massive rebuild, the most interesting players to look at of course are the young guys who should eventually be the foundation for this team.

Over the course of the week, we’ll be taking a look at all of the rookies playing roles for the Jaguars right now. We’ll start with the undrafted guys and work our way down all the way to the first round pick.

Let’s take a look the one half of a pair of wide receivers selected in the second round – wide receiver Allen Robinson.

Historically, the Jacksonville Jaguars have had awful luck with drafting wide receivers, with the most recent first round pick Justin Blackmon joining a long list of failed pass catchers taken in the first round. The Jaguars had a ragtag group in 2013, led by steady but oft-injured veteran Cecil Shorts. The Jaguars double-dipped on receivers in the second round of the 2014 draft, and so far Allen Robinson has paid off.

Here’s how Robinson fared statistically in 2014:

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Before being placed on injured reserve in the bye week, Allen Robinson was Blake Bortles‘ go-to receiver. Robinson was by far the most targeted receiver on the team, and he had the third most targets of any rookie receiver. He also had the third most receptions of any rookie receiver, and that’s with essentially not playing in the first week of the season. Robinson was used a lot in the screen game early in the year, but he’s developed and progressed as a route runner and was being used as a target down the field more often.

Probably the most encouraging part of Robinson’s performance this season was his hands. Robinson had one drop in his 10 games – the 2nd lowest rate among receivers playing 75% of their team’s snaps.

Despite his season ending injury, Robinson showed the ability to be a solid receiver moving forward, and he should be a big part of the offense when he returns in 2015.

Midseason Grade: B+