Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Rams acquire WR

Tennessee Titans v Atlanta Falcons

...though he's hardly anyone to get excited about, other than the fact that he's not Plaxico Burress. The Rams swapped fifth- and sixth- round picks this year with the Falcons to acquire Laurent Robinson.

Robinson was drafted in the third round in 2007 and is apparently a Billy Devaney favorite. Devaney told Jim Thomas that Robinson "showed a lot of potential his rookie year," (37-437, 1 TD), has size, good ball skills and runs smooth routes. Falcons HC Mike Smith would likely tell you Robinson was useless last year, missing most of the season with hamstring problems and catching only five balls while also not being a willing blocker. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution also mentions Robinson suffered a concussion last year.

The consensus from Falcon fans at profootballtalk is that the Rams got a good deal, IF Robinson can stay on the field. Here's a couple of interesting posts:

SaintsBucsPanthersSUKK says:

We got what for Laurent Robinson? A minor switch of two low draft picks? Why not instead just trade for a Hickory Farms meat and cheese basket and bottle of sparkling cider?

He’s a player in 2007 showed loads of promise, has fine size at 6′2″ and 200 lbs., and was even slated to start ahead of Michael Jenkins if not for an injury. A WR starved team would’ve given up a late round pick this year and next based on potential alone. I guess we were stuck between a rock and a hard place, teams know Roddy White will be getting a huge extension in the coming months....
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smfowler says:

That sucks. I thought he had a lot of potential.
Last year he sat out a lot of last year’s preseason because of a bruised tailbone. I guess if Anquan Boldin can have his face reconstructed and play two weeks later then Robinson could’ve sucked it up through his butt injury.

Either way, Rams got a good receiver.

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Durability and toughness are a couple of my "pillars" for considering players. I'm not sure I would have made this deal. The cost, though, isn't terrible inasmuch as the Rams didn't give up any picks, so I'm content to trust Devaney's experience with Robinson for now (though the picture above doesn't exactly show me a receiver looking the ball into his hands).

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