Philadelphia Eagles: Don’t pass on a second chance at Kenny Robinson
The Philadelphia Eagles have a second chance to acquire Kenny Robinson.
The time between final roster trim downs and Week 1 of the regular season is a weird time for the NFL’s teams, fans, and players.
On one hand, it’s exhilarating to see which players made the opening day roster, which roster long-shots beat the odds, and whether that prized diamond in the rough can sneak his way through waivers and earn a spot on the practice squad. But then again, with each life-affirming move comes a corresponding snag in a once-promising career, with some players never getting that next chance to make a first impression.
And if you’re the Philadelphia Eagles, a team whose GM literally called their initial 53 man roster a “work in progress”, you’re going to overshoot the excitement level by leaps and bounds.
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Through the first 48 hours of this significantly altered NFL landscape, the Eagles have experienced both sides of the waiver wire coin; with three of their waivees, Rasul Douglas, Shareef Miller, and Noah Togiai finding new homes with Carolina, the Panthers, and the Indianapolis Colts respectfully, and New Mexico return man Jason Huntley headed to South Philly after the Lions waived him to sign Adrian Peterson. While some will argue that risking Cre’Von LeBlanc on the open market even for a few days for the four-year contract of an ex-fifth-round pick simply isn’t worth it, being able to swoop in and steal away a player from another team can very legitimately turn the tides of a play, game, or even the season.
That, my friends, is the thing about NFL roster-building: It’s inexact. Is retaining six linebackers right out the gate a good idea when a player like Alex Singleton would have surely cleared waivers? Maybe, maybe not, but no one was complaining about the Eagles keeping five running backs in 2017 when Corey Clement was passing the century mark as a receiver in the Super Bowl.
With that in mind, we need to talk about a player who just hit the waiver wire who should be a member of the Eagles by long weekend’s end: Free safety Kenny Robinson.
Now I know what you’re thinking “Oh god no, please, God, no (not another safety). Noooooooooo!”
Yes, the Eagles already have *checks notes* six safeties under contract in free safeties Rodney McLeod and Marcus Epps, and strong safeties Will Parks, Jalen Mills, K’Vonn Wallace, and Rudy Ford, plus do-it-all Baylor back Grayland Arnold. Yes, that is too many safeties, even if Epps and Ford are special teams, um, specialists. Yes, the Eagles need linebackers, offensive linemen, tight ends, and even cornerbacks over yet another safety, but sometimes, a team needs to prioritize adding young, ascending talent over projects, deep bench reserves, and older dudes with very little value at their actual positions.
Measuring in at a very impressive 6-foot-2, 200 pounds with long arms and loose hips, Robinson was one of the more improbable players in the 2020 NFL Draft. Despite playing two incredibly encouraging seasons at West Virginia after a successful career at Pittsburgh’s Central Catholic, Robinson was “kicked out of school” due to “student code of conduct violation involving academic fraud”, and opted to take his services to Vince McMahon’s then-recently relaunched XFL in an attempt to earn money to take care of his mother.
Playing single-high free safety for Jonathan Hayes’ creatively named St. Louis BattleHawks, Robinson showed out over the league’s abbreviated five-game season with 21 total tackles, a sack, two interceptions, and two passes defensed. Now granted, balling out in the XFL hasn’t exactly translated to success in the NFL, as the league’s all-time receiving yards leader Cam Phillips couldn’t even make the Carolina Panthers’ 53 man roster despite being paired up with his Roughnecks quarterback Phillip Walker.
Who knows, maybe Matt Rhule just has a thing against XFL players, as Robinson was effectively waived to make room for the final year of Rasul Douglas‘ reworked rookie contract despite “flash(ing) at times during camp” per the Panthers’ own darn website.
Piece of advice: Maybe don’t explicitly shine a light on a player you plan on waiving, just saying.
So now, with Robinson headed to the waivers in favor of a player claimed off waivers, should the Philadelphia Eagles have interest in the Wilkinsburg native?
Yes, yes, 100-times yes.
Now, as you may recall if you’re a longtime Section 215 reader, I was very, very high on Robinson going into the 2020 NFL Draft. I loved his rangey-style, ball skills, and firmly believed he could be the ideal heir apparent to Rodney McLeod in the pain. And to my credit, I wasn’t alone. PFF declared Kenny “one of the best playmakers in the 2020 NFL draft class”, USA Today’s Touchdownwire called Robinson “the most intriguing player in the XFL” and the literal Eagles were one of five teams who reportedly showed a ton of interest in the super-sized safety.
Yes, I know the Eagles don’t need Robinson, but tell me this, who would you rather have, Robinson or Epps? Robinson or Ford? Heck, Robinson or Craig James? There’s a very real chance a Robinson-Wallace pairing could be the Eagles’ next great safety tandem rivaling vintage Malcolm Jenkins and Rodney McLeod.
Or hey, maybe he won’t be. Maybe there’s a reason Robinson was released, he’ll sign with the Panthers’ practice squad after going unclaimed, and will fade into obscurity? I guess anything is possible, but do you really want to take that chance? The Eagles lose nothing by putting in a waiver claim on Robinson, lose nothing by adding him to their practice squad and lose nothing by signing him outright with one of their two recently vacated roster spots.
Next. The Philadelphia Eagles have shockingly released CB Cre’Von LeBlanc. dark
Whether the Philadelphia Eagles have two, four, or six safeties really should have no impact on adding another to their roster if he’s genuinely worthy of a spot. It truly doesn’t. In the NFL, players get hurt, players get traded, and players get released when they want too much money. For a team as financially strapped as the Eagles next season, adding a player of Robinson’s caliber on a four-year, rookie scale deal could make things a whole lot easier if he can prove talent evaluators right after all.