Dallas Cowboys: Laurent Robinson in review (Beware the 1-Year Wonder)

Summary

We have officially conducted our analysis of Robinson and the conclusion was: he was a really good receiver! Like, REALLY GOOD!

His EPA and EPA per play were higher than a second year Dez Bryant and a Miles Austin pretty much in the peak of his career.

For once in his career, Robinson didn’t have serious injuries AND had the right opportunity. In other situations we was the third or fourth option or was out for the season with an injury, but in Dallas the opportunity was the perfect storm.

Sometimes a player who has underwhelmed in his career thus far has that one important season; which is precisely why the Jacksonville Jaguars gave him a five-year contract following his career year. But how did his career tank as quickly as it revived? Also, what if the Cowboys had made a serious offer to keep Robinson? The contract was slated to give him $32 million over five years and with a signing bonus of $5 million, only $13 million was guaranteed.

Robinson had the opportunity to shine because Miles Austin was injured for six games that season. When Austin was on the field, Robinson was still a more efficient target than him. The following season with Austin as the clear cut second option, his efficiency stagnated. Irrelevantly, he was also making an extra million compared to Robinson.

If the Cowboys had recognized the value that Robinson brought, he could have been the number two option for years and essentially voided the future Terrance Williams selection in the third round of the 2013 NFL draft.

We often talk about how NFL teams cut ties with players in the name of business and there’s an increasing lack of loyalty across the league between owners and players. It seems in doing analyses of Williams and Robinson the Cowboys functioned quite oppositely for a decade. Their wavering committment to Williams and Austin likely cost the Cowboys better talent at the receiver position; truly an unfortunate epiphany considering the elite QB play they had from Romo in the early part of the 2010s.

Hindsight is 20/20 and Robinson’s career took a nosedive after one year in Jacksonville, however, Robinson was a fourth option behind Justin Blackmon, Cecil Shorts, and Marcedes Lewis. Not only was he losing a greater target share, but he was catching passes from Chad Henne and Blaine Gabbert.

*gags*

I know I’m slandering the names of Super Bowl Champions but they didn’t play like such in their time in Jacksonville.

Much like what happened with Terrance Williams, Robinson’s career demise was partially self-inflicted but there is a bigger fault in the Cowboys choosing to not make an attempt to sign him for the long-term in the name of loyalty and poor roster management.