Packers draft pick profile: Micah Robinson a worthwhile day 3 dart throw with plus traits

USA Today

05-05-2025

Packers draft pick profile: Micah Robinson a worthwhile day 3 dart throw with plus traits
Cornerback was viewed as one of Green Bay's top long-term needs entering the draft, but the Packers waited until round seven to address the position for the third straight draft, taking Tulane's Micah Robinson with their penultimate pick.
The 23-year-old spent four years at Furman before transferring to Tulane for his final college season. An unheralded prospect, Robinson was not even ranked on the consensus big board, which has over 700 prospects.
At just over 5-10 ⅔' and 183 pounds, he is not a traditional Packers cornerback. Robinson is the lightest cornerback Brian Gutekunst has drafted in his tenure, one pound lighter than Shemar Jean-Charles, whom he admitted after the draft was a significant outlier for them based on how they usually operate.
Robinson scored a 6.77 Relative Athletic Score (RAS) out of a possible 10, highlighted by an '"elite" speed grade. He ran a blazing 4.38 40-yard dash at his pro day.
He also earned a "good" explosion grade via the vert and broad jumps but had a "poor" grade for size and agility, including a short shuttle time which ranked in just the eighth percentile.
After drafting Robinson, Gutekunst spoke about why he made an exception for Robinson, telling the media: 'He doesn't have elite size but his speed and his ability as an athlete to stay with guys, particularly from playing off coverage, which is so hard, and he's got great ball skills'.
He continued: 'The foot quickness, the hips and the speed kind of overrode that and made us want to take a shot on him."
The jump in competition from Furman to Tulane was a great decision by Robinson, who enjoyed his best college season with the Green Wave in 2024. He had an 80.7 PFF coverage grade and a 90 run defense grade, both career highs.
As Gutekunst mentioned, Robinson displayed excellent ball skills in college, with seven interceptions in his final three seasons.
On his play at Tulane, Gutekunst said: 'He took a step up from Furman to Tulane and played really, really well in his first season there. As he gets more reps against better competition I think he's going to continue to improve."
It is easy to see the physical tools which attracted the Packers to Robinson on his tape. The 4.38 speed is real and allows him to easily run with receivers deep downfield, as well as recover if he is behind.
Robinson's athleticism gets him out of compromised positions, makes up for him taking a false step or turning the wrong way and also allows him to take more risks; he can guess on a route and be ready to jump it, knowing if he is wrong, he can still turn and get back in position in time.
He shows the ability to trust his speed and not open up too early anticipating a receiver running deep. Robinson has the benefit of letting the route play out for an extra tick before having to make his decision.
More than just the speed, Robinson has enough twitch to stop and start with receivers and can also fire downhill towards the ball on routes broken off underneath. He looks smooth and comfortable in his backpedal and turns or flips his hips easily enough when required.
For a smaller corner, he does not play small in coverage. Robinson uses physicality to his advantage in coverage, putting his hands on receivers and not letting them get going, or squeezing them towards the sideline on go routes.
As Gutekunst put it, Robinson has 'great feet," and is able to mirror receivers off the line, as well as jam them effectively with a firm punch. He showed he can be sticky in coverage, plastering in tight areas like the red zone, and plays with attitude, often giving opponents a shove at the end of plays.
He plays with focus and is clearly mentally engaged on every play, which helps him stay with corners late in the play on scramble drills or trail routes effectively even when he has to fight through traffic to get them picked up.
In the run game, Robinson plays with urgency, ready to come down in run support and refusing to accept being blocked by receivers. He is a willing tackler but also comes to balance, staying under control, especially in the open field when he knows missing the tackle could be catastrophic.
Robinson has 226 box safety snaps on his college resume, showing how he was trusted in run defense and also some potential versatility at the next level.
There are plenty of tools to work with in coverage, but Robinson is not consistent enough in using them at the moment. He needs to have more trust in his athleticism, as at times he looks jumpy or on edge when in coverage.
He is too reactive to the eye candy receivers present, biting on head fakes or generally buying whatever they sell. Receivers in the NFL are smarter than the ones he faced, and it will be all too easy for them to manipulate him and get him to do whatever they want.
Robinson turns the wrong way too often and ends up having to do a full 360 spin to get back in phase. His speed and athleticism have allowed him to make up for this so far, but whether that will be the case as a professional is a different question.
Double moves can make him bite very hard and ultimately get beat deep, and he can also open up his hips too early, which he does not need to do with his speed, leaving him vulnerable to routes being broken off underneath. Robinson plays a bit too far off at times and allows easy short completions.
While he is a reliable presence in the run game, his lack of size does show up at times, and he lacks some stopping power in his tackling.
The transfer to Tulane helped Robinson get exposure against better competition, but it is still not an especially high level. He also has essentially no slot experience, which is not ideal for an undersized corner.
Overall, Robinson has consistently played well against every level of competition he has faced, still improved in 2024 while making a step up in class, has nice natural attributes, including elite speed, and plays with intensity, including against the run.
He may hit a ceiling quickly at the NFL level, but equally is a worthwhile dart throw in round seven and could continue to increase his level of performance as he gets acclimated to the ultimate step up, as he has shown the ability to do so far.