There’s a widespread belief in league circles that the Jaguars need receivers. Maybe they don’t.
They won’t if second-year wideout Allen Robinson delivers on potential he displayed during the team’s offseason program.
“He’s been unbelievable,” quarterback Blake Bortles said this week, via the Associated Press. “He’s definitely a threat now in the red zone. . . . He’s physical. He can run and do everything out in the open field, so he’s been fun to throw to.”
Robinson had 48 receptions in 10 games last season. He missed the final six with a stress fracture in his foot.
Both Robinson and coach Gus Bradley agree that Robinson needs to play with more anger in 2015.
“To play where he’s competing to get the ball, competing in all his routes,” Bradley explained. “I think he is extremely competitive. He’s got a 40-plus vertical jump, and we want to be able to throw it up to him and I know he’s going to come down with the ball. I believe he has that and hopefully we see that.”
Robinson said he played in college at Penn State with a chip on his shoulder, but that he “kind of relaxed a little bit” as a rookie as he tried to find his “niche” on the team.
His potential niche for 2015 could be the team’s No. 1 wideout. Which means he eventually could be using that anger to fight through coverage from multiple defenders at the same time.
If it works, Robinson could become the first Jaguars receiver with 1,000 or more yards gained since Jimmy Smith a decade ago. And it could help the team get to the playoffs for the first time since 2007.
