At first glance, the Los Angeles Rams signing wide receiver Allen Robinson seemed unnecessary, however looking at the details and why they did it shows that it was an extremely smart move for Les Snead and the Rams.
Before the signing, targeting wide receivers seemed like the last thing the Rams needed during free agency.
On paper, they are stacked at the position with Odell Beckham Jr., Robert Woods, Van Jefferson, and of course 2021 Offensive Player of the Year Cooper Kupp.
In-depth the Rams need help in the receiver room. Beckham suffered his second ACL tear in the Super Bowl which means that if resigned he would not return until the end of the season.
Robert Woods is also recovering from an ACL tear and Robinson as the new second option would give these two more time to recover.
Woods and Beckham are aging, both turning 30 in 2022. It seems though the Rams do not want to wait for Woods’ recovery as they traded him for a sixth-round pick to the Tennessee Titans.
Even though Cooper Kupp arguably had the greatest year ever as a wide receiver, adding Robinson takes a little bit of workload off of him. It will be tough to repeat the year he had and working him as hard as the Rams did in 2021 could result in another injury.
Kupp turns 29 this year and has also suffered an ACL year earlier in his career.
Van Jefferson is the youngest of the group but hasn’t shown enough promise in his young career to be a reliable second option.
Lots of people might wonder if Allen Robinson is a good signing due to his poor production in 2021 on the Chicago Bears. Robinson only produced 410 receiving yards with one touchdown in 12 games.
The Rams obviously don’t care much about his 2021 year and are hoping to see a 2019 or 2020 version of the receiver.
Robinson caught for over 1,000 yards in both 2019 and 2020 but combined for only 13 touchdowns.
Robinson’s best year so far was in 2015 when he was a Jacksonville Jaguar. Robinson caught for 1,400 yards and led the league with 14 receiving touchdowns.
The former pro bowler has also dealt with multiple quarterbacks and coaches throughout his eight-year career. The best quarterbacks he has had throwing to him have been Blake Bortles and Mitch Trubisky who were both back ups in 2021.
He also had Matt Nagy as his head coach and play-caller which limited his true potential at wide receiver.
Robinson finally has an elite quarterback and play-caller with Matt Stafford and head Coach Sean McVay. It is evident that the Rams are looking to repeat and will depend a lot on Robinson.
The Rams signed Robinson to a three year contract worth over 46 million. Only time will tell if the Rams can revive his career and if the former Bear can help lead the Rams back to the Super Bowl.
