For much of his high school and college career, Florida State’s Jammie Robinson, a transfer from South Carolina ahead of the 2022 season, there’s routinely been one safety the Leesburg, Georgia native has tried to emulate in his game.
That safety was once one of the best in the game, that being current New Orleans Saints’ safety Tyrann Mathieu. Now though, just months away from seeing his childhood dream of playing in the NFL realized, Robinson has added a new, versatile, hard-nosed safety to his watch list of guys to try and emulate.
That safety? Pittsburgh Steelers star Minkah Fitzpatrick.
Robinson, who played deep safety, box safety, nickel back and dime backer at Florida State and South Carolina, brings quite a bit of versatility to the game, which is something both Fitzpatrick and Mathieu bring in abundance.
“He’s [Fitzpatrick] very, very versatile. He’s a ballhawk, but…a player that I look up to a lot is Tyrann Mathieu, just because he’s a dog,” Robinson said to reporters from the Scouting Combine in Indianapolis. “He’s undersized; you can’t coach it. He’s smart, high IQ, fast, he’s physical, you know what I’m saying? And being able to be versatile, for sure.”
That versatility was a big talking point for Robinson, who wore a number of hats for the Seminoles in 2021 and 2022 under head coach Mike Norvell after transferring from South Carolina.
On any given play, Robinson could line up in the centerfield safety role, two-high, box safety, in the slot, as a nickel back, or even an off-ball linebacker. He brought serious physicality to the table, too, which will have him on plenty of teams’ radars ahead of the 2023 NFL Draft.
Robinson profiles as that throwback football player, one that will line up anywhere and compete, as long as that’s what the team needs from him on a given play.
“Being able to play the nickel, the dime, both safety positions, that’s what I can honestly say,” Robinson said regarding his versatility. “And I know all those guys are physical, they’re smart students of the game and they play fast. I feel like that’s the same thing with me. That just comes from how I’m raised. I got five brothers, single parent mom, so when I play football, it’s just the joyfulness for my mom. Had a rough upbringing a little bit, but I feel like that’s just like my, my safe haven, honestly.
“I just know to play football and whatever position coach needs me at. I had to go through that in college and high school, so wherever he needs me at, I’m gonna be there.”
In his two seasons at Florida State, Robinson developed into a key piece, starting 24 games while seeing action in all 25. Robinson also saw action in 22 games at South Carolina with 13 starts. In 47 career games (37 starts) Robinson finished his college career with 319 tackles, 15.5 tackles for loss, 1 sack, three forced fumbles, 25 passes defensed and seven interceptions, earning First Team All-ACC honors in 2022 while being named the Seminoles’ Defensive MVP.
We’ll see how he measures and tests at the Combine, but he has the makings of a versatile, consistent defender in the NFL that could be an impactful guy on and off the field right away.
