2023 NFL Draft Player Profiles: Mississippi EDGE Tavius Robinson

From now until the 2023 NFL Draft takes place, we will scout and create profiles for as many prospects as possible, examining their strengths, weaknesses, and what they can bring to an NFL franchise. These players could be potential top-10 picks, all the way down to Day 3 selections and priority undrafted free agents. Today, I will be profiling Mississippi Edge, Tavius Robinson.

#95 Tavius Robinson, EDGE, Mississippi (rSR) — 6061, 257 lbs.

Combine/Pro Day

Measurements

The Good

— Good size and length
— Play with good pad level vs run and pass
— Active hand in pass rush
— Most effective with swim moves to either side of blocker
— Power rushes have potential
— Good hand placement/punch versus the run
— Can set the edge
— Solid agility to chase down the line and outside
— Solid tackler

The Bad

— Mental processing determining run vs pass
— Misses far too often with his hands when rushing the passer
— Marginal bend, poor ankle flexion to flatten to quarterback
— Bull rush stalls out after a couple steps
— Mechanical and segmented in his movements
— Lacks play strength to shed blockers in a timely manner
— Gets washed out of plays by blocks from his side and double team
— Saw zero reps in coverage

Bio

— 2022: 43 tackles, 16 solo, 7 TFL, 6 sacks, 1 PBU, 2 FR, 4 FF
— Career: 89 tackles, 35 solo, 13 TFL, 10.5 sacks, 1 PBU, 2 FR, 4 FF
— 34 games, 18 starts
— Transferred from University of Guelph in Ontario
— At Guelph, had 65 tackles, 13.5 sacks
— Led team in sacks and forced fumbles
— In high school, he also lettered in basketball and track and field
— Graduated with a bachelor’s in multi-disciplinary studies in December 2022
— Birthday 1/3/99 (age 24)

Tape Breakdown

After two years playing in Canada, Tavius Robinson headed south. Way south. He is a long, lean edge player who lines up from the 4i technique to the wide nine and even a couple of snaps rushing the passer from over the center. He was the field side defensive end in a 3-3-5 scheme.

As a pass rusher, he played out of 3- and 4-point stances and has solid snap quickness and uses long strides to eat up space. He plays with good pad level and uses active hands to distress the tackle with chops and swipes. Within his pass rush plan, he was most effective with swim moves to either side of the blocker. His bull rush and stab move have potential down the road. He has solid athleticism and will give good chase out of the pocket. He also displayed good acceleration as the looper on twists.

The swim move was his most effective when rushing the passer.

He has solid quickness as the looper and gets a nice hit on the quarterback.

Against the run, he fires out with solid snap quickness, good pad level and good hand placement into the blocker. Using solid play strength, he can extend his arms and get into position to play 2-gap when setting the edge. He can hold off tackles and his hands really stun tight ends. He has solid agility to chase outside and down the line from the backside. When playing 1-gap, he has solid quickness to get his head across and into the gap to make the blocker work to keep him out. Overall, he is a solid tackler using his length to assist in wrapping up runners.

He has the ability to set the edge. Here he forces the ball back inside to the linebacker.

He has solid agility working down the line from the backside or chasing the screen outside.

On this play he showed solid quickness to get across the face of the blocker to clog the lane.

When rushing the passer his hands are ineffective. He misses a lot with the chops and swipes rendering them ineffective. When trying to corner around the tackle he has marginal bend and poor ankle flexion, often just getting too far up field because he can’t flatten to the quarterback. Right now, his bull rush stalls after a couple steps.

There is minimal bend and poor bend in his ankles. Saw plays like this a couple of times where he ends up eight yards past the line of scrimmage before attempting to bend.

He is segmented in his movements. Fire out, stay low, punch with hands. It’s somewhat mechanical. His mental processing is adequate when determining run vs pass. When shedding the blocker, he has marginal play strength and is too slow to disengage. Lateral blocks will wash him out of the play unable to hold his ground versus down blocks as well as double team blocks.

Here he engages the left tackle well and has an eye on the ball from an inside position. He can’t get off the block and the runner goes right by him.

Conclusion

Robinson has good size and length with room to add weight and strength. He has solid snap quickness, can get on the hip of tackles quickly and is most effective with swim moves. Power rushes have potential but need work. Against the run, he plays with good pad level, hand placement and solid play strength to set the edge. He can stun tight ends with his punch, has solid quickness on outside zone plays and is a solid tackler.

Areas to improve include adding play strength and improving his hand usage when rushing the passer. Improving his power rushes will add to his effectiveness. Processing the plays more quickly and loosening up to play more freely will help him versus the run. He needs to identify blocks and get off or around them more effectively.

Robinson has some tools that will make him interesting to an even front defense. Adding play strength and adding 15-20 pounds of muscle will help him in the long run. There’s potential to be a power rusher but he needs to be coached up. He wouldn’t be a great fit in Pittsburgh, but a 4-3 team could see him as someone to take a chance on.

For a comp, I will go with Romeo Okwara, who played at Notre Dame. He too had the size and look of an Edge but was also mechanical and struggled to get off blocks. He signed as a UDFA with the New York Giants but has done well with the Detroit Lions after catching on there.

Projection: Late Day Three

Depot Draft Grade:  6.3 End of Roster/Practice Squad (6th Round)

Games Watched: 2022 – vs Auburn, at Texas A&M, vs Alabama, vs Mississippi State