When the Pittsburgh Steelers went into the offseason, I would be willing to wager trading for WR Allen Robinson II wasn’t on anyone’s Bingo card.
The Steelers needed a solid third WR behind Diontae Johnson and George Pickens, but acquiring a veteran receiver normally takes a hefty penny when it comes to draft capital as well as cap space to get the deal done.
Fortunately for the Steelers, they managed to acquire Robinson from the Los Angeles Rams for nothing more than a seventh-round pick swap while getting the Rams to eat a portion of his salary.
Robinson has only been in Pittsburgh for a few weeks of practices as the team has progressed through OTAs into mandatory minicamp, but OC Matt Canada is already noticing the impact the veteran WR is making on the position group as well as the offense as a whole.
“Allen is such a leader as he’s coming in and getting involved and has great pride in his work, great pride in his group, great pride in the offense and his has been a real asset to us as far as what it takes to do it,” Canada said to the media Wednesday via audio from 93.7 The Fan. “And I think he’s a really, really good football player, another guy you have to cover. And I think that’s a real benefit for us. So, I’m thrilled that he’s here and I think it adds another dynamic weapon for us.”
Robinson may be the new face in town, but he’s already doing a great job of mentoring the younger guys in the WR room, trying to expand their knowledge based on the experiences he has had playing in the NFL since 2014. He has spent time with George Pickens during OTAs, saying that he sees a lot of himself in the second-year receiver and is doing what he can to help his development after a promising rookie campaign.
Coming off a foot injury that cut short his 2022 season in Los Angeles, Robinson appears nearly fully healthy as he started logging full practices in OTAs. Having dealt with injuries the past two seasons, Robinson hasn’t been able to make the same statistical impact he did a couple years ago when he was posting over 100 catches and over 1,000 yard receiving regularly. He’s looked sharp thus far in summer practices, according to Canada. And his former Bears teammate Mitch Trubisky believes that he can rediscover his playmaking ability he had back in 2020 with Chicago, just needing to stay healthy to be the player who has played at a Pro Bowl level for most of his NFL career.
