While Pittsburgh Steelers WR Allen Robinson II may have started his career playing on the outside as a vertical threat, he has extended his career by transitioning to the slot receiver position. As Alex Kozora put it, Robinson’s role on the field will be as the team’s big slot.
Not all receivers are suited to the position due to the intricacies that set it apart from the outside receiver position, though. Robinson talked about the nuances of the position when he joined Mike Prisuta and Craig Wolfley for Training Camp Live after Wednesday’s training camp practice at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, PA.
“Being able to understand defense, being able to see leverage,” Robinson said. “Getting a full picture of what the defense is trying to do, snap in and snap out. That’s in the run game and in the pass game.”
When a receiver is playing on the outside, he typically only has to worry about the cornerback in front of him, whether the corner has safety help, and where the sideline is. (Obviously, slant routes can change that, but we’re talking in generalities here.) In the run game, he only has to worry about where the cornerback is and locking him up. It can be a more isolated, one-on-one position.
Slot receivers, due to their proximity to the middle of the field, can interact with a lot more players on a given play. A slot receiver might encounter a nickel corner, a safety coming down into the box, and even linebackers. That’s whether it’s a passing play or a running play. There’s potentially a lot more trash to handle for a slot receiver trying to get open in zone or man coverage.
That means a slot receiver better have one of two attributes to be able to navigate the middle of the field: shiftiness or size. Robinson may not be as fast as he was at the NFL Combine when he ran a 4.6 forty-yard dash, but he possesses enough size to be able to handle the role of a big slot. That means making an impact in the passing game as well as a blocker in the run game.
Robinson also simply can make himself a good target for quarterbacks. In Kozora’s article on Robinson’s role, he points out that ESPN had Robinson as tied for the 28th-best receiver in the league at getting open, beating out other wide receivers like Keenan Allen, Jaylen Waddle, and Cooper Kupp. It’s apparent that Robinson has a good grasp of the nuances of route running and what defenses are trying to do, just as any high-quality slot receiver should.
