MOBILE, Alabama — Missouri DE Darius Robinson drew a lot of attention at the Senior Bowl this year. Just one look at his body and you would understand why. His Senior Bowl measurements came in at 6-5, 286 pounds, with 34 3/4-inch arms, and his body type is extremely athletic and muscular. His weight came in about ten pounds lighter than expected which complicates his projection within certain defensive systems. Similar to Pittsburgh Steelers DL DeMarvin Leal, who the team still hasn’t figured out where to develop him, Robinson is slightly too light to play 5-tech DE and slightly too big to play as an EDGE defender. I asked him about this during a Media Day interview at the Senior Bowl.
“I see myself playing everything,” Robinson told me. “What I’m showing NFL teams during practice, I can line up and play any position. Whoever wants to draft me, they know that I’m gonna play as hard as I possibly can and I’m versatile…wherever they line me up—outside, inside—it doesn’t matter. I just wanna play ball.”
During Senior Bowl practices he was playing outside as an edge defender a whole lot more than inside along the defensive line. He showed a variety of moves and different ways to win from wherever he was lined up. He was able to collapse the pocket with a bull rush, win with speed on the outside with a swipe-swim, or counter back inside with a cross-chop or inside spin. And he did have at least one rep that I saw where he lined up as a DT in a team session where he beat a reach block and shot into the backfield for a TFL. Check out Alex Kozora’s detailed scouting report on him here.
When asked if there was a particular drill that he wanted to ace at the upcoming NFL Scouting Combine to prove something to NFL teams, he answered without hesitation.
“Bench Press,” Robinson said. “I wanna show everybody how strong I am. Just lifted a lot of weights my whole life, so it’s time to kick it in on national tv.”
A solid showing of strength could go a long way in proving he can handle NFL guards and tackles as an interior defender.
Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin is always a prominent figure at the Senior Bowl. He gets up close and personal to many of the practice sessions and interacts with a lot of players in the process. I asked Robinson what it was like to have a guy like Tomlin around and whether or not he had spoken to him at all.
“I’ve met him twice. He’s a very great coach,” Robinson said. “It’s crazy seeing him in real life, honestly. He gave me a lot of good feedback and things I need to work on as a player. Just a great man.” I tried inquiring what types of feedback Tomlin gave, but Robinson declined to answer. “He’s just a great guy, and like I said, he’s a role model.”
Robinson finished his time in college with
Another thing that is very attractive about Robinson as a prospect is his track record as a leader at Missouri. I asked him about being a two-time captain in college.
“It was the best honor I ever received as a player,” Robinson said proudly. “That meant those guys trusted me to represent our program. But I’m like two types of captains. I was like the energy guy for our team, so I was a guy yelling and screaming, getting everybody turned up before the game…also, I was a servant leader. I really believed in helping others.”
The heart and soul of the Steelers’ defense has been DT Cameron Heyward for years, but his time in the league is coming to an end at age 34. Adding a guy that could develop into that role could be a valuable asset in Pittsburgh.
Aside from Robinson the player, I also tried to figure out what type of guy he is outside of sports.
“I do a lot of philanthropy work,” Robinson said. “I started my own non-profit foundation Darius Robinson Helping Hands, so I like to do a lot of community service work. Outside of that, I’m a homebody, so I just like to stay home, relax, watch movies, just hand out.”
He was named to SEC Football’s Community Service Team in 2023 and according to the team website, he spent over 70 hours of community service last season alone. College athletes have extremely busy schedules as it is, so to carve out that much time to help his community shows what type of person he is.
