Brian Robinson Jr. trade rumors: How a seventh-rounder made Commanders RB expendable, plus a few landing spots
It looks as though Robinson's time in Washington is coming to an end
By
Jared Dubin
•
3 min read
The Washington Commanders have a crowded running back room. They used four backs at different times last year in Brian Robinson Jr., Austin Ekeler, Jeremy McNichols and Chris Rodriguez Jr. Some of that was due to injuries, of course, but all four backs remain on the team, and they added rookie Jacory Croskey-Merritt in the seventh round.
With all those bodies, it's apparently put Robinson's roster status in some jeopardy. It was reported on Sunday that Washington is shopping Robinson around the league ahead of the regular season, while Commanders beat reporter Ben Standig said last week that Robinson was "unlikely" to make the roster.
Amid this speculation, Robinson won't play in Washington's preseason game on Monday night. It's a "mutual" decision between Robinson and the team, per NFL Media, as a trade or cut remains a possibility.
Some of this is due to the presence of Croskey-Merritt, who has been drawing rave reviews in camp. The rookie played just one game last year due to eligibility issues, but ran for 1,164 yards and 13 touchdowns during his time at Alabama State and then 1,190 yards and 17 touchdowns in a year at New Mexico before being limited to 13 carries for 106 yards and a score at Arizona a year ago.
With Ekeler again ticketed for the passing-down and two-minute drill work, Robinson's role was likely to be limited to early downs this year anyway. But given he's in the final year of his rookie contract and Croskey-Merritt is just starting his own rookie deal, it appears Washington could be interested in simply cutting ties and moving that work over to the rookie, who showed more explosiveness during his college career than Robinson has at the NFL level.
That's an important part of this as well. Robinson has averaged just 4.1 yards per carry during his three NFL seasons, topping out at 4.3 per carry last year. Those are below-average figures -- especially for a back operating next to an elite quarterback rushing threat like Jayden Daniels. If he can't be more efficient in the grinder role, it makes sense to try to find someone who can. That's especially true because Robinson almost never created any breakaway runs: just 6.4% of his carries resulted in what Tru Media categorizes as an explosive gain (12-plus yards), a figure that ranked 35th out of 46 qualified backs last season.
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It therefore wouldn't be surprising if the Commanders actually couldn't find a home for Robinson via trade. The teams that could be in need of running back help, like the Cowboys or potentially the Texans due to Joe Mixon's injury, don't really seem like fits for a player like Robinson.
Dallas already has Javonte Williams and Miles Sanders, and there's not much in the way of evidence that Robinson is a significant upgrade. The Cowboys also drafted Jaydon Blue for an explosive-play element and Phil Mafah as a grinder type. Houston, meanwhile, has not just Mixon (who could obviously return to the fold at some point) but Nick Chubb and Dameon Pierce, and just drafted Woody Marks.
Who else out there needs a running back so badly that it would give up actual draft capital for a back who seems like a replacement-level early-down grinder? The Dolphins? They drafted Ollie Gordon II to potentially fill that role beside De'Von Achane. The Bengals? They added Tahj Brooks behind Chase Brown. The Broncos brought in J.K. Dobbins to work with RJ Harvey. The Bears have options with Roschon Johnson and Kyle Monangai with D'Andre Swift. The Buccaneers still have Rachaad White and Sean Tucker alongside Bucky Irving.
There are really just two teams that might make some degree of sense on paper, but they also probably wouldn't want to give up any draft capital for a running back.
The Chargers might have a need depending on what happens with Najee Harris because they might not want to overwork rookie Omarion Hampton. But they just invested a first-round pick in Hampton, and it doesn't make sense to give up more to take a one-year flier on Robinson.
The Saints don't really have much of a complement to Alvin Kamara, but they also aren't really in a position to be sending away future draft capital for anything at the moment. They're finally in a real rebuilding phase and they should be hoarding all the draft assets they can get.
If the Commanders can't find any takers for Robinson in a trade, it's now looking like a release is potentially possible. He would then be free to sign with the team of his choosing, assuming he goes unclaimed on waivers. And that could open up the universe of potential landing spots to a few more teams.
