Draft Profile: FSU’s Jammie Robinson is built for the modern NFL

For some inspiration in what the pre-draft process can do for NFL hopefuls, Florida State safety Jammie Robinson can look to a former teammate-turned-New York Jets draftee.

This time last year, Jermaine Johnson was going through the exact process that Robinson is going through — one that would eventually see him shoot his draft stock up into the first round and become the 26th overall pick.

In addition to a dominant performance over the course of 2021, a major catalyst of his rise on draft boards was the Senior Bowl — where after a strong performance there, Robinson hopes to have a chance to do the same.

Only time will tell what pick he will get drafted, but he was turning many heads in Mobile. Robinson was picked (by his peers) as the best player in his position group.

Jammie has a lot of experience in different roles along the defensive backfield playing 633 box snaps, 759 deep snaps, and 1,348 slot snaps over his collegiate career.

Over the last two seasons in Tallahassee, he played at least 150+ snaps in each of those three alignments.

His versatility is one of his biggest assets, on the NFL’s official draft prospect page for him they had this quote from an AFC area scout:

“I’ve heard the argument that you can’t play him at safety and he’s not a true nickel. That’s overthinking it. You find a place for him because he can ball.”

Being able to play anywhere in the defensive backfield and be above average to elite in any alignment is such a valuable skill set. NFL teams are using formations with 5 or even 6 defensive backs more and more.

This past season he played more snaps at free safety, but in 2021 and 2020 he played the most snap at slot cornerback.

He proved his own when he was among the highest-graded slot coverage defenders.

Texas A&M’s Antonio Johnson is projected to be a high second-round pick or even higher than that, while former Baylor Bear Jalen Pitre was the 37th overall pick in the 2022 draft and is now a promising player for the Houston Texans.

Robinson could fill either safety position, or given his size (5-foot-11), some teams may want him as their slot cornerback.

Here is a great coverage snap of him in practice:

It is so hard for NFL defenses to match up with more and more offenses prioritizing putting their best receivers in the slot. Players like Cooper Kupp, CeeDee Lamb, and Chris Godwin actually play the majority of their pass-catching snaps in the slot.

He can come in and immediately play that slot role because he has proven his ability in coverage and has been elite at filling gaps and getting TFLs around the line of scrimmage.

He may end up playing safety at the next level, but at the Senior Bowl, he was in both the slot and safety role showing what he could do.

A possible NFL comparison for Jammie Robinson? San Fransico 49ers safety Jimmie Ward.

On the NFL’s official draft page, both are listed as 5’11, Jammie is at 194 pounds and Jimmie is at 193 pounds.

In the league Jimmie Ward has played for a few different schemes and positions, playing as a slot cornerback, free safety, box safety, and even outside corner as the coaches and players changed around him. Ward is also known as an elite tackler and has proven to be effective anywhere in coverage.Robinson played in the slot in practice against some tough receiving competition and played free safety in the senior bowl game. Impressing both his peers and NFL teams in the sessions.

He may have been playing either position out of necessity for either session or teams may want to see him in both positions. It will be interesting to see if teams try to fit him into a specific role or if they see him as a utility player in multiple spots.

In coverage, he will win at the next level because of his ball skills, and agility to move from sideline to sideline at an elite level. He has also proven that he can cover well playing either safety or the slot.

He has currently been projected as a second-round pick from both PFF and the NFL’s own draft rankings. It seems that he will settle around the mid-second-round pick to mid-third-round pick range.