Well, we’ll continue to have differing points of view on Robinson. I don’t think he’s washed-up to the point of not being worth anything. As far as not trying? It’s a tough call to say a professional athlete didn’t try because they had a bad season. I could maybe buy into that line of reasoning if the athlete in question had a history of doing so; of being a problem. From everything I’ve been able to read on him, I don’t think that was the case. So, for me, lack of effort is a stretch. He has three really good seasons in his career, with two of those happening in Chicago. A contract for three years, worth $46.5 million from the team that just won the Super Bowl, tells me maybe they know something the Bears don’t (which isn’t all that hard to imagine, by the way).
As I stated in the article from a couple of weeks ago, I believe Robinson’s down season is far more related to how pathetic the Bears were (still are?). There are many contributing factors: The emergence of Darnell Mooney; the fact Robinson played in only 12 games, missing two as a result of battling COVID while losing 10 pounds in the process and missing the other three games with a hamstring injury; playing in an offense as offensive as the Bears last season which couldn’t support decent seasons out of multiple WRs while also involving the RB and the TE; the TE, Cole Kmet, who ranked 12th among TEs in 2021 in receptions (1 reception away from ranking 9th in the league at the position); playing with a rookie QB who is more likely to check down and dump off passes to a TE than a non-rookie QB would be.
Remember, Kupp is two months OLDER than Robinson so I don’t think Robinson’s age can be used as an excuse. So why did Kupp, at 28 y.o., have the season he did? Robert Woods, while a good complementary WR, I would say isn’t as good as Robinson; also, after Woods went down, you had the replacement WR in Beckham, learning a new offense and while doing so, more looks and targets went Kupp’s way; the Rams offense was simply far, far superior to what the Bears were trying to do every week; the Rams had (have) a much better QB, a veteran (who could possibly sneak into the Hall of Fame) instead of a rookie (who definitely won’t be in the HoF) trying to learn his way.
Things are set up for Robinson to have a massive bounce-back season, in my opinion. I would be buying shares where possible. As I also mentioned in the other article, I could see, if Robinson is able to play the whole season (instead of the Rams having Woods for the first half and Beckham for the second half), he could put up a line somewhere in the neighborhood of 80 – 90 receptions; 1100 – 1200 receiving yards; and 6 – 8 TDs, a very solid mid-range WR2. Don’t forget, Cooper Kupp, while a very good WR, is no Jerry Rice and he will not repeat 145-1947-16; implying that regression will go somewhere. And again, if Robinson can play the whole season, he will be the primary beneficiary of that regression. Also, opportunity is everything and the Rams offense provides a much better opportunity than the Bears offense would (or ever will).
