Fun facts about new Eagles defensive end Janarius Robinson

Six days ahead of the Philadelphia Eagles‘ home-opener on Monday Night Football, the Birds have raided the Minnesota Vikings roster. As expected, they’ve announced that a torn ACL led to the decision to send Derek Barnett to the team’s injured reserve. In a subsequent move, they’ve added Janarius Robinson to their active roster from the Vikes’ practice squad. He’s now on the active roster.

Philly now has four defensive ends on the active roster (Brandon Graham, Josh Sweat, and Tarron Jackson are the other three). Robinson is a six-foot-five, 258-pound defensive end the Vikes added in Round 4 during the 2021 NFL Draft. His rookie season ended with his own trip to the injured reserve, but he has some ability.

We did some research. His motor has been questioned at times which is a huge red flag, but if he decides that he wants to make good on a second opportunity, he could be a nice addition. We like a lot of what we saw other than that. Let’s get into some specifics.

Here are a couple of fun facts about the newest member of the Philadelphia Eagles, Janarius Robinson.

Expecting the new guy to contribute a ton early might be a tough ask as the Eagles’ defensive playbook requires a steep learning curve, so it’s uncertain if Janarius Robinson will have an immediate role and, if so what that role will be. Tarron Jackson, who was a healthy scratch in Week 1, figures to be the next man up as Philly elected against promoting Matt Leo from their own practice squad. They also have the option of allowing Milton Williams to play along the edge if need be as he has shown that versatility in the past.

Here are a few other nuggets that you may see as being interesting.

Janarius Robinson is also a former teammate of Josh Sweat, Auden Tate, and Marvin Wilson at the NCAA level.

Robinson and fellow Eagles defensive end Josh Sweat were teammates at the Florida State for the Seminoles in 2017. Eagles scout teamers Auden Tate and Marvin Wilson were on that squad as well. Like Sweat, Tate’s run in Tallahassee ended in 2017. Wilson and Robinson remained teammates until 2020.

As a tandem, Robinson and Sweat tallied 60 tackles and 6.5 sacks in 2017 though most of that stat line belonged to the upper-classman, Mr. Sweat. Robinson finished his four-year run at the NCAA level by adding 25 tackles and seven sacks to his collegiate resume during his swan song.

One of the best evaluators of collegiate talent once compared Robinson to Cornelius Washington.

In his draft profile of Janarius, NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein gave him a grade of 5.94, meaning he expects him to become an average backup or special-teamer. His NFL comparison of the former Nole was Cornelius Washington who appeared in 46 games with four starts as a professional and tallied 54 tackles, 5.5 sacks, and four pass breakups during his five-year run.

Robinson has yet to crack the NFL’s stat book, but he added five tackles, 0.5 sacks, and two quarterback hits to his resume during the first two preseason games. It will be interesting to see how he develops during his time in the City of Brotherly Love.