OTAs buzz on Bengals rookie could signal significant role sooner than expected

What can one deduce from any NFL team's OTAs? Not a lot when it comes to the defensive line, but Cincinnati Bengals rookie Landon Robinson sure hasn't felt like your average seventh-round pick.

Robinson enters pro football from the Naval Academy, which isn't exactly an NIL hotbed full of multi-million dollar player contracts and elementary scholastic work. This young man had all kinds of other obligations, and wasn't playing for some powerhouse program.

None of those obstacles stopped Robinson from exploding onto the Bengals' radar as a first-team All-American. Many believed Robinson — whose measurables and athletic tests are eerily similar to Cincinnati legend Geno Atkins — should've been drafted far sooner.

Again, we're talking OTAs. No pads. No real hitting. Nevertheless, the early word on Robinson is encouraging.

Bengals DT Landon Robinson already making a strong impression through OTAs

As shared by Bengals radio voice Dan Hoard, Bengals defensive line coach Jerry Montgomery really dialed in on Robinson's technique, giving him lots of "hands-on instruction." Rather than take it personal, the rookie took it all in stride:

“That means he cares...If you’re doing something (wrong) and he’s like, ‘Run that back, get it right,’ that’s when you know he cares. You’ve got to be coachable and you’ve got to learn from your mistakes.”

Indeed, if a pupil shows promise, the teacher tends to invest more, demand more, expect more, and so on. It's no surprise Robinson has the right mindset when it comes to work ethic. How else do you achieve what he did at Navy on and off the field?

With all this nuanced coaching from a professional coaching staff — all due respect to the Midshipmen, but it ain't the NFL — and Robinson's undivided attention now on football, what are his limits?

In his last two years of college ball, Robinson racked up 125 combined tackles (14 TFL), 10.5 sacks, and two forced fumbles. All the while Navy asked him to play nose tackle very often for a 5'11", 293-pound guy.

Put yourself in the shoes of someone trying to block Robinson, such as in the footage below. Tell me this doesn't look ever so slightly terrifying.

One neat twist to this Bengals draft class was the fact that they went outside their comfort zone on some traditional measurables. Robinson's squatty build, and second-round pick Cashius Howell's historically short arms, didn't dissuade Cincinnati from taking who the scouts believed was the best player/fit available at the time.

Robinson and Howell both feel like they have the explosive athleticism and resulting pass rushing production to thrive as outliers. Plus, Robinson represents far more pass rush upside than 2024 second-round pick Kris Jenkins Jr., and his unconventional frame poses a potential center of gravity/displacement/leverage problem for the offensive lines he goes against.

Bet against Landon Robinson at your own risk. He may have been the 226th overall pick in the draft, but before long, he should prove to be one of the biggest steals of the entire class.

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