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SoCalRAMatic
We had two first rounders that year and GRob busted big time. But, with our other mid first rounder we got AD. Many experts consider AD to be the best player in the NFL. We had a great draft. If you flip flop the picks then it looks much better. Pretend AD was the second over all. Now, GRob was the mid first who missed. How does that feel?
#1. People debate sometimes whose pick it was. Well it was the Rams pick. The Rams draft process is to produce a consensus ranked board weeks before the draft. They all then stand behind the rankings after that (though when it comes to the actual pick need is a consideration). They would not have picked Robinson if he had not been ranked high--and that means everyone bought in. BUT when it comes to drafting OL, the OL coach always has a strong voice. Odds are Boudreau was huge on Robinson. In fact there's evidence of that, based on things Boudreau has said about GR.
#2. Snead has defended that pick and still defends that pick. His reasoning is that if you have a very high pick, you swing for the fences and try to get someone who has the capacity to be something special. Robinson, just as a physical specimen, fits that bill. So he was a Rams consensus pick, and everyone bought in---both Fisher and Snead included. I have heard speculation that the GR pick might have tarnished Snead with the Rams brass. Nah it don't work like that. You don't take a Donald and ignore that in assessing a GM and then hold an OL pick against him in an era when OL picks are much iffier.
#3. Up until about 2010 or so first round OL was the safest pick there was. That has changed, largely because of the college spread. It's harder to assess linemen now. So between 2012 and 2015, there were 25 first round OL picks, and 15 of them did not end up being a stable starter with the team that picked them (this would include guys who busted at tackle and moved to guard for another team). Many of those are flat out busts. That's a 40% hit rate. In contrast, from 2004-2008, there were 22 first round OL picks, and 19 of them were "hits." That's an 86% hit rate.
Times have changed. GR is not the only recent high-picked OL to struggle.
#4. Robinson may have failed with the Rams but he is still a starter in the league. As of right now he's the Browns starting LOT. So it may have taken him awhile, but this is not a Tye Hill type flat-out complete bust. I would not say Robinson "busted big time." He was slow to develop, he was yet another recent high-picked OL who has struggled, he was absolutely a
big disappointment especially given his draft position--but a guy who is still in the league 6 years later is not a pure big-time bust. Tye Hill was that. Robinson was something different from that.
