ARob = Blessing in disguise
- Thread starter BSpringsteen
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JRHawks5969
Well-Known Member
And as we've seen before, Kirk has a bad habit of playing the experienced player with no upside over the inexperienced player with significant upside. Kyle McCann over Brad Banks, Jake Christiansen over Ricky Stanzi, etc.
ARob was nothing special. His loss concerns me only from a depth standpoint, certainly not from a productivity standpoint.
SwirlinLingerie
Well-Known Member
The thing that I liked most about Robinson was his determination, toughness, persistence and work ethic.
Before we all say we're better off without him, let's not forget the grit he showed coming back with a high ankle sprain as a freshman in the Horseshoe with everything on the line. You win championships with young men like that.
That's what makes this so disappointing. Robinson displayed all the characteristics of a winner. More specifically, he showed all the characteristics that Iowa has been able to win with, despite not always having the most highly rated recruits.
He was tough, he worked hard, he didn't complain about always being counted out, he didn't fumble, until now he didn't cause problems for the coaches, he never gave up on a run, he played through injuries, he blocked well, he was well liked by coaches and teammates, and he was a lightly recruited player from the state of Iowa.
I'm mad that he's thrown this all away, too. But let's not pretend that Adam Robinson wasn't a huge part of Iowa's success the past two seasons. Before November, Robinson was becoming an all-time Hawkeye feel good story.
This is a sad day.
Before we all say we're better off without him, let's not forget the grit he showed coming back with a high ankle sprain as a freshman in the Horseshoe with everything on the line. You win championships with young men like that.
That's what makes this so disappointing. Robinson displayed all the characteristics of a winner. More specifically, he showed all the characteristics that Iowa has been able to win with, despite not always having the most highly rated recruits.
He was tough, he worked hard, he didn't complain about always being counted out, he didn't fumble, until now he didn't cause problems for the coaches, he never gave up on a run, he played through injuries, he blocked well, he was well liked by coaches and teammates, and he was a lightly recruited player from the state of Iowa.
I'm mad that he's thrown this all away, too. But let's not pretend that Adam Robinson wasn't a huge part of Iowa's success the past two seasons. Before November, Robinson was becoming an all-time Hawkeye feel good story.
This is a sad day.
hawkeyebob62
Well-Known Member
Excellent post.
JRHawks5969
Well-Known Member
Not really. The poster complements ARob in every way (plays hard, work ethic, etc.) except what really matters...is he an elite running back?
And the answer to that question is, of course, "no".
That's a problem as Iowa has a history of elite college running backs. So we can certainly do better.
tm3308
Well-Known Member
This pretty much sums up my feelings about all this. He was very quickly rising up my charts for favorite Hawkeye of all time. Unfortunately for me, he and DJK were my two favorite players. They still are, even though it's unlikely that A-Rob will be back now. But they'll never be all-timers, just guys that I remember who made a couple years of my college experience very fun.
albertyoungisgood
Well-Known Member
what really matters is "is he an elite running back?" so, if somebody leaves it's no big deal unless they are elite? that may be the case for bama or florida, but not for Iowa, yes, we have had some elites, but at any given time we usually don't have more than 3 or 4 on the field. We need those guys who are described in this post, and we need every one we can get.
nice post above, tm3308
tm3308
Well-Known Member
We have a history of good running backs. Elite? Come on man. How many backs have we put in the NFL? It ain't that many. Guys like Adrian Peterson, Shonn Greene, LaMichael James, etc. are elite backs. Ladell Betts, Fred Russell, Albert Young, and Adam Robinson are all good backs. Not elite, but good.
AIRHAWK
Well-Known Member
This is correct. We usually do better when we are under the radar. The problem with this, once again, is that we start out not being ranked, get on a bit of a roll and start getting some notice. The talking head experts don't give us any respect, we slowly, very slowly, climb the polls. We get knocked off by a team that we should handle (Happens every year), we take a big I told ya so fall in the polls and then slowly start to climb back up. In the end, we run out of time, win about 8-9 games, dont get drubbed by anyone, lose some tight games, get to about #12-16. Go to the Outback Bowl and win. Then Jon and other appologists lay claim to being one of only 6 or 7 teams to finish with at least 8 wins in 8 of the last 12 years or some other obscure or lame comparison to give us relevance. Then the cycle starts all over again. High expectations, disappointment, under the radar, over acheive. SighOf course he won't be missed!
After all, Iowa will now be under the radar again next year, which means they can exceed the limited and much lower expectations that the fans, players, and coaches will put upon the Iowa football program!
CRHawk2002
Well-Known Member
We put plenty of backs in the NFL. You can work your way backwards and its quite a few backs. Elite is pretty subjective. But Arob in my opinion was not on the same level as Greene, AY, Betts, Banks, Shaw, etc. He was serviceable. Good blocker, caught the ball well, and was average running the football. I wouldnt consider him a game breaker/changer in the big ten conference. And while you say he is just the type of player we need because he plays hard, and has strong work ethic, this obviously may be the case on the field. Off the field it appears he does not put the team in front of himself, which is exactly what the Hawks do not need. I still dont think he would have started last year without injuries, this year without injuries, or next year without injuries. He was depth, and unfortunately he got on the field. Coker is better running the football. He is also more of a wear you down back the Arob, and he will be better in short yardage and has more breakaway speed then Arob.
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It's a shame about AROB. He was another great hawkeye story.....not recruited strongly but developed into a decent player.....he wasn't a game breaker.....Wegher was......AROB was smart and played solid......Coker and Johnson can do the same......Our O Line should be strong next year......2 years ago when we had AROB and Wegher along with Paki carrying the rock we did fine.........AROB is most likely out and we need to get behind Coker, Johnson (who I think might be surprisingly good) and Jason White along with some damn good incoming freshman. Our O line is going to make folks look good and we will need to be a control O next year as our D won't be as strong. I think we will be ok. Won't make a big difference in the outcome of the year in 2011.......I think some of these guys and their failure to act right has had a huge impact on the 2010 season though.......HUGE IMPACT!
Do you remember how we all thought two years ago that there was no way we could replace King and Kroul in the middle of the D line? I loved both those guys but my point is that other guys stepped in and made the most of their opportunities and for the last two years we haven't heard a word about how sorely missed the K boys are. Robinson is now gone. I liked him but he was not going to be running the rock for this team next year as you will see based on what Coker will be doing for this team behind an experienced OL. The journey for Coker starts tonight you will see...
tm3308
Well-Known Member
A-Rob was pretty damn good in short-yardage situations. He wasn't going to bowl someone over, but he'd find a way to pick up 2 yards when you needed 1.
tm3308
Well-Known Member
I don't think there's anyone saying that he's impossible to replace. But to diminish his accomplishments and treat what he's done for this program over the past two years like trash is just ignorant. There is now not one proven back on the roster. Even if Coker establishes himself, he's just one. He goes down? Maybe Johnson or Coe steps in and does just fine. Maybe not, there's no way to know. But you know what you've got in a guy like A-Rob, and he wouldn't just disappear next year, even if Coker took over the featured job.
