The 2015 football season has been a roller coaster for the Oregon secondary. Through eight games, the Ducks have started seven unique combinations of defensive backs.
Injuries to cornerback Chris Seisay and safety Reggie Daniels, plus shaky play from cornerback Arrion Springs early in the season, forced Oregon to scrounge its depth chart for answers. Charles Nelson, a wide receiver last season, has filled the void at safety the last three games, and Juwaan Williams has spent time at the position. Freshman Ugo Amadi and redshirt freshman Glen Ihenacho each have started multiple games at cornerback, but those experiments were short-lived.
The rock of the defensive backs group is redshirt sophomore Tyree Robinson, the only member of Oregon’s secondary to have started every game this season.
Listed at 6-foot-4 and 205 pounds, Robinson has the body, speed and the tackling ability of a strong safety, the position he’s played throughout his collegiate career — until recently. Robinson shifted to cornerback in Oregon’s win over Washington on Oct. 17, and appears to have found his niche.
“Coach Neal always said to me, ‘Tyree, I might have to put you in at corner,’ just because of the way I move and if there’s a big receiver who we need to put size on,” Robinson said. “Once he told me that, I was always perfecting my craft, just in case it was my number that got called in to take over that position.”
Defensive backs coach John Neal said Robinson’s transition to cornerback has gone great.
“I knew he would be a really good corner,” Neal said. “He’s a good football player who understands the game, so no matter where we put him, he would probably be a pretty good football player.”
Robinson was taking reps at cornerback during practice well before he changed positions. He played cornerback almost exclusively for Lincoln High School in his hometown of San Diego, California. He learned safety once he came to Oregon because it was a quicker way to get on the field, so he’s comfortable returning to his old role.
“I’m settling in pretty well,” Robinson said. “[In high school,] I didn’t always have the perfect technique. When I got the chance to play it here, I knew it was going to be a big change because the game is much faster, and receivers are not going to let me just push them around all the time on the field.”
Robinson’s stature makes him a physically imposing cornerback. He’s taller than most of the receivers he defends, so he matches up well in man coverage. At the same time, his height can be problematic if he doesn’t stay low out of his drop.
“When you’re a tall person, you’re always fighting gravity,” defensive coordinator Don Pellum said. “You’re always fighting standing up straight, which is not the position football is played in.”
Robinson sees his height as an advantage.
“When quarterbacks see a 6’4” corner out there on the side, they’re thinking twice about throwing that pass,” Robinson said. “6’4” corners are rare, and I could be something special.”
Robinson was an elite two-sport athlete in high school. When colleges were recruiting him, every offer they made him to play football was also a dual offer to play basketball. He wanted to play both.
He initially pursued the avenue of playing for head coach Dana Altman on the Oregon men’s basketball team, in addition to football. But after his redshirt year on the football team, he realized he had an opportunity for playing time and decided to specialize on the gridiron.
“I didn’t want to limit myself because I know that I can do both at the next level, but once I got here, I could see that it was going to be hard, time management-wise,” Robinson said. “I haven’t touched a basketball in probably a year, but I could get out there and play open gym with the guys on the basketball team, and they know I could still go a little bit.”
Robinson and his twin brother, Tyrell, a linebacker, played on the same football and basketball teams throughout their childhoods, and even played football together their first year at Oregon. Tyrell felt he wasted his redshirt year and didn’t get a fair chance, though, so instead he pursued an opportunity to play at Fresno State.
“It was hard for me because we always dreamed of coming to Oregon and being successful here together, as brothers,” Tyree said. “I saw what my brother went through during his true freshman year, and I worked my tail off, so when it was my turn to play, I was going to be ready. I wasn’t going to have any regrets.”
Robinson has managed to record a team-high three interceptions this season, including a crucial pick last Saturday against Arizona State, when Oregon was down by a touchdown with less than two minutes remaining in regulation. On the ensuing drive, quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. completed a miraculous touchdown pass to Dwayne Stanford on 4th-and-goal, which tied the score and sent the game to overtime with 12 seconds remaining.
Robinson recorded two interceptions earlier this season in Oregon’s win over Georgia State, the first of which he returned 41 yards for his first career touchdown on the game’s opening drive.
Robinson and the secondary face a big test on Saturday, when they’ll be tasked with defending quarterback Jared Goff, a projected first-round NFL draft pick, and the California Golden Bears.
Follow Kenny Jacoby on Twitter @KennyJacoby
Tyree Robinson: The rock of the secondary
Kenny Jacoby
November 4, 2015
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