It seems like Navy defensive tackle Landon Robinson was destined to be a Bengal. Even if it took until Saturday at dinnertime with their last pick of the NFL Draft in the seventh round.
"I'm ecstatic," says Clif Marshall, the former Bengals weight coach and consultant who navigated the Naval Academy's stringent policies to train Robinson for the draft.
Not only that, Bengals defensive line coach Jerry Montgomery worked the East-West all-star game and saw all the prospects. Not only that, Robinson has been watching video of eight-time Bengals Pro Bowl tackle Geno Atkins. Not only that, Marshall says, Robinson's agent is a Cincinnati lawyer. Not only that, he's an Ohio guy (Akron). Not only that, Robinson made a top 30 visit to Paycor Stadium days ago. Not only that, Navy's most famous NFL Draft pick was Cincinnati native Roger Staubach.
"It's crazy how that is a 180 there. It's pretty crazy. Full circle," Robinson told the Cincinnati media by speaker phone.
And, not only that, the 226th pick the Bengals used on Robinson is known as the Pat Tillman Pick. That's where the Cardinals drafted the Arizona State safety in 1998 to launch a four-year career before he retired in the wake of the 9/11 attacks and joined the Army Rangers. He was killed in action three years later in Afghanistan.
"When you see what this kid went through, it shows you what an amazing guy he is," Marshall said of the undersized and unrelenting Robinson.
Marshall, who worked in different roles for Bengals head strength and conditioning coach Chip Morton from 2005-17, is the guy who has been sending the 5-11, 293-pound Robinson those Geno tapes. Marshall was here when the 6-1, 300-pound Atkins slid to the fourth round in 2010, and the Bengals grabbed the guy who would lead all interior sackers in the ensuing decade.
"I told him teams aren't going to like your size," Marshall says. "But I told him he's talented enough and powerful enough to be able to play. The similarities with Geno are explosiveness, center of gravity, get-off."
Marshall, who served for a decade as Indiana University basketball's head strength and conditioning coach, is back where it all began. Training players for the NFL scouting combine. Only this time he's the director of pro athletes training for D-1 Sports and its 170 facilities.
But because of Naval Academy regulations, Robinson couldn't undergo the typical nine-week program. He had to stay on campus and attend classes during the week before getting written permission each day to go off-site to train at D-1's Virginia facility. Then each weekend, Robinson would fly to train with the Bloomington, Ind.-based Marshall in Indianapolis or Nashville.
"That shows you how much he wanted it," Marshall says.
Marshall is still appalled that Navy's first first-team All-American in 40 years didn't get a combine invite. If he had, Marshall says Robinson would have been drafted in the fifth round because at his pro day Robinson put up agility numbers that would have led all combine defensive tackles and his 4.8-second 40-yard dash would have been close to the top.
Here's a guy Marshall has seen timed at 20 miles per hour in pads, snap off 30 bench presses, and squat 700 pounds.
"You guys got a good one," Marshall said. "Ecstatic."
Hard-core Howell
Cashius Howell, the Bengals' new edge rusher taken in the second round Friday night, learned his lethal I'm-not-backing-down-from-anybody trash talking from his father. As his position coach at Texas A&M can tell you, Howell doesn't need a second lesson in anything.
"Extremely intelligent. Tell him once, and he's pretty much got it," said Stan Watson Saturday from College Station. "One of the favorite guys I've coached."
Howell showed up at Paycor Stadium Saturday with his simmering intensity and gladly took No. 55 even though he had never worn it.
"I like it," said Howell, which sounds an awful lot like the kid who showed up at A&M from Bowling Green two years ago and found himself barely playing behind a future first-rounder and a second-rounder named Shemar Stewart and Nic Scourton, respectively.
"I never heard a word of complaint. He just put his head down. What I remember about the guy is here's a very talented guy showing up playing behind two other very talented guys. That can cause problems in a program. But when his time came, he took advantage of every opportunity he could."
Watson has been around. He spent four years in the NFL before helping usher a legion of Aggies into the NFL during the last decade, including Stewart, also taken with the Bengals' first pick last year.
One of the reasons Watson enjoyed Howell is because he could pretty much do anything they asked. If you think Bengals defensive coordinator Al Golden is going to take advantage of Howell's 252-pound versatility, listen to this:
"There were times on tape he was lining up on the X (receiver) from the corner position and played it in the flat," Watson said. "We asked him to do a lot of different things in our system. Rushing the passer, dropping in coverage, moving him around on third down to play multiple positions. And he plays with an edge, with a physicality."
Barely recruited out of high school and used sparingly when he first arrived at A&M from Bowling Green. Howell blows hot with an AFC North chip on his shoulder. Although, Howell admits, he's never been quite sure about the NFL's conference and division alignments.
Like Watson says, he's a quick learner.
"We'd have a practice," Watson says, "and before we met the next day, he would have watched it, really devoured it. He wanted to get everything out of it he could. Being around guys like that is fun."
Absolutely no question, Watson says. Not only is Howell going to make it, he predicts he'll play for a long time.
"He's not going to be a guy that gets a payday, and he floats his way through," Watson says. "He's relentless. A physical player. If you're really smart and you're talented and you play really hard, you can play a long time."
He's My Brother
When the Bengals tapped Georgia wide receiver Colbie Young with their second pick in the fourth round, his older brother Devin Young called it a full-circle moment for the family as they gathered to celebrate in their hometown of Binghamton in the Southern Tier of New York that nudges Pennsylvania.
The region is a hotbed of basketball and baseball, but only three players from the city's high school have made it to the NFL. None since the year Jackie Robinson broke baseball's color line.
But Colbie Young says he had the best role model of all.
"He got a great opportunity at Maine, put up numbers there, and came up short of his opportunity in the NFL," Colbie Young told the Cincinnati media from Binghamton. "He's one of my football mentors and someone I look up to."
Devin Young, an MVP in a regional title game after leading the Patriots to a sectional championship, got a full ride to the University of Maine as a prolific wide receiver, running back, and returner. After COVID wiped out his last two seasons in Orono, he gave the NFL a shot at two pro days. He drove to Columbia University and then to Portland, Maine for trials in front of the scouts, and didn't get an offer.
But he was delighted his brother got it five years later.
"This takes me back to around COVID when I worked out every day with my brother," said Devin of that grim 2020 and 2021. "I was trying to give him what I knew and help him develop."
Not only did the pandemic end Devin's career at Maine, but it also crimped the recruiting and development of Colbie coming out of Binghamton, and he opted to attend Lackawanna Junior College in Pennsylvania before the glory days at Miami and Georgia.
"I couldn't be happier. I'm overjoyed," Devin said. "For him to have this moment, coming from a small town, and to get this chance. It's a full-circle moment for our family. Since I got my scholarship in 2017, it's been a dream for a decade."
Slants and Screens
Robinson was watching the draft when he realized how significant it was to get selected at the Tillman pick.
"It's such a blessing. I was waiting here with all my family and friends for the pick to go through, so we were kind of waiting for a long time," Robinson said. "But it couldn't be a cooler award, and I think that just truly represents the military and the service. To be able to have that pick tied to me just means a lot, for sure." …
Robinson is so popular with the fan base that it seemed like a local pick. The round before, there actually was a local pick when St. Xavier and Duke offensive linemen Brian Parker II got the call.
"I have a lot of friends there, and when they said it was going to be the Bengals, it's one of the better feelings in the world to be able to go back to your hometown team, put on that orange and black, and get ready for Who Dey nation," said Parker, who had a favorite as a kid.
"Anthony Munoz came and talked to my middle school one time, so probably him, even though I never saw him play," Parker said. "That speech at my middle school was inspiring and something I've always remembered."
The Hall of Famer Munoz might have been his favorite, but he'll be compared to another local legend, Bengals Ring of Honor member Dave Lapham. Bengals head coach Zac Taylor is saying Parker has the qualities to play all five O-line spots. During his ten-year career, Lapham played every spot in a game twice.
Here's another reason the Bengals like him. Parker has no questions that he can play tackle despite a college career heavy with work in the interior.
"Obviously, my measurables, arm-length wise (just under 33 inches) and stuff, aren't the most ideal for tackle," Parker told the Cincy media. "But I feel like my abilities allow me to play out there, and I showed it against top talent in my college career. If playing inside is going to get me on the field quickest, then that's what I'll do, and if that's what the team needs then that's what I'll do.
"I played center in high school for St. Xavier, was recruited to play center out of high school, got to college and moved to tackle, so I've done this before and moved around and became an All-American. So, I feel confident in my abilities and just excited to get the opportunity." …
Robinson though the Dexter Lawrence trade put the Bengals' search for more defensive tackles on pause, but he didn't think it took him off the board.
"I think I definitely could have went sooner, but I think they just had priorities that they wanted to get done with the team. I
think having Dexter Lawrence take up that 10th pick, I think that definitely put a little hold on the defensive tackle position," Robinson said. "I was still in the game. I was secure in my work that I had put in, and I knew just that one pick wouldn't be enough for them not to
grab me. So, I was very confident in the trade, and just knowing that they still had interest in me." ...
