Wan’Dale Robinson: Draft or Pass

Wan’Dale Robinson is currently the most disrespected prospect in the 2022 Rookie Class by far as he’s slotted as a late second/early third-round rookie pick. The only reason I continue to see people point to is that his size will be an issue. What those people fail to realize is that the NFL is changing quickly and they are valuing the guys with short-area quickness that allow their quarterbacks to get the ball into playmakers’ hands and let them pick up yardage. I am well aware Daniel Jones is as far as possible from Tom Brady but the notion that small slot players can’t dominate targets on offense is overstated.

W’DR fits this mold perfectly and might be even more versatile than Welker/Edelman considering when he was at Nebraska during his freshman and sophomore seasons they used him as an RB/WR where he showed his vision and ability to make people miss in the hole to create big chunk gains because he is so explosive. He caught a lot of screens and quick passes too which combined with their smaller stature has people comparing him to Rondale Moore which I struggle seeing. 

Rondale couldn’t stay on the field after his freshman season and a lot of Rondale’s touches were manufactured, he was not actually demonstrating a full route tree and winning consistently beyond the line of scrimmage, he was just showing off his incredible athleticism and his YAC ability. Wan’Dale on the other hand transferred to play at Kentucky and in his lone season as a full-time WR, he lit up the SEC posting a market share of over 45%. He totaled 104 receptions for 1,334 yards and seven touchdowns and was more than twice as productive as Kentucky’s second-leading receiver, fifth-year senior Josh Ali who totaled 41 receptions for 601 yards and three touchdowns through the air. Kentucky was a run-heavy team but there was only one real threat in the receiving game and SEC defenses still could not figure out how to contain the spark plug that is Wan’Dale Robinson. 

People have overreacted when they hear Giants reporters saying that he will be used like Deebo Samuel. I won’t say that because Deebo is a physical, much bigger receiver but what they could do is line Wan’Dale up in a multitude of ways. He could take an end-around and pop passes as well as dominate the slot. The part that interests me is his background lining up in the backfield at Nebraska. He doesn’t have the size to consistently run between the tackles but he could create insane mismatch problems if lined up next to the QB in shotgun. Giving a player with Wan’Dale’s skills as a receiver a free release will automatically create mismatches for the defense to adjust to and could open up more things not only for him but the other weapons on the GIants as well because of potential missed assignments or confusion within the secondary. 

Taking a look at the Giants’ RB depth chart they have Saquon Barkley, Matt Breida, Gary Brightwell, and Antonio Williams. Considering Saquon’s injury history you would think they’d have at least one more semi-proven RB on the roster unless they drafted somebody with a potential plan to give him snaps lined up in the backfield. Wan’Dale is one of the more versatile players in this class on a team that desperately needs more playmakers. 

They got a major coaching upgrade with Brian Daboll coming to New York and the new staff didn’t select Wan’Dale in the early second round for him to be a special teams contributor, he’s going to get ample opportunity on offense too. Wan’Dale’s ADP sitting in the late second/early third of Dynasty Rookie Drafts, as well as the 11th round or later in startups, is absolute robbery and I’m comfortable taking him as early as mid-second in rookie drafts and the 10th round in Dynasty Superflex Startups just to lock him onto my roster. Far and away my favorite value out of this class, Wan’Dale slots in as my ‘22 Rookie WR7 so he is a screaming “draft” heading into the upcoming NFL season.

Thanks for reading, I combine film and analytics-based evaluations, hunting for the best values in Dynasty FF and Devy. Find me on Twitter @Quintorris_.