Raiders Promote Former Vikings Draft Pick ahead of Reunion
On Sunday, the 6-6 Minnesota Vikings will travel to Nevada to face the 5-7 Las Vegas Raiders. There will be massive playoff implications for both teams, regardless of the result of the clash. The Raiders would be virtually eliminated with a loss while they could close the gap to the wild card spots with a win. Minnesota, meanwhile, would likely drop out of the playoff picture with a third straight defeat, at least temporarily.
Raiders Promote Former Vikings Draft Pick Ahead of Reunion
Both franchises made their usual roster moves at the bottom of the 53-man and practice squad roster. The Vikes signed N’Keal Harry to their practice squad after releasing him from the active roster last week, while the Raiders made the opposite move, signing pass-rusher Janarius Robinson from their practice squad to the 53-man roster, the team announced on Tuesday.
Robinson, 24 years old, was a fourth-round selection in Rick Spielman’s final draft in 2021. That draft featured Christian Darrisaw in the first round and Camryn Bynum in the fourth. The duo appears to be a significant building block for the near future of the purple organization. Other infamous selections of the class were Kellen Mond, Wyatt Davis, and Chazz Surratt in the third round. Of the 11 draft picks, only Darrisaw, Bynum, Kene Nwangwu, and Patrick Jones are still affiliated with the Vikings.
With pick 134, Spielman picked Robinson out of Flordia State. At 6’5″ and 263lbs, the draft prospect had the perfect measurements, and he showed some athletic potential when he ran a 4.69 40-yard dash on his pro day. He also possesses long arms and logged some other fantastic drills.
Coming out of college, Robinson was viewed as a defender with rare physical tools, but his technique was raw. He entered a pass-rusher room with Danielle Hunter, Everson Griffen, D.J. Wonnum, Kenny Willekes, and fellow draft pick Jones. Once Hunter got hurt, the Vikes also acquired their former player Stephen Weatherly, and defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson helped out on the edge.
Unfortunately for Robison, he missed his entire debut season with a lower-body injury and was placed on IR in August. In the following offseason, the new regime arrived and the players were evaluated by a new staff that didn’t have the same vision as the previous crew. Ed Donatell, Kevin O’Connell, and Kwesi Adofo-Mensah eventually waived the sophomore and signed him to the practice squad.
The Philadelphia Eagles signed him to their 53-man roster two weeks later, ending his Vikings’ chapter. An ankle injury ended his second season prematurely, and he didn’t see the field for the Super Bowl runner-ups. Entering his third season, Robinson failed to make the stacked roster in Philly. After he was waived, the Raiders added him to their practice squad. He has been a Raider since August 31, making his NFL debut in Week 12 against the Chiefs. Robinson made one tackle on four snaps.
It is far from guaranteed, but Robinson could see some action against the Vikings in Week 14. The pass-rusher will try to make his first career sack, although it is still unclear which quarterback he will be chasing.
Janik Eckardt is a football fan who likes numbers and stats. The Vikings became his favorite team despite their quarterback at the time, Christian Ponder. He is a walking soccer encyclopedia, loves watching sitcoms, and Classic rock is his music genre of choice. Follow him on Twitter if you like the Vikings: @JanikEckardt
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