Reviewing the Redshirts | DE Chase Robison

PLAYER: Chase Robison

POSITION: Defensive End
NUMBER: 40
HEIGHT: 6’4"
WEIGHT: 237
HIGH SCHOOL: Christian Brothers (Memphis, TN)

Robison was a player that really improved from his junior to senior year, receiving just a bit of interest from some major colleges to receiving an offer from Tennessee late in the process. I'd guess that an offer from Tennessee really weighed heavily on Robinson, but it was Robison's personal connection to Tuberville that probably helped seal the deal as Robison's father played for Tuberville at Arkansas St. Robison's Texas Tech profile has him at 237 and he was listed on his high school profiles as being around 230.

As a high schooler, Robison obviously wasn’t ready to play the defensive end spot on the college level. Most likely, he still needed to add some size and some strength. Assuming that he weighs 237, that’s still a bit small to play defensive end. Of course a lot of how we project players is determined on the scheme and whether or not it will be a true 3-4 or a 4-3 hybrid. In a 3-4, Robison is too light to play defensive end (they’re typically much bigger than your standard defensive end) and in a 4-3, at 237, he’s probably a bit too light to play if he’s going to be asked to play the run and take on tackles that would out-weigh him by 80 or so pounds. Just for comparison purposes, Jackson Richards and Branden Jackson were both about 250 last year, so from a size perspective, he’s still got to grow just a bit.

It will be interesting to see how Robison competes this year. He’ll have a full year under his belt, he’ll know that he has an opportunity with a new staff that most likely is going to want to see how they do this spring. No real prior judgments about who is supposed to start and who isn’t.