PITTSBURGH — At 29 years old, wide receiver Allen Robinson is the oldest wide receiver in the Pittsburgh Steelers‘ position group. It’s a spot he’s never been in before in his 10-year NFL career.
But Robinson, traded to the Steelers from the Los Angeles Rams last week in exchange for a swap of seventh-round picks, still feels like he has plenty left in the tank.
“I feel like for myself, I have a lot of football left,” Robinson said Monday. “I thought last year for the time that I was playing in those 10 games, I felt very good about some of the things that I did.”
Robinson’s only season with the Rams was abbreviated when a stress fracture in his right foot sidelined him after he accumulated 339 yards and three touchdowns in 10 games. Robinson, who earned a Pro Bowl nod with the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2015, similarly injured his left foot during his rookie season.
“I have some familiarity with it,” Robinson said of the foot injury. “I feel very good about this, where I’m at in the process and everything like that.”
The Steelers set their sights on Robinson during free agency, and general manager Omar Khan said adding him was an “easy” decision after Robinson passed his physical. Khan said the organization plans to cautiously approach Robinson’s recovery following last year’s season-ending foot surgery, similar to the plan used for defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi last season and for inside linebacker Cole Holcomb this year.
“He’s had experience as an inside guy,” coach Mike Tomlin said. “He’s got physicality in his game. … He is an example of our general free agent interests. It goes all the way back to when he was at Penn State. [Former general manager] Kevin Colbert and I spent a great deal of time with he and his family through his draft process. He was a diaper dandy, he was a 20-year-old when he came into the draft. We held him in high regard. We liked his football character, we liked his talents, we liked his upside, we followed him throughout his NFL journey and the interest still remains.”
