Houston Football: 5 breakout candidates for the Cougars in 2017
By Zach Bigalke
Austin Robinson has taken a circuitous route toward becoming a starting linebacker at Houston. Coming out of high school, Robinson signed not with the Cougars but with UTSA. The high-school quarterback played in eight games as a redshirt freshman in 2014. Though he started four games that season, he was due to move to safety as a sophomore in San Antonio. Instead, Robinson transferred a few hours east on the I-10 to Houston.
He sat out a season in 2015 due to NCAA transfer rules. Tom Herman elected to utilize Robinson as a defensive back rather than a quarterback. Once he took the field for the Cougars in 2016, he made it into 11 games as a reserve. Buried down the depth chart, though, Robinson never could break through in a deep secondary to get more playing time.
In his limited time, though, he did rack up one sack and 1.5 tackles for loss. Thus he began training for a transition to linebacker. Robinson could emerge as a disruptive Jabrill Peppers-type hybrid player untethered to one specific position. Mark D’Onofrio, the former defensive coordinator of the Miami Hurricanes, will look to utilize Robinson in a variety of ways.
If Robinson can adjust to the new role, he could emerge as one of Houston’s best defensive players in 2017. Look for him to break out now that he has been granted a starting position. The Cougars need him to thrive if they have a shot at reaching a New Year’s Six game this season.