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Kirby Smart: There's a lot to like about new Georgia RB Roderick Robinson

On3 imageby: Jake Rowe12/22/22JakeMRowe
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(Chad Simmons/On3)

ATHENS, Ga. — Georgia signed just one running back in the 2023 class but it’s a big one both literally and figuratively. Roderick Robinson (Lincoln; San Diego, Calif.) is officially in the fold after flipping his commitment from UCLA in November. According to Kirby Smart, there’s a lot to like.

“He has really good quality toughness,” Smart said of Robinson just moments after he as announced as a signee. “He is hard to tackle. You know, football is still a game where you have to get people on the ground, and he is hard to get on the ground. He loves the game. He is very intelligent. So he excited us on tape, but even won us over more in person. 

Smart had already been speaking for a few minutes when reporters gained the ability to ask about Robinson due to the fact that his signature was announced by the school. A reporter jumped at the chance to ask Smart about him because it’s always a story when Georgia, described by some as Running Back U, goes and gets a ball carrier from a high school that has produced two NFL Hall of Fame players — Terrell Davis and Marcus Allen.

At 6-foot-1 238 pounds, Robinson is built differently than a lot of modern running backs but he’s not just some between-the-tackles, all-thunder, no-lightning ball carrier. He’s smooth in the open field and when he’s fully healthy, Robinson has shown that he can run away from defenders.

Oh, and the four-star tailback is also at his best in big games. As Lincoln barreled toward a state championship this season, Robinson put two things that Kirby Smart loves on display — toughness and play-making ability. He fought through a hamstring injury to rack up 399 rushing yards and eight rushing touchdowns in Lincoln’s semifinal and state championship matchups. He was named as MaxPreps’ player of the year in California due in large part to that playoff performance.

If you place Smart’s comments on Robinson to those he made about the class in general, a natural fit seems to exist. The seventh-year head coach talked about how this 2023 haul has maybe the highest collective GPA coming in as any other class he has signed at UGA. He added that the incoming GPA has, in his time as a head coach, has been the biggest indicator of a class’ success.

Then there’s that word “character.” Smart has harped on it for a few years now and it came up again on Wednesday when he got the chance to speak about Robinson. No one will ever know the true driving factor behind a team’s decision to offer and pursue certain players over others, but the Bulldog head man insists that it was Robinson’s makeup that stood out.

“Size, speed, toughness. Really soft hands. He is your SEC-type back that can get hard yards, but is athletic enough to do some things in space,” Smart said. “Really, to be honest, I like the guy’s character. I like the background he has. He has family from South Carolina. He has family from Georgia. He has family from Birmingham. He is attached to the state.”

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