Wan'Dale Robinson is now on On3's Heisman Hot Board
Our fine On3 colleagues Matt Zenitz and Charles Power are keeping track of the top candidates for the Heisman Trophy this season with their weekly Heisman Hot Board. Today, a familiar name popped up. Kentucky wide receiver Wan’Dale Robinson is one of Zenitz’s six picks following his stellar performance vs. Florida.
“In 11 games last season, Kentucky didn’t have a single player with more than 473 receiving yards,” Zenitz writes. “Robinson, a Nebraska transfer, has almost eclipsed that already (with 469 receiving yards in the Wildcats’ first five games) to go along with 78 rushing yards and three touchdowns. His average of 109 scrimmage yards per game ranks first among SEC wide receivers. In Kentucky’s 20-13 upset of then-No. 10 Florida, Robinson had four of the Wildcats’ seven catches, including an early 41-yard touchdown.”
Robinson leads the SEC in receiving yards and is fifth in receptions (29). His 3.92 yards per run route this season is No. 1 among Power 5 players, according to Pro Football Focus. So far this year, Robinson has seven plays of 30+ yards. For perspective, Kentucky only had 13 plays of 30+ yards all last season.
Stoops: “What doesn’t get noticed is how hard [Wan’Dale] plays when he’s not getting the football”
On the SEC Teleconference today, Mark Stoops was asked about his first conversations with Liam Coen about Robinson, who transferred to Kentucky from Nebraska about a month after Coen came on board.
“We were both really excited about the opportunity to add Wan’Dale to our roster. Obviously, what I love about Liam [Coen] and the offense, it’s easy for him to target guys and they do a very good job of targeting the receivers. We charted it during practices, during scrimmages, and during games and so on so we felt like he could be a great addition. He certainly has been.”
Anyone who watches Robinson play can attest to his talent; however, Stoops took the opportunity to praise his play off the ball as well.
“I think the one thing that’s evident is how extremely hard Wan’Dale plays and how unselfish he is and what doesn’t get noticed is how hard he plays when he’s not getting the football. He blocks extremely hard. He runs hard with decoys, does a lot of good things for our football team. He’s very unselfish.”
With a thin LSU secondary coming to town on Saturday, it’s time to wonder: what will Wan’Dale do next?
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