As the first insight into the New York Giants' plans for the upcoming season, the unofficial depth chart released Thursday sparked a natural amount of reaction and overreaction, and probably just generated more questions than anything else. Adrien Robinson listed fifth among tight ends? Wasn't this guy supposed to push for the No. 1 job?
The truth is, of course, that we're still only in July. Moreover, none of the Giants' five tight ends has really separated himself. Larry Donnell is the No. 1 option for now, but he's received nothing more than a cursory "he's one of the guys that looked good yesterday" from Tom Coughlin. Yes, it's somewhat puzzling that Robinson is apparently so far behind everyone else, but nothing will be settled until much closer to the season-opener.
Robinson also might just need some time to get into playing shape this summer. He suffered foot and knee injuries last year, but says he feels good after rehabbing and also losing some weight.
"I'm back down and I can run for a lot longer, so now it's just down to getting into that football shape and I'll be ready," Robinson said.
"I wasn't able to practice [last season], I wasn't able to run, I wasn't able to do cardio things, so that's what led to me gaining the weight."
In reality, the lost season might not sting as much for Robinson considering the whole offense is tasked with adapting to Ben McAdoo's new system. The first-year offensive coordinator is implementing West Coast looks that feature short and intermediate passes with an emphasis on timing and limiting mistakes. That offense could very well support a pass-catching tight end, and Robinson said he's watched McAdoo's old tight end with the Green Bay Packers, Jermichael Finley. Saying that this system is "completely different" from the Kevin Gilbride offense that he spent his first two seasons in, Robinson seems like a promising fit in the new system.
"I think, just the situations that [the Packers] were put in, being lined up wider and in the slot, just different plays that they would do," Robinson said when asked what he liked about Green Bay's offense.
"The different routes, the moving around a lot more, you see a lot more opportunities to catch the ball."
There are other reasons for Robinson to remain confident, too. He was a proven blocker in college at Cincinnati, where the no-huddle offense was also used frequently. That's expected to be another main tenet of McAdoo's offense in New York -- Thursday, Rashad Jennings said the Giants "have the capability to run our whole offense through the no-huddle."
"I know I can produce, that's why I've been here, people wonder why I've stayed around and there's a reason I'm here so I'm just ready to go out there and show everyone why," Robinson said.
"I feel like they believe in me, and I believe in myself, so this'll be the time to prove it."