Kentucky’s coaches have challenged Tayvion Robinson: ‘I expect him to make big strides’
This time a year ago, few Kentucky football players entered spring practice with more buzz than wide receiver Tayvion Robinson.
Having recently arrived in Lexington as a transfer from Virginia Tech, Robinson was expected to step into the same role that had showcased Wan’Dale Robinson in a way that helped him break the school records for catches and receiving yards in a season in 2021. The shifty slot receiver was projected to quickly become Will Levis’ top target.
Had things gone according to plan, Robinson would not even have been at Kentucky long enough for a second spring practice. Instead, a disappointing season led to an unexpected return and a dramatic change in outlook entering his second year as a Wildcat.
“We want to see a lot out of Tayvion,” Kentucky Coach Mark Stoops said on the first day of spring practice this week. “We made no bones about it. We’ve challenged him, I’ve challenged him, I’ve met with him directly before we ever made a coordinator change.
“I expect him to make big strides and to really push to become the player that I know he can be.”
To be clear, Robinson’s first season at Kentucky while disappointing was not a total bust.
He finished the year with 40 catches for 497 yards and three touchdowns. He started the season on a high note with six catches for 136 yards in the season opener. Against Northern Illinois, he caught seven passes for 147 yards and two touchdowns.
But in SEC play, Robinson totaled just 16 catches for 121 yards and one touchdown. The lasting image of his season may have been a drop on a deep pass that could have turned into a touchdown in the second quarter against Tennessee and instead marked the turning point of what ended up an embarrassing blowout loss.
While Robinson struggled to build on his early hype, freshmen Barion Brown and Dane Key emerged as Levis’ top targets. As the emphasis on finding ways to get the dynamic duo more targets increased, Robinson’s role in the offense shrank.
Robinson was held without a catch against No. 1 Georgia then did not play in the regular season finale against Louisville due to an undisclosed injury. He returned to the field to tally five catches for 27 yards in the Music City Bowl loss to Iowa that featured a scaled-down offense with freshman backup Destin Wade at quarterback.
How Robinson felt about his 2021 season remains something of a mystery as he did not do interviews during the second half of the season and was not available to talk to reporters Tuesday with the rest of the Kentucky offensive players due to a class conflict after the morning spring practice, but it is not difficult to find reasons for the disappointment.
Robinson was recruited to Kentucky by Liam Coen, who ran the offense in 2021, but left Lexington for the Los Angeles Rams shortly after Robinson arrived on campus. Rich Scangarello, who replaced Coen as offensive coordinator, used Robinson as a runner to get him more touches early in the season, pitching him on filling a similar role to Deebo Samuel with the San Francisco 49ers, but abandoned that experiment after running back Chris Rodriguez returned from a four-game suspension. After the Georgia game, Stoops hinted Robinson had been affected by a lingering injury.
Kentucky coaches are making it clear that Robinson must take some accountability for the struggles as well, though.
“Challenging him every day, both on and off the field,” Coen said this week. “Just being accountable. Putting your head down, going to work. A lot of the things that Tayvion can control don’t have a ton to do with catching the football.
“... I think he’s responded over the last two days. Just run your routes at full speed. All the time, even if you know the ball is not coming to you. It doesn’t matter. You’re just trying to help out your teammates and help out your buddy. That’s something we’ve been working on with him because once he touches the ball good things can happen. It’s just about playing full speed without the ball in your hands.”
Coen’s return to Lexington offers reason to hope Robinson might live up to the potential he brought to Lexington a year ago.
The former Virginia Tech transfer will finally have the chance to play in the offense in which Wan’Dale Robinson thrived at his position. The signing of North Carolina State transfer Devin Leary should ensure Kentucky still has a top-level quarterback to throw him passes in 2023.
“Ever since I’ve been here, he’s eager to learn too,” Leary said. “He wants to get in the film room, catch extra passes from me.”
A best-case scenario for Kentucky’s offense would feature Leary spreading the ball around among Robinson, Brown, Key and a gaggle of talented tight ends. No receiver is likely to approach Wan’Dale Robinson’s 2021 numbers even with Coen calling plays again, but depth could help each pass catcher thrive.
The emergence of Brown and Key led most of Kentucky’s upperclassmen backup wide receivers to enter the transfer portal in December. Now, Robinson and Dee Beckwith, who spent most of 2021 at running back, are the only scholarship wide receivers on the roster listed as a junior or older.
Even if Brown and Key remain the top targets for Leary this fall, a version of Robinson that provides a steadying veteran presence would be a major boost for the offense. Now, Robinson must prove willing to embrace that role.
“He’s putting his head down and working, just like everybody else,” wide receivers coach Scott Woodward said. “He knows he has to come to work every day to make an impact on this team. That’s what he’s trying to do.”