Kentucky football’s Wan’Dale Robinson has lived up to the hype and then some
We live in the world of the oversold and the overrated, where prospects and transfers rarely match the buildup offered by the hype train.
And then there’s Wan’Dale Robinson.
You know, the Real’Deal Robinson. “The truth,” Kentucky football teammate Josh Paschal called the former Western Hills High School star and wide receiver transfer from Nebraska when Robinson started sizzling in UK’s practices last spring. Paschal added, “You’ll see.”
We’ve seen it alright. Robinson topped the 100-yard receiving mark in each of his first three games as a Wildcat. Through four games, he leads the SEC in receiving yards with 402. He’s averaging 16.8 yards per catch on his 25 grabs.
Robinson can run the ball, too. Week two, against Missouri at Kroger Field, he took a jet sweep 64 yards on the Wildcats’ second play, a tone-setter for an eventual 35-28 Kentucky victory.
And here’s the icing on the cake: The kid is tough. Never mind his listed 5-foot-11, 185-pound frame, Robinson won’t go down without a fight. He’s shown that on the field by forcing tacklers to wrestle him to the ground. And Saturday night at South Carolina, he showed that by just being on the field after rumors he might miss the game because of a hamstring injury.
“At this point, there are nagging things with people,” UK coach Mark Stoops said Monday. “It’s fair to say he has something nagging him.”
Nagging or not, Robinson caught seven passes for 65 yards. Five catches were responsible for first downs. Four catches came on the 13-play, 67-yard march in the third quarter that ended with a 21-yard Matt Ruffolo field goal for a 13-7 Kentucky lead in a 16-10 UK victory.
This is what Big Blue Nation expected, or at least hoped for, when Robinson left Lincoln to return home. Still, hasn’t the player who was such a coveted recruit in 2018 exceeded expectations in 2021?
“I knew he was a good player coming out of high school and you can watch the film from Nebraska and know he was a very good player,” Stoops said Monday. “I don’t want to use the word ‘surprised.’ I am extremely pleased with him and love his attitude. I love his competitive nature. He is very unselfish. He works very hard. He is all about the team and I love that part of it and yes, by the way, he is very talented.”
Talented enough to take it to the next level?
“I think he’s a fantastic NFL prospect!” said Emory Hunt, draft analyst for Football Gameplan and co-host of the College Draft podcast with Ross Tucker. “His versatility fits today’s game. He can affect the game as a runner or receiver, and has added benefit as a return specialist. If I had a team, I’d spend a second-round pick on him easily.”
Robinson’s work ethic has impressed UK
So far, the only knock on Robinson has been that quarterback Will Levis targets his favorite receiver perhaps a little too much. That’s not much of a knock. How often have fans grumbled about UK’s inability to put the ball in the hands of its best players?
“There were times I wish he was lasered in on him more,” Stoops said with a smile.
One more Wan’Dale thing. The best thing. He has been nothing but a worker. No big-time attitude. No entitlement.
“I love his work ethic and also his instincts,” Stoops said. “You’ve heard us talk about Lynn (Bowden), about that a lot, and just his football IQ and they are different people, but both of them are intelligent on the field.”
Now the expectation is Robinson’s impact will be ongoing.
“I think now there’s no stopping us from recruiting talented wide receivers and getting that speed,” Stoops said. “Even if you may say other people have higher numbers, you can look at what we do and what we want to do and as we get better wide receivers, as we get greater skill and speed, we will open things up even more and more.”
In part, because Real’Deal has lived up to the hype.
Saturday
No. 10 Florida at Kentucky
When: 6 p.m.
TV: ESPN
Records: Florida 3-1 (1-1 SEC), UK 4-0 (2-0 SEC)
