Allen Robinson won’t drop the ball for the LA Rams

The Stafford effect

There has been and will be a lot to learn about LA Rams’ new wide receiver Allen Robinson. While we won’t be able to put everything to paper, perhaps we can set the stage for what we will learn going forward into 2022.

For starters, there is the auto-upside of the Matthew Stafford effect. While we can use plenty of rhetoric to describe what we mean, a picture is simply worth 1000 words. So let’s take a look at how two LA Rams receivers responded with the benefit of having Stafford under center:

• Receiver                      2020                        2021                               2022
• Cooper Kupp               974 yds  3 TDs     1,947 yds 16 TDs         TBD
• Van Jefferson              220 yds 1 TD           802 yds   6 TDs          TBD
• Allen Robinson         1250 yds 6 TDs        410  yds   1 TD            TBD

If the pattern holds true, then Robinson could be on track for a career-high season. Is that just off-season hyperbole crazy talk?  Or do we have any objective reasoning to form such an optimistic opinion?

Competitive kindred

For that answer, we need to pivot for a moment to the type of quarterback Matthew Stafford is on the football field. He is of the gunslinger variety. That means he will throw an occasional stinker (pick-sixes are part of the Matthew Stafford package) but will come roaring back with game-winning drives in the fourth quarter to save the day.

To make those incredible comebacks, Stafford’s competitive nature burns like a bonfire. Curiously, he already recognizes a kindred spirit on the football field: WR Allen Robinson.

Magic happens when two players synch up in LA Rams HC Sean McVay’s offense. If Stafford and Robinson connect at the same level as Stafford and Kupp did in 2021, look out!