WILLING STUDENT: Adrien Robinson, here catching a pass for Cincinnati against Tennessee last season, is prepared to begin learning how to play tight end in the NFL from Giants assistant Mike Pope, who has made a career of tutoring future stars at the position. (AP)
Sometimes too much can be read into a situation, but not in a situation like this. Not when it comes to the absolute faith the Giants have that Mike Pope, their venerable tight ends coach, can spin straw into gold when it comes to developing the players delivered onto his doorstep.
The newest Pope pupil is Adrien Robinson, an athletic tight end from Cincinnati taken by the Giants in the fourth round of the NFL Draft. This was such an out-of-the-box pick that several minutes after the selection, the Giants were still scurrying to dig up biographical information on Robinson. In three seasons in college, he caught a mere 29 passes, an afterthought in Cincinnati’s spread offense that featured a load of throwing, but not much to the tight end.
This pick came and went without much notice, until general manager Jerry Reese casually mentioned, “We think this guy is kind of a JPP of tight ends.’’ Whoa. When anyone is mentioned in the same breath as Ja]son Pierre-Paul, the fearsome defensive end who in his second NFL season amassed 16 1/2 sacks, it demands an explanation.
Reese went on to recount Robinson’s “freakish athletic numbers’’ and marvel at his long arms, great speed and unrefined physical ability.
“When we got Jason we said, ‘This guy hasn’t scratched the surface,’ ’’ Reese said. “[Robinson] hasn’t scratched the surface yet. He has a chance to be really something, we think.’’
With that, Reese added, “We will get Mike Pope involved with this guy.’’
The Giants have such trust in Pope, they usually don’t expend high draft picks on tight ends — one exception being Jeremy Shockey in 2002. Pope did wonders with Kevin Boss and when it seemed entering last season that Boss’ departure left the tight end position devoid of play-makers, Pope got his hands on Jake Ballard, and he turned into a revelation.
Next up for Pope: Adrien Robinson.
“It’s a big factor,’’ Giants coach Tom Coughlin said. “But to be honest with you, it’s also a factor out there because the college players all know about Mike Pope and the coaches in college know about Mike Pope. As a matter of fact, the people in professional football do as well. So when [a tight end] comes our way, chances are you’re going to hear comments about ‘Well, Mike Pope will coach that guy and he’ll be a football player.’ We’re hoping that can continue.’’
Robinson made a pre-draft visit to the Giants and said he spent more than an hour speaking with Pope, so the tutoring in some sense has already begun.
“I’m just happy to have the opportunity to play and learn from Coach Pope,’’ Robinson said.
Two of Pope’s proteges, Ballard and Travis Beckum, suffered torn anterior cruciate ligaments in Super Bowl XLVI and following knee surgeries, their availability for the 2012 season is questionable. The Giants signed Martellus Bennett from the Cowboys in free agency and Bear Pascoe returns but there is an opening for Robinson, if he and Pope can fast-forward the learning process.
This will be Pope’s 30th consecutive year coaching in the NFL and his 22nd with the Giants, covering two separate stints (1983 to 1991 the first time around and 2000 to the present). So ingrained is Pope into the Giants’ lifeblood, he has a grandson, Wellington, named after the Giants patriarch and late owner, Wellington Mara.
Robinson’s production was so meager, he wasn’t invited to the NFL Scouting Combine but blew the Giants away at his Pro Day, measuring 6-foot-4 and 264 pounds, and running 4.51 and 4.58 in the 40-yard dash.
“We think he can develop,’’ Coughlin said. “We think with Mike Pope, just like a lot of people think, he can become the player that we hope that he will be.’’