Robinson said Wednesday he's measured new career-high GPS speeds in practice and feels a "night and day" difference physically compared to last offseason, when he was rehabbing from a serious knee injury, Dan Salomone of the Giants' official site reports. Robinson had his rookie year cut short due to an ACL tear, and while the 2022 second-round pick played 15 regular-season games in 2023 en route to a 60-525-1 receiving line, it's reasonable to believe that his knee was still less than 100 percent. A truly healthy offseason should pave the road to Robinson taking a step forward Year 3, especially with the addition of rookie first-rounder Malik Nabers to attract the focus of opposing defenses, though there will be questions about this passing game's overall effectiveness, especially with starter Daniel Jones (knee) now rehabbing from an ACL tear of his own. Darius Slayton (undisclosed) also figures to start in three-wide sets, with Jalin Hyatt, Allen Robinson Isaiah Hodgins and Isaiah McKenzie competing for depth reps.
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Robinson said Wednesday he's measured new career-high GPS speeds in practice and feels a "night and day" difference physically compared to last offseason, when he was rehabbing from a serious knee injury, Dan Salomone of the Giants' official site reports. Robinson had his rookie year cut short due to an ACL tear, and while the 2022 second-round pick played 15 regular-season games in 2023 en route to a 60-525-1 receiving line, it's reasonable to believe that his knee was still less than 100 percent. A truly healthy offseason should pave the road to Robinson taking a step forward Year 3, especially with the addition of rookie first-rounder Malik Nabers to attract the focus of opposing defenses, though there will be questions about this passing game's overall effectiveness, especially with starter Daniel Jones (knee) now rehabbing from an ACL tear of his own. Darius Slayton (undisclosed) also figures to start in three-wide sets, with Jalin Hyatt, Allen Robinson Isaiah Hodgins and Isaiah McKenzie competing for depth reps.
Robinson could challenge for the team lead in targets even though the Giants took Malik Nabers with the sixth overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, according to Dan Salomone and Matt Citak of the team's official website. The three writers surveyed from Giants.com all agreed Nabers is a favorite to lead the team in targets, with two of the three mentioning Robinson as a candidate to give the rookie a run for his money. A 2022 second-round pick, Robinson got 31 targets on 164 routes (18.9 percent) his rookie year before he suffered an ACL tear, then had 78 looks on 490 routes (15.9 percent) last season. While he's never drawn targets at a particularly high rate, he did have a decent run of production after New York's Week 13 bye last season, averaging 4.8 catches for 52.0 yards over the final five games while taking three carries for 60 yards and a TD. A healthy offseason without rehab from major surgery should help the 23-year-old improve in 2024, though he may still be largely limited to the slot and is both smaller and slower than Nabers. The Giants' other wide receivers -- Darius Slayton, Jalin Hyatt, Isaiah Hodgins, Isaiah McKenzie, etc. -- are all guys that wouldn't be likely to see too many targets even if they got a lot of playing time. Nabers and Robinson mostly figure to work with QB Drew Lock this offseason, as Daniel Jones is still rehabbing from an ACL tear.
The Giants continue to take it easy on Robinson's practice reps due to the torn ACL that he suffered in his right knee Nov. 20 of last year. Almost one year removed from the injury, he's still been able to suit up for eight consecutive games, but he's notched just 29 catches and five carries en route to 229 yards from scrimmage and one receiving touchdown. Friday's injury report will unveil whether or not he heads into the weekend with an injury designation for Sunday's contest in Washington.
Since making his season debut Week 3, Robinson has had the occasional cap placed on his practice reps, but his availability for game days hasn't been impacted for eight straight contests. Due to a carousel of quarterbacks during that stretch, though, he's managed only a 29-204-1 line on 36 targets. Robinson will have a pair of sessions this week to put himself in a position to avoid a designation ahead of Sunday's game at Washington.
With rookie quarterback Tommy DeVito totaling just 86 passing yards in his first NFL start, there was little opportunity for Giants pass catchers to make an impact. Robinson finished with fewer than three catches for the third time in the past four weeks after he tallied at least four receptions in each of his first four games of the campaign. The second-year wideout also logged just 49 percent of New York's offensive snaps Sunday, his lowest mark since his season debut in Week 2. He'll likely see more time on the field moving forward, but with Daniel Jones (knee) out for the season and DeVito working behind a struggling offensive line, there isn't much of a reason to target any Giants wideouts in fantasy.
Robinson was limited with the injury in practice Wednesday and Thursday but is slated to be out there Sunday as the Giants' slot man after practicing fully Friday. He could see increased targets in the middle of the field with Darren Waller (hamstring) out and possibly sidelined for multiple weeks.
The Giants completed just six passes all game as Tyrod Taylor (ribs) exited in the second quarter. Rookie Tommy DeVito didn't complete a pass beyond the line of scrimmage, so Robinson and the rest of Big Blue's pass catchers would benefit greatly if either Taylor or Daniel Jones (neck) were to return in Week 9 against the Raiders.
The Giants continue to limit Robinson's practice workloads even though he hasn't missed a game or suffered a setback since his Week 3 debut. He's bounced back from the torn ACL that cut short his 2022 campaign to reclaim his role as the primary slot receiver, averaging 4.6 catches for 32.6 yards on 5.4 targets per game (85.2 percent catch rate, 7.1 yards per catch). Robinson still isn't getting many snaps in two-receiver formations or many targets downfield, limiting his fantasy relevance to deeper PPR formats for the time being.