2001 NFL draft day coverage

Seahawks ignored the negativity

Don’t be dismayed by Koren Robinson’s poor workouts

By Andy Hanacek, Associate editor
April 21, 2001

NEW YORK — Mike Holmgren didn’t listen to the negative hype about North Carolina State WR Koren Robinson, and we all can learn from him. Many people thought Robinson would drop a bit in the draft, based on his two pre-draft workouts. Suffice it to say, the workouts were pretty poor. But many of those folks who want to count Robinson out don’t realize that he wasn’t 100 percent during those workouts. He didn’t run up to his projected speed at either workout, and there were even whispers that his attitude about the workouts was not stellar.

So many prognosticators and possibly many scouts, based on that first and lone impression, thought he would fall. But not Holmgren. Holmgren has looked past the disappointing workout numbers and the question marks, and he sees a young, speedy wide receiver who complements second-year man Darrell Jackson, another speedy receiver. These two will be key players in Holmgren’s grooming of QB Matt Hasselbeck, a project Holmgren seems so insistent upon finishing that he traded for him.

If Jackson and Robinson can become a dangerous tandem in the same way that Robert Brooks and Antonio Freeman, I’m not saying Hasselbeck will be the next Brett Favre, but Holmgren is doing everything in his power to try to get Hasselbeck that opportunity.

Robinson has tremendous leaping ability, speed and he runs his routes well. In North Carolina State history, Robinson is hanging around Rams WR Torry Holt’s numbers. If he can develop into the type of receiver Holt is now, the Seahawks will be in very good shape for the next several years on offense, and Hasselbeck will have a very good chance at developing into the league’s upper echelon of quarterbacks.

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