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Significant Investments: 12 Questionable Checks that Stan Kroenke has Written Since Purchasing the St. Louis Rams

By Patrick Karraker

Nov 9, 2014; Glendale, AZ, USA; St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke on the sidelines prior to the game against the Arizona Cardinals at University of Phoenix Stadium. The Cardinals defeated the Rams 31-14. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 9, 2014; Glendale, AZ, USA; St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke on the sidelines prior to the game against the Arizona Cardinals at University of Phoenix Stadium. The Cardinals defeated the Rams 31-14. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports /
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Greg Robinson St. Louis Rams
Dec 17, 2015 St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Rams tackle Greg Robinson (73) against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at the Edward Jones Dome. The Rams won 31-23. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports /

7. Greg Robinson

Despite the fact that the Rams had guaranteed $20 million to former Pro Bowl left tackle Jake Long just a year earlier, they apparently felt the need to invest in a younger long-term solution on the blind side after long suffered a torn ACL near the end of the 2013 season. With the second overall pick at their disposal thanks to the 2012 trade that gave the Washington Redskins the right to pick Robert Griffin III, the Rams decided to go for Robinson, a product of Auburn (the alumnus of GM Les Snead, two of Jeff Fisher’s children, and an unusually large host of Rams players). Thus, they passed on the opportunity to take a playmaking receiver like Sammy Watkins or Mike Evans (both of whom exceeded 1,000 receiving yards in 2015) or a pass rusher like Khalil Mack (who had 15 sacks this year).

Robinson, a fast riser on draft boards who declared as a redshirt sophomore after starting for just two years, inexplicably jumped ahead of Jake Matthews and Taylor Lewan despite the fact that those two were expected to be early picks in the 2012 draft had they declared after their respective junior seasons. Robinson, who failed to crack the Rams’ starting lineup for the first four games of 2013 as veteran scrap-heap pickup Davin Joseph played ahead of him, has shown the inexperience that would be expected out of a young player who started just 25 college games in a gimmicky option-run offense.

Over 28 starts, Robinson has had 27 penalties called against him, 24 of which have been accepted for a total of 209 yards. He’s constantly struggled in pass protection, and even the run-blocking skills that earned him acclaim coming out of Auburn haven’t been that fantastic during his time with the Rams.  Robinson was much less noticeable (in a good way) over the final few weeks of the 2015 season, so perhaps he’s finally turning a corner, but after two seasons of game experience and very little improvement, it’s still very up in the air as to whether he’ll ever be even a serviceable left tackle in the NFL.

The Rams are scheduled to pay Robinson $21.28 million (all of which is guaranteed) over the length of his four-year rookie contract. That’d be a pretty good deal if Robinson actually lived up to his billing as the second overall pick, but when you consider that he’s struggled so much while some of the league’s best left tackles are signed to more economically-efficient deals (Terron Armstead, Cordy Glenn, David Bakhtiari, and Donald Penn come to mind), it’s frustrating that Robinson has so much guaranteed money coming his way when he’s been so erratic.

Next: 6. Nick Foles

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