JD PicKell: Bijan Robinson's draft selection can impact Texas' recruiting

Bijan Robinson brought Texas back into the first round of the NFL Draft for the first time since 2015. Now, with the former Longhorn landing in Atlanta at the No. 8 overall pick, On3’s JD PicKell thinks it will work some additional wonders for the program out on the recruiting trail.

PicKell explained how Robinson’s draft result will quiet the negative recruiting against Texas during a recent episode of ‘The Hard Count’. He said this gives Steve Sarkisian a proven result in getting a prospect from his offense to the pros. Come closing time, PicKell knows that will only strengthen during his pitches to potential recruits.

“Steve Sarkisian can absolutely sign his name next to Bijan Robinson being drafted. He can absolutely take a fair amount of credit for how high Bijan Robinson was drafted,” said PicKell. “Bijan Robinson is enormously talented. That was never a question. He was going to get drafted in the NFL wherever he got picked. But what Steve Sarkisian did with him in the offense at Texas? And how he utilized him and how he showed him off? I think he deserves a fair amount of credit.”

“I’m not trying to take anything away from Bijan Robinson,” PicKell continued further in his analysis. “I just think, if you’re Steve Sarkisian, if you’re Texas, you can now pitch to recruits, ‘Hey? Everybody’s saying you’re not getting developed here? Go ask Bijan Robinson how much he was developed at Texas. Ask him if coming to Texas was a good move for his professional draft stock’. I think he’d tell you all that you need to know.”

Robinson became the first first-round pick for Texas in nearly a decade. That was when DT Malcolm Brown landed in New England with the 32nd pick. He also became the highest-drafted Longhorn since Vince Young and Michael Huff in 2006.

PicKell noted that it’s not as though Texas hasn’t been a top-notch program when it comes to recruiting. Over the past five seasons, they’ve finished Top-15 in all five, Top-10 in four, and top-five in three according to On3’s Industry Team Rankings. However, he does expect this to give them some extra leverage and help them seal the deal with a few extra players that could make all the difference.

“Recruiting well for Texas isn’t a new thing…The thing that I’m looking at here is does this give them just a little bit more reach? Does it put them over the top for maybe one more five-star? Or allow them to get one more chess piece on the offensive or defensive side?,” PicKell asked. “With football being a game of inches, and sometimes it comes down to just getting that one player on your team that makes the difference on that Saturday, does it allow Texas to just have just a little bit more of a reach?”

“Texas already does a great job of acquiring talent,” said PicKell. “But being able to have something tangible to prove to recruits (that) you can and will get drafted if you come to Texas? I think it could be a nice little ace in the sleeve for them.”

Thursday was a big moment for Robinson as it was certainly the payoff of a lifelong dream. What comes next, though, will be to the benefit of Steve Sarkisian and Texas as they use that success to bring more talent to The 40 Acres.