Browns rookie Dorian Thompson-Robinson hit with huge fine from NFL for illegal blindside block

In a classic case of precisely why people started calling the NFL the No Fun League in the first place, Cleveland Browns rookie signal-caller Dorian Thompson-Robinson was fined $4,642 for unnecessary roughness–for an illegal blindside block in last week’s preseason game against the Eagles, per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero. He made two blocks on the play on Terrell Edmunds and both were perfectly clean. The second block is the one he was fined for, and it certainly didn’t look like a blindside block.

Check out the replay below.

Did anyone have "quarterback gets penalized for an illegal blindside block" on their bingo card?

Dorian Thompson-Robinson just couldn't help himself. pic.twitter.com/Akog2U21AE

— The Comeback (@thecomeback) August 18, 2023

It wasn’t even that hard of a hit. It hardly seems worthy of a fine/penalty from the league, but that’s the way officials saw it.

Both plays were good, solid, clean blocks from Thompson-Robinson. He’s looked very good in the preseason, which is exactly why the Browns decided to ship Josh Dobbs to the Arizona Cardinals. Before Saturday’s game against the Kansas City Chiefs, the former UCLA star completed 30 of 46 pass attempts for 348 passing yards, while tossing two touchdowns. He also had 13 rushes for 65 yards on the ground.

The Cleveland Browns are excited about the tantalizing skill set of Thompson-Robinson and it’s easy to see why after watching him in the preseason and when you take a glance at his college profile.

In 2022, he finished the season ranked sixth in the nation in completion percentage (69.6%)–setting a new program record for a single-season. A dynamic dual-threat, he became one of only two FBS quarterbacks to finish the season with as many as 27 touchdown passes and 12 rushing touchdowns (Bo Nix of Oregon was the other.) He earned honorable mention All-Pac-12 honors from the league’s coaches and was also named a Davey O’Brien Award semifinalist in 2022.

He wrapped up his prolific career with the Bruins as the school’s all-time leader in total offense (12,536 total yards). Thompson-Robinson also became the only UCLA player to ever record over 12,000 total yards. He peppered his name all over the school record books–finishing as the Bruins’ all-time leader in completions (860), total touchdowns (116), touchdown passes (88), and passing yards (10,710).

A dynamic runner in the open field, Thompson-Robinson ran for over 600 yards in both the 2021 and 2022 seasons. Once he hung up his cleats with the Bruins, he’d piled up 1,826 rushing yards and 28 touchdowns. While he might not be getting the attention of many other quarterbacks in this draft class, it’s clear that the former Bruin has plenty of upside and an exciting skill set to work with on the next level. It’ll be very intriguing to see how he develops in the next few years.