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WVU head coach Neal Brown on Bijan Robinson, "That's a five-tool player running back, right?"

Eric Nahlinby:Eric Nahlin•09/27/22
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(Photo courtesy of Tim Warner/Getty Images)

Fourth-year West Virginia head coach Neal Brown met with media on Tuesday to discuss his team’s rivalry win over Virginia Tech this past Saturday night as well as the Mountaineers’ upcoming game against Texas this Saturday night in Austin.

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During the press conference Brown demonstrated a great grasp of the overall Longhorns team. In the process he had no shortage of praise for junior running back Bijan Robinson.

Earlier in the press conference, Brown spoke well of Robinson, but when further pressed by a local reporter about Robinson as a player, he started off with Robinson’s character. Said Brown, “Just following him kind of as a fan and then paying attention to him, how he handles the media, how he’s handles himself, how he handled that injury at the end of last year, and then, from an unselfish standpoint, he really blocks well in pass protection. They use him as a lead blocker and he does really well.”

Bijan’s unselfishness away from the field certainly translates to game day. Another hallmark is versatility. Brown continued, “They split him out wide at wide receiver and you can tell that he, in different empty things, and you can tell that he takes coaching and runs the routes the way a true wide receiver has and he doesn’t give up on runs. He had a huge run on us I think down there in ‘20 when he was a freshman where we thought we had him bottled up and he came out the back door and hit a big one on us. And he did that like twice last week versus Texas Tech.”

Indeed, the run Brown referenced is one of the best of Bijan’s career. It may have even been cut short.

Running backs no longer are drafted highly in the NFL, but Brown’s words tell you why that won’t likely affect Robinson’s draft status.

Brown finished his praise thusly, “So, he’s an inside runner, outside runner, has the speed to hit a home run, power to run inside, he can pick up the blitz in pass protection, he can be a lead blocker, and he’s a great pass receiver whether he’s in the back field or out wide. That’s a five-tool player running back, right? I think the kid is special.”

Special in every way, and after the disappointing finish to last week’s game versus Texas Tech, he’s going to be anxious to return to the field against WVU and do what he does best — a little bit of everything.

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