The numbers everyone was talking about after Jakob Robinson ran the 40-yard dash at the Big 12 Pro Days last month in Frisco, Texas, were 4.39 — the former BYU cornerback’s unofficial time in that drill.
However, it was another number that Robinson was just as proud to see posted: 181.
That’s what the former Orem High and Utah State player weighed in at, after playing the 2024 season under 170 lbs.
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“I felt really good about my Pro Day performance, actually,” Robinson said last week. “I went into it 13 pounds heavier. There was a question about whether it would slow me down, and if I would move as well. I think I proved that it didn’t.”
A couple scouts told Robinson and his agent they clocked him running even faster than 4.39.
“I jumped pretty well, too,” he said. “The field drills all felt really smooth, felt good, and of course my 40 time was really, really good. I feel like I turned some heads.”
After the Cougars drubbed Colorado 36-14 in the Alamo Bowl to finish with an 11-2 record, Robinson was on very few, if any, NFL mock draft boards. He’s still not projected to be selected in the 2025 NFL draft, which began Thursday and runs through Saturday at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin, but there’s no doubt that he answered at least one question in Texas.
He’s heavy enough to be considered a draftable cornerback. He credits his work with former BYU defensive back and nine-year professional Rob Daniel and his time training at the Sports Academy in Seal Beach, California, for getting him ready to put up the impressive numbers at Pro Day when he didn’t get an invite to the NFL combine.
“My size, that’s definitely been the deal with me for my whole career,” Robinson said. “Even when I was younger, I was light. … I was playing at 164 pounds this past year. I got to California at 167, and then weighed in at 181 in Texas.”
The second-team All-Big 12 honoree not only posted the third-fastest 40 time at Pro Day, he recorded a 10’5” broad jump and a 38.5-inch vertical jump, only an inch behind the best mark by a DB in Texas. His 7.01 time in the 3-cone drill was eighth-best among 42 DBs.
“Jakob has got a real shot, man,” said Daniel, who played in the NFL and CFL for nine seasons and was a voluntary BYU football student assistant coach last season as he completed work to get his degree from BYU. “I have a lot of history with Jakob. I have been training him since the end of his high school years, and I’m impressed with how he has developed. He can definitely play in the league if he gets the right opportunity.”
Robinson is listed as the 54th best cornerback in ESPN NFL draft analyst Mel Kiper’s Big Board rankings of top prospects for the draft by position.
BYU defensive end Tyler Batty, the former Cougar most likely to be drafted on Saturday in Rounds 4-7, is the 16th best defensive end. BYU left tackle Caleb Etienne, also a potential Day 3 pick, is the 26th best offensive tackle.
Picking an agent and preparing to be a pro
After the bowl game, Robinson chose former BYU defensive back Chris Ellison — who was quarterback Steve Sarkisian’s roommate at BYU — as his agent and Beyond the Bench Sports Group as his agency.
“Chris and (former BYU cornerback) Omarr Morgan hit me up before my junior season. Another former BYU player, Will Snowden, set me up with those guys,” Robinson said. “Will has always helped me. He helped me get recruited to Utah State, BYU, everything. So I really have a love for Will and his family. He really has helped me throughout my whole career with getting connected with people and making sure that I am doing well.”
Robinson headed out to California in early January with one goal in mind: get heavier, but retain his speed and quickness.
“We had a mock combine when I was training in Cali, and I ran a 4.34 and 4.39, so I really wasn’t that surprised,” Robinson said. “If I was lighter, I definitely could have ran faster, but I wanted to do what the scouts wanted me to do — get heavier. And I proved that I could still run fast.”
He joked that the 40 time proves he was the fastest player on the BYU roster in 2024, along with standout punt returner Parker Kingston.
“Parker would probably get me in the 100, but I would definitely get him in the 40,” Robinson said.
Shining in the pre-draft process
Robinson leaves BYU as one of the top cornerbacks in the history of the school. The team captain in 2024 is second in career interceptions at BYU since 2000 with 11, and had a pick-six in 2023 that helped BYU beat Cincinnati in Provo.
He said the interception return for a touchdown against the Bearcats ranks as his favorite play in Provo, but also puts the end zone interception against Sam Houston and the deflection and pick against Arizona QB Noah Fifita in his top five.
“I hope that showed (scouts) that I find different ways to make plays, different ways to make an impact,” he said.
At the East-West Shrine Bowl in Arlington, Texas, he also showed the versatility that marked his time at BYU, playing nickel along with both corner spots.
“Teams have mainly been talking about me playing nickel, just because I am pretty versatile. You can move me around the field. I can blitz. I can cover. I can play zone. I can drop back half. I can really play anything,” Robinson said.
He spoke to representatives from the Broncos and Jaguars at the Shrine Bowl, and to the Ravens and Broncos again at Pro Day. Last week, he spoke to the 49ers via Zoom.
He said the Chargers, 49ers, Ravens, Jaguars and Broncos seem to have expressed the most interest in him the past four months.
As for a favorite NFL team growing up, he gravitated toward the Miami Dolphins because his birth mother, Kim, lives in Boca Raton, Florida, and would send him Dolphins gear every year for his birthday and Christmas.
“I also grew up following the Ravens and 49ers, just because of the way they played defense,” he said. “I like people that hit hard and get takeaways.”
As was detailed in a Deseret News story in 2023, Robinson was adopted by Eric and Janee Robinson of Orem at birth, but was put in contact with his birth mother early in his life and has remained in contact with her, although they have never met in person.
Robinson said he will probably just watch the draft on television with his parents and some friends and siblings, paying particularly close attention to Saturday’s proceedings and what happens when the draft is finished, which is when undrafted free agents are signed.
“Day 3 is going to be the biggest day for me,” he said. “I can’t wait.”
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