The Cincinnati Bengals sat idle on Night 1 of the NFL Draft because of the Dexter Lawrence trade that sent their No. 10 pick to the Giants, but the subsequent days saw the team drive a lot of excitement. A big source of that excitement came late on Day 3 when Cincinnati selected defensive lineman Landon Robinson in the seventh round.
Robinson was a bit of a darling in the pre-draft process, posting solid workouts and impressing teams in interviews. While he has a chance to make an impact on the final roster in a few months, the team’s heavy investments in the defensive line this offseason are going to put Robinson in a scrum for a spot come Week 1.
As expected, Robinson is using the myriad of skills and learned discipline at the Naval Academy in his trek to make the team. At his graduation, Robinson was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Marine Corps.
“I was here for two weeks before going back for commissioning, so being able to go back and see my friends and my family and everybody there — after a long four or five years that we were at the Naval Academy — and being able to celebrate that with them was super special,” Robinson said, via Cincinnati’s Local 12.
At the draft this April, there was a great 20 minutes of television, during which the telecasts showed Robinson being selected and a touching live moment when his Navy teammate, Eli Heidenreich, was selected by the Steelers two picks later. The city of Pittsburgh welcomed the former Midshipman, as the draft showcased its appreciation for these two men of national service.
It was a full-circle moment for Robinson, who grew up in a Bengals-faithful household. The Bengals were one of the teams he targeted as a draft destination, noting that his father was a Cincinnati fan throughout his childhood.
Aside from his desire to play for one of his childhood favorite teams, Robinson is eager to show the Bengals that his time at the Naval Academy has him well-prepared for the NFL.
“I learned about the Naval Academy pretty late in my high school career, but once I learned about it, I was like, this is a special place that has a lot of special people who go on to do a lot of special things,” Robinson continued. “To be able to be around those people for years and learn from them, and to be able to play football and bring that here, it’s super special. I like being different and doing something that’s special, and being at the Naval Academy is special.”
While Navy isn’t the pro football factory of some of the other major NCAA conferences, there have been a number of notable NFL players to come from the Academy. Robinson hopes to be the next in line for the Bengals and is relying on the many skills the Naval Academy taught him over his four years as a student-athlete.
“The discipline, the perseverance — I mean, football is a hard game,” Robinson said of the Naval Academy’s uniqueness in the realm of both academics and athletics. “It’s hard on your body; it’s hard on the mental side. When you go through something like the Naval Academy, it’s truly crucial to stay focused, stay disciplined. That’s how you continue to get better.”
“The structure of the Naval Academy — having to wake up at a certain hour, be where you need to be on time and get the job done every single day — helped me. At the Naval Academy, you have formations, school and homework, and to be able to fit football in there, that structure helped me when I got here. I know I have to set aside time for film, eat at a certain time and get in as much work as possible.”
Zac Taylor has prioritized a strong locker room culture in his time as Bengals head coach, preferring to add players with previous team captain designations, high academics, and those who are high on-field achievers. Robinson fits that bill in a number of ways, with the military discipline factor being another welcome addition to the team’s culture.
The new defensive lineman also talked about some of the time missed for his graduation and commission ceremony, and how he’s had to play a little bit of catch-up before training camp in a couple of months. But with his learned skills at the Naval Academy, that shouldn’t be a tough task for Robinson.
