Robinson selected by Jaguars

Two days after coach Bill O'Brien was revealed to be headed to the NFL's Houston Texans, redshirt junior wide receiver Allen Robinson announced he'd follow suit.

Friday night in New York, the question of whether or not Robinson's decision to forgo his final year of eligibility as a Nittany Lion took another turn as he was drafted with the 61st pick in the 2nd round of the 2014 NFL Draft.

"We got another true junior in Mr. Robinson, so we're excited about that. This is a guy that brings another element to our offense," said Jacksonville general manager Dave Caldwell. "He's extremely hard-working, extremely grounded, highly competitive, again, I feel like a broken record. He's very humble and hard-working and I think he's going to bring an element of competition to this team."

In selecting Robinson, the Jaguars actually traded up from their next pick at No. 70 overall in order to get the former Nittany Lion wideout.

Citing his experience playing in Penn State's pro-style offense under former head coach O'Brien, Robinson said he expects to be prepared for the next level.

"I think it benefits me a lot," he said. "For now, the sight adjustments, the coverage adjustments are second nature to me, so that's not anything too different that I will have to deal with at the next level."

Robinson finished his career at Penn State as a third-team All-American in 2013, a two-time All-Big Ten selection, a two-time Big Ten receiver of the year award winner, and the sole proprietor of nearly every significant mark in the Penn State record book.

In total, Robinson racked up 174 total receptions for 2,445 receiving yards as a sophomore and junior, earning a spot as a semifinalist for the 2013 Biletnikoff Award. Additionally, he finished with the records for single-season receptions with 97 and receiving yards with 1,432.

With the selection, Robinson became the 34th Nittany Lion selected in the NFL Draft dating back to 2006.

He'll join Paul Posluszny, Nate Stupar and Matt Stankiewitch in Jacksonville, all of whom played for the Nittany Lions.

Notes:

- During Robinson's teleconference following the selection, he was asked why he decided to stick with Penn State when the free transfer rule was implemented with the NCAA's sanctions against the program.

"Penn State blessed me with a great opportunity coming out of high school. I wasn't too highly recruited out of high school, I was about a two-star, so I really didn't have too many other big opportunities that were thrown at me," he said. "Penn State was one of the schools that threw one at me and I was very blessed for that, so I wouldn't have had the opportunity (to transfer to another major school) anyway."

- Though it was reported frequently here at the time just how dire a situation the Nittany Lions were in due to scholarship roster limitations by the end of the 2013 season, Robinson's answer regarding his season highlight last year once again shed light on the odds working against Penn State's success.

"I'd say the highlight game for me of last year was beating Wisconsin our last game. Everybody had doubted us because we were coming off a loss, everybody was projecting Wisconsin to beat us and go on to the Rose Bowl, so there were a lot of different things that factored into that game," he said. "I think with that we just honed in. We only traveled 42 scholarship players that game and we went to Madison, Wisconsin and beat a great Wisconsin team."