Football Insider: Analyzing Josh Robinson’s draft destination

Former UCF cornerback Josh Robinson is mere hours from achieving his dream.

With the NFL Draft starting tonight, there is a chance Robinson’s future could be decided in the first round.

Though I project Robinson to be picked in the second round, it is possible that his strong combine boosted his stock enough to get him into the backend of round 1 Thursday. WalterFootball.com has Robinson rated as the 6th best corner in the draft, and FootballsFuture.com has him at No. 5.

Robinson is an exceptional athlete. There is no need to look past his combine performance to see that. According to UniversalDraft.com’s Chris Kouffman, what hurts Robinson’s stock is there is so much unknown with Robinson. Scouts are not sure if Robinson can play in the slot on defense or if he is a pure outside corner and they are not sure how he handles coaching.

What Robinson does have is a knack for being around the ball and coming up with big plays; he had 10 career interceptions for the Knights.

Teams that make sense to consider the former Knight are the St. Louis Rams, Detroit Lions and Carolina Panthers. In round two, barring a trade up the Rams would get first choice at pick 33. The rest of the teams all have at least one second round selection.

The Rams struggled all season in the secondary, most of which to do with injuries. The Rams sent an eye popping six corners to injured reserve, and only Justin King made it from start of the season to end on the active roster. Roderick Hood was their highest rated corner by AdvancedNFLStatistics.com at 88th in the league.

The Rams clearly need an influx of young talent in the secondary and are unlikely to do it in the first round. Robinson is a logical fit.

The Lions had a strong season by their standards in 2011, but they still struggled defending the pass. The Lions could choose to take a corner, possibly Robinson, in the first round leaving them unlikely to select address the position in round two.

The Panthers could provide Robinson with the best chance to start right away, as besides Chris Gamble they don’t have starting caliber players in the secondary. Robinson would likely compete for the starting job opposite Gamble with Captain Munnerlyn.

Former UF cornerback Janoris Jenkins may have boosted Robinson’s stock in the eyes of some teams with his checkered past filled with arrests and personal baggage. Though Jenkins is considered the best cover corner in the draft, teams see him as a risk.

If I was forced to mock-pick Robinson somewhere, I would say the most likely landing spot is the Rams at pick No. 39. The Rams are a team desperate for youthful athleticism, and the blazing Robinson is just that.

With legitimate 4.33 speed [in the 40 yard dash], and excellent leaping ability, Robinson has the look of a promising NFL prospect.

Report: Godfrey, Worton to return to program

UCF football head coach George O’Leary reportedly confirmed to the Orlando Sentinel on Tuesday that he expects former UCF quarterback Jeff Godfrey to rejoin the team. O’Leary also confirmed that wide receiver J.J. Worton, suspended after being arrested in March, will return to the program after the summer.

The timetable for Godfrey’s return to the Knights and any potential issues with eligibility from an academic standpoint are both unclear for the moment.