Healthy Wan’Dale Robinson providing Giants with leadership, hope

New York Giants wide receiver Wan’Dale Robinson is being pegged by some analysts as a ‘breakout’ candidate for the upcoming 2024 NFL season.

The third-year pro is healthy and is prepared to take the next step in his career and help the Giants’ offense become all it can be.

As a rookie in 2022, Robinson tore up his knee midseason just as it appeared he was ready to justify the Giants selecting him in the second round of the draft that spring.

Last summer, Robinson was still rehabbing the knee in the offseason and in training camp and expectations were, well, not very high.

“It’s completely night and day,” Robinson told reporters about his physical state from last spring. “Last year around this time I wasn’t running routes, barely sprinting. To come out here now and be able to go for a full practice and not worry about my knee at all, it’s like I said, night and day.

“I feel like I’m kind of back to myself all the way. Having a full offseason to train and not have to rehab, so it was a really big deal to me just to be able to go back home and do everything I was able to do ask and get back to myself.”

Robinson began to show his pedigree last season when he led the Giants with 60 receptions. He did that in an offense that saw three different quarterbacks start five or more games each and the offense was a sputtering mess.

This spring, Robinson’s GPS numbers are showing he’s moving better and that is good news for an offense that needs more dynamic play.

“I would say in this offseason I hit some numbers that I hadn’t hit ever, so it was pretty nice to see that. Hopefully being able to hit those numbers fully in pads and just show that explosiveness out there on the field,” he said.

Head coach Brian Daboll sees Robinson as a staple in his offense, a perfect compliment to outside speedsters Malik Nabers and Jalin Hyatt.

“He’s a good football player. We ask him to do a lot of things,” Daboll told reporters this week at the team’s mandatory minicamp.

“I think he’s got really good quickness, good speed, a very dependable player for us. For the quarterbacks, they know where he’s going to be most of the time. He runs a variety of routes. Not just always inside, we’ve moved him outside too as well. Smart. Very, very smart. Does a good job in that room.

“He was injured and is still a young player, and he’s been very good for Malik and I would say Hyatt too with his communication process. We call a formation, he needs to bring a guy over, he knows really what all five players, including the running back, is supposed to do. He’s progressed well. He’s had a good camp.”

Robinson was called a leader by offensive coordinator Mike Kafka and Daboll earlier in the day and he’s ready to embrace that role.

“They kind of put that on me towards the end of last year, knowing I would be one of the older guys now,” Robinson said. “I’ve kind of tried to take it upon myself just to do whatever I can out there on the field, teaching the guys how we do things around here. It’s nice for them to know that I can do that.”

The Giants have a unique mix in their wide receiver room but it looks as if Robinson is the one they could turn to both on and off the field this year.