Former member of the Minnesota Vikings to be featured on ‘Hard Knocks’ this summer
By Adam Patrick
Former Minnesota Vikings cornerback Josh Robinson will likely make an appearance when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are featured on the hit show later this year.
An announcement was made on Wednesday that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have been selected as this year’s NFL team to be featured on the HBO show “Hard Knocks“. This is the 12th season that the show will be filmed and the Bucs are the 10th NFL team to participate in the filming festivities.
Among the players that are expected to be battling for a spot on Tampa Bay’s 2017 roster is former Minnesota Vikings cornerback Josh Robinson.
After the Vikings selected Robinson in the third round of the 2012 draft, the cornerback spent his first four seasons in the league with Minnesota. While with the Vikings, he accumulated a total of 149 tackles, five interceptions, 15 pass deflections, and one forced fumble in 47 games.
Minnesota fell in love with Robinson’s speed (4.33 40-yard dash time) and could not resist to let him pass by when he was still on the board in the third round. However, the cornerback was never able to evolve into anything formidable on the Vikings’ defense during his time with the team.
Minnesota Vikings
In situations when he lined up as the team’s slot corner in 2013, he allowed opposing receivers to catch 95 percent of the passes thrown his way.
When Mike Zimmer was hired by Minnesota in 2014, his patience level for Robinson’s struggles was not very high. He improved a little with Zimmer’s teachings, but not enough to prevent the Vikings from signing veteran cornerback Terence Newman in 2015.
After becoming a free-agent in 2016, Robinson signed a one-year contract with the Bucs. It was an opportunity for a fresh start and for him to play in his home state of Florida.
He appeared in all 16 games for Tampa Bay last year, but he was not really a vital part of their defense. However, the Bucs saw enough in the cornerback to re-sign him this past offseason.
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It will be interesting to see if Tampa Bay decides to increase his role on their defense for 2017 and how that will be played out in the team’s training camp. Luckily, there will be cameras there to film exactly how that scenario might play out.