Football | 12/13/2024 10:43:00 AM

It is not that unusual for a talented, dedicated junior to shine as a first-year starter for the football team at Navy – even after he spent his freshman season, following a year at the Naval Academy's prep school, as a member of the scout team.
 
Landon Robinson, who is that Navy junior, is undeniably an unusual talent. And he has carved a decidedly atypical path to becoming a star nose guard for the Mids in 2024.
 
Robinson, who earned First Team All-American Athletic Conference honors this year, is doing things at Navy that neither he nor anyone else could have foreseen two years ago.
 
Performing in only his second season ever at the nose guard spot, over a football life dating to elementary school, Robinson, at 6 feet, 280 pounds, has played an instrumental role in Navy's revival in 2024 as the Mids (8-3) prepare to tackle archrival  Army (11-1) for the 125^th time on Saturday in Landover, Md., 
 
Navy is headed to its first bowl game since 2019 with a December 27 date with Oklahoma in the 22^nd Lockheed Martin Armed Services Bowl. More importantly to the Mids, a win over Army would bring the coveted Commander-In-Chief's Trophy back to Annapolis for the first time since 2019.
 
Robinson has made quite a mark on this turnaround season. Combining his tremendous strength with excellent agility, stamina and explosive speed as the anchor of the Mids' defensive front, Robinson has contributed more than his 43 tackles (17 solo, 26 assists) suggest.
 
His five tackles for loss, four sacks (second-best on the Mids) and team-high six quarterback hits reveal more about the damage he creates. It's not unusual to see Robinson sprint downfield or across the field to drop a ball carrier. Although he plays about 70 percent of Navy's defensive stops, Robinson rarely gets tired in the fourth quarter, a tribute to his exceptional conditioning.
 
Then there are the frequent double-team blocks that Robinson takes on effectively – typically more than 600 pounds of blockers – by either making a play or achieving a stalemate that allows teammates such as senior linebacker and All-AAC First Teamer Colin Ramos to make the stop. Ramos is heading into the Army clash with a career-high 110 tackles.
 
"It's very physical, very demanding. You don't get much praise in the middle, dealing with so many combo blocks," Robinson said. "You have to make sure you stay low and be strong with your hands. You need a lot of good technique and body  torque to get off the ball with power."
 
The Navy defense has allowed a solid 23.2 points per game in 2024, while the Mids' rejuvenated offense has put up 32.3 points per contest. In its eight victories, Navy's defense has surrendered 18 points per game. In seven of those victories, the defense gave up an average of 14.4 points.
 
"It's great playing behind Landon," Ramos said. "He uses great leverage to go with his incredible strength, and he is still one of the fastest guys on the team. It's pretty insane, watching how many linebackers and skill players [Robinson] beats in our off-season [runs]. Landon makes me look a lot better."
 
"[Robinson] has been awesome to play next to and to watch," said senior defensive end Justin Reed, an All-AAC Second Team selection this season. "It's hard for scrambling quarterbacks to elude him. He fills gaps and pushes the pocket well. He's so hard to move, like a tree stump. He can run 18, 19 miles (he's been tracked at over 20 MPH) per hour. The confidence and trust I have, knowing he is going to be in his gap and doing his job, is very high."
 
"Landon is just built differently. We saw that when he came down from the prep school. He already was very strong, with an impressive frame. He just needed to put on more weight," recalled Jerrick Hall, Navy's defensive line coach.
 
"In order to be successful as a defensive lineman, you've got to be unselfish. Landon gets that. He understands the numbers [that favor Navy] when he deals with a double-team," Hall added. "I've coached guys who were very physical, like Landon, but he is conditioned unlike anybody I've ever coached."  
 
Robinson is essentially a re-invented football player who arrived at NAPS in 2021 as a 220-pound inside linebacker prospect out of Copley [Ohio] High School, then was moved to defensive end following plebe summer. By the time that 2022 season ended and spring ball was approaching, Robinson was starting to establish a reputation as a weight room addict. He was posting squat, bench press and vertical leap numbers that caused a buzz among his older teammates.
 
"People would flood over to Landon [in the weight room] to see what kind of numbers he was putting up that day," Reed said.
 
"It's impressive the way he committed himself to helping this team by being the very best football player he can be," Ramos added. "A few hours after getting a good lift in, he is sometimes back in the gym for another two-hour workout in the evening."
 
Both Reed and Ramos – the current, defensive captain for Navy – said that Robinson, with his fierce work ethic, humble demeanor and love of his teammates, would be a perfect candidate for co-captain next year.
 
When former nose guard and four-year letterman Donald "Biscuit" Berniard was forced to sit out that spring practice period in 2023 after having shoulder surgery, Navy coaches decided that Robinson would take Berniard's place at the top of the depth chart at the nose position. Robinson weighed about 240 pounds at that point. He had just been promoted from scout team to the first string.
 
"That is a big ask, to convert to a position you've never played before – and excel at it as quickly as [Robinson] did," Berniard said. "Whenever he had free time, you'd find him watching film, studying his next opponent, or in the gym. There is a reason people call him 'The Freak.'''
 
Robinson, who would eventually become the strongest man on the team, recalls lessons he learned early on in his first spring ball experience. On the first day, former starting center Lirian Murtezi and guard Josh Pena perfectly executed a combo block on Robinson and blew him off the ball. Nose guard school was in session.
 
"You learn through mistakes and getting beat up. I didn't know what to expect when I was moved to the defensive line [after plebe summer], but I knew how much I just loved hitting people," Robinson said. "I was too small after that freshman season to hold up as a nose guard. I started to eat a lot more and worked much harder in the weight room. Every time I was home, I cleared out the fridge."
 
By the time the Mids were assembling for preseason camp in 2023, Robinson, now a sophomore, had been stunningly transformed over a few months. He was squatting 650 pounds and bench-pressing 435 – team-highs – and his vertical leap of 33 inches topped all Navy linemen.
 
"When you're recruiting, one of the first things you look for in a player's style of play is violence. We saw that with Landon," said P.J. Volker, Navy's defensive coordinator. "We thought he might [eventually] be a shorter raider [linebacker], maybe grow into a squatty, stronger defensive end. Not in my wildest imagination did I think he'd turn into a 285-pound noseguard. It's a testament to his hard work and attention to detail."
 
"You still wonder when a guy comes back looking like that," Volker added. "Can he still move? Can he still run? Does he still have that burst? Can he carry that weight on his frame? After watching him work out and go through speed and agility drills with his pads on, he looked just fine, maybe even a bit better in terms of his speed and quickness."
 
Robinson passed his test on the field emphatically last season, as Berniard's capable backup. Robinson played in all 12 games and recorded 28 tackles, including 4.5 tackles for loss and four sacks. He was part of a defense that shut out three opponents. He was also the only nose guard and one of just 13 defensive linemen in the FBS to play on the kickoff team.
 
Robinson is no longer on the kickoff team. But he has been a major part of the resurgence of Navy football this fall, and the thoughts of knocking off Army and Oklahoma and finishing with 10 victories are driving him.
 
"Navy fans have been hungry to witness a season like this," Robinson said. "I am super grateful to have the chance to play football for Navy. I can't wait to keep going, to keep getting better."