Ranking the Contenders: RB Branson Robinson
Branson Robinson recently narrowed his choices down to five schools as the nation’s top running back in the 2022 class works closer to a decision.
There have been a lot of moving parts at the running back position in recent months, but the Madison (Miss.) Germantown standout has selected a top group of schools, some already with commits at his position and others with high-priority targets waiting to make their choices.
In today’s Ranking The Contenders, we take a closer look at his five favorites and put them in order of likelihood where he will commit.
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1. GEORGIA
In late March, Georgia received a commitment from four-star running back Jordan Bryant-James, but the belief is that decision will play no influence in Robinson’s thinking and that the Bulldogs still lead in his recruitment. He has been made a top priority by the Georgia staff and the four-star standout has definitely taken notice.
In some ways, it feels like the UGA coaches are even more confident they are in a good position by Robinson by taking Bryant-James’ commitment instead of telling him to hold off as to not scare off Robinson, who has received Nick Chubb comparisons.
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2. ALABAMA
Because Alabama’s coaches have not seen many prospects in person because of the pandemic, the Crimson Tide have been slow-playing lots of top recruits, and this summer is going to be crucial for coach Nick Saban and his staff to see guys with their own eyes and then prioritize the highest level prospects.
Alabama likes Robinson a lot, but until he’s in Tuscaloosa this summer the heat won’t be turned up. Again, the commitment of four-star RB Emmanuel Henderson (he could play other positions for the Tide) won’t scare off Robinson.
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3. CLEMSON
A new offer from Clemson has definitely caught Robinson’s attention and he could be the feature back in the Tigers’ recruiting class if he decides to go there. It could also be tempting to play for position coach C.J. Spiller, a former five-star who’s now on Clemson’s staff.
Once visits open in June as expected, if Robinson makes his way to Clemson then it could become even higher on this list since he was very interested in the Tigers' offer when it came recently.
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4. TENNESSEE
It’s impressive for Tennessee that it made Robinson’s top five, but it would be a major surprise if he ended up in Knoxville, at least at this point. There does not seem to be a distinct connection between Robinson and the new Vols staff. While Robinson does have speed he’s more of a punishing running back in a new system that will probably look to create mismatches in space as much as possible.
If Robinson visits Tennessee in the summer then there could be a chance, but it would be an outside one at best at this point.
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5. LSU
Less than three hours away from home (about equidistant to Tuscaloosa as well from Madison, Miss.), LSU makes a lot of sense: The Tigers do great recruiting and developing running backs and there’s always a massive offensive line in Baton Rouge.
But it just does not seem like LSU is mainly focused on Robinson at this point, as Le’Veon Moss, Trevonte’ Citizen and Trevor Etienne are all in-state kids and all are in the running for the Tigers. That might drastically change if Robinson visits LSU in the coming months, but right now there are a lot of targets on LSU’s board.