Tackle Jaelin Robinson quickly learning ropes at Temple

Offensive tackle Jaelin Robinson is vying for a starting spot at Temple as a redshirt freshman. He may never have gotten this chance if his high school gym teacher could take a joke.

The 6-foot-6, 319-pound Robinson was an accomplished basketball player at Wilbur Cross High School in New Haven, Conn., when he decided to joke with his gym teacher, John Acquavita, who also happened to be the head football coach, in the spring of his junior year.

"I was in gym class and joking and said I would come out [for football] and he didn't get the sarcasm," Robinson said after Temple's workout Wednesday.

It was the opening that the coach needed, and in the ensuing weeks Acquavita kept bringing it up to Robinson.

"Finally, I thought I might as well give it a go - why put all my eggs in one basket?" Robinson said.

Even though he played one only year of high school football, Robinson, who said he had some Division II offers for basketball, fully devoted himself to his new sport.

He was extremely raw when he entered Temple last season and needed to redshirt just to learn the nuances of the game. The first few days of preseason practice were especially challenging.

"Everybody was my caliber or better," he said. "It was tough to get acclimated to the speed of things."

Now Robinson is earning raves as he competes for the right tackle spot. Junior left tackle Dion Dawkins had a slightly different early path than Robinson did, but he believes the two are comparable.

The 6-5, 318-pound Dawkins played immediately as a freshman, appearing in five games before suffering a season-ending broken foot. Last season Dawkins started 11 games, missing one because of injury.

"He is one of the most athletic guys on the O-line," Dawkins said of Robinson. "He can bend and move, and I feel we had similar traits as freshmen."

The difference was experience, so Robinson is now making up for lost time. The agility he developed as a basketball player has helped him in the trenches.

"He is a great, athletic, long, physical specimen, and when you see him he is exactly what you envision a right tackle being in college and in the NFL," offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield said. ". . . He is leaps and bounds [ahead] of where he was even at the end of spring."

Many can envision Robinson and Dawkins being solid bookend tackles.

Last year during preseason camp, Robinson gave offensive line coach Chris Wiesehan an honest response when discussing playing time.

"He said, 'If I told you I could have you compete for a starting position in the middle of the season, would you believe me?' " Robinson said. "And in all seriousness I didn't believe him, so I told him no."

Then came the kicker.

Wiesehan told Robinson that if he listened and trusted him and put in the necessary work, he could be a four-year starter. Right now that doesn't look like a bad projection.