Picture a “freak athlete.”
Perhaps the first image presented on the projector in your mind is NFL legend Aaron Donald destroying an offensive lineman with an uncanny combo of speed and strength, invoking instant panic into a quarterback. Maybe Jadeveon Clowney pops up with his famous helmet-popping, fumble-forcing hit on Michigan.
But did you account for the former 2-star linebacker recruit from Copley High School in Akron who committed to a school that’s only produced four NFL Draft picks in the 21st century?
Landon Robinson evidently flew under the radar in the recruiting. Yet even through his first two seasons at Navy, he remained one of college football’s best kept secrets.
Robinson arrived in Annapolis in 2022 as a 6’0”, 220 pound linebacker with plenty of room to grow, figuratively and literally. Where the high school tape depicted a linebacker, head coach Brian Newberry and his staff saw a defensive lineman, signifying it was time for Robinson to bulk up.
He didn’t play a single down during the 2022 season. But in 2023 he arrived nearly 60 pounds heavier, facilitating a transition to the backup nose guard position behind Donald Berniard Jr.
“It was a process of putting on weight and developing as a defensive lineman,” Newberry said. “He played a little bit as a sophomore, did a really good job. But he had a really good player in front of him.”
While Robinson didn’t log a single start in 2023, Newberry started to understand the unique talent that was on his hands. Navy inserted the linebacker-turned-nose guard in unorthodox spots on special teams, utilizing him on the kickoff team — as he was one of just 13 defensive linemen nationally to receive that distinction — and calling his number on fake punts to run the football.
In fact, he has operated as the ball-carrier on three fake punts to date — a 24-yard first down at SMU in 2023, a 34-yard first down at South Florida in 2024, and an iconic 29-yard first down in the 2024 Army-Navy Game that essentially sealed a victory for the Midshipmen.
WHAT A WILD PLAY — Navy calls a fake punt to the big man Landon Robinson!
He picks up the first, fumbles, but Navy keeps it! pic.twitter.com/2GfXhypE9i
— CBS Sports College Football (@CBSSportsCFB) December 14, 2024
There are over 1,000 defensive linemen at the FBS level, but not many simultaneously display the speed and athleticism of Robinson. Strength and conditioning coach Jim Kiritsy quickly realized that and took him under his wing as one of his greatest projects. Referred to in the building as “Coach K,” Kiritsy is tasked with finding the proper strength vs. speed tradeoff for each of his players. He perfected those attributes with Robinson.
Without compensating his team record 465-pound bench press or 665-pound squat, Kiritsy trained the defensive tackle to become one of the quickest in the country. The former linebacker already arrived to Annapolis with a foundational degree of speed, but Coach K helped Robinson amplify it at his newfound size. The results spoke for themselves, as Robinson clocked in at 20.13 miles per hour on the Catapult speed tracking system. He even recorded a vertical jump as high as 33 inches, checking yet another box in the athleticism olympics.
“He’s a phenomenal kid, first of all. His motor runs high. He’s a freak athletically,” Newberry said. “He’s got all the intangibles you want. He’s got all the physical qualities. For us, what we do defensively, we’re moving him and shaking it up front. We’re not gonna just put him in a 3-technique and then let him get doubled.”
When you graduate from the Naval Academy there are strict weight requirements, but until that day arrives, members of the football team are not bound by a maximum. However, it isn’t commonplace for Navy to land 320-pound linemen recruits on the roster (only five players on the entire 2025 roster are 300+, peaking at 317).
Thus, the Midshipmen’s one-gap defensive scheme (where each defensive lineman is assigned a single gap between opposing offensive linemen) is designed to showcase the skills of quick, yet strong defensive linemen who can hold their gaps and rush the passer. And perhaps there’s no anchor better equipped to thrive in that scheme than Landon Robinson.
Navy DT Landon Robinson has three career fake punt runs for 87 yards.
Photo by Ricky Bowden/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
“It’s something that we pride ourselves on. We don’t need the big guys,” Robinson said. “It’s use your leverage, use your hands, and use your technique to make plays and get back in the backfield.”
After fully mastering his athleticism above 280 pounds, Robinson finally received his first crack at a starting spot in 2024, and it couldn’t have gone more swimmingly. Robinson registered 61 tackles, six tackles for loss, four sacks, and forced a pair of fumbles as Navy showcased its best scoring defense since 2015. He landed First Team All-AAC honors in his first opportunity as a starter, and he credits countering Navy’s unique flexbone offensive scheme for his rapid rise to stardom.
“We have a very good offense, so every day in camp we go against a very good o-line, a very good offense as a whole,” Robinson said. “You get those repetitions in practice, so when you get out to the game, guys aren’t moving as fast or guys aren’t as strong, it’s like, ‘I’ve seen this before,’ and it’s just muscle memory at that point.”
Navy warranted five First Team and Second All-AAC defensive selections in 2024. However, Robinson is the only one yet to graduate, providing the Midshipmen another season to hone his skills. Newberry wants to take advantage of the 6’0”, 287 pound nose guard’s athleticism and is eager to line him up in a multitude of areas in 2025.
“He’s hard to block, he’s hard to get underneath, hard to move,” Newberry said. “We’ve always tried to recruit nose guards like that. Really the thing we need to take advantage of this year is his ability to rush the quarterback. We’ve gotta get him matched him. Put him at end, let him rush. Put him in at 3-technique, move him out of the nose position, we’re gonna do that, find some matchup advantages because he’s already a good pass rusher.”
While the Midshipmen are no strangers to producing team success, having won 10+ games five times since 2004, Navy isn’t exactly a harvester of NFL talent. The Midshipmen only have four NFL Draft selections since 2000, but one of Robinson’s defensive teammates — Rayuan Lane III — earned that honor in April. Hearing Lane’s name called on the NFL Draft stage was a pivotal moment in Robinson’s football career, and three months later, it continues to serve as an inspiration.
“It was one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen,” Robinson said. “It was very cool looking on TV and seeing one of our guys get picked up. It’s inspiring at the least. Not a lot of people get picked up by our school. It shows you can do it anywhere. As long as you’re good, the coaches will find you.”
All seniors at the Naval Academy must pick their service selection in their penultimate semester before graduation. Robinson is currently eyeing the Marine Corps as his service selection, yet at the same time, he dreams of testing his superhuman athleticism on football’s grandest stage in the NFL.
“It’s definitely something I want to pursue,” Robinson said. “I just gotta have a great season. Hopefully, I can make that happen. It’s definitely on my radar and definitely something I’m looking forward to.”
But first, he’s granted one more season to demonstrate one of the most unique combinations of strength, speed, verticality, and general athleticism currently present in college football.