No. 13: De Smet's Doyle-Robinson drops jaws with his superior athleticism

loves to leave people slack jawed.

A 6-foot-1 and 270-pound defensive lineman for the , Doyle-Robinson does not appear to be the most athletic guy walking at first glance.

You’d never know he can back flip like a gymnast.

I should be a ninja
— Dakote Doyle (@svxcy_45)

That he can leap up, grab the basketball rim and hang there like your favorite dunker.

Or that’s he pretty adept at just about anything on the basketball court from running the point to bullying people in the post.

“I can hoop, I can do whatever you want me to do,” Doyle-Robinson said. “A lot of people doubt my athleticism.”

There are no doubts for anyone who’s watched Doyle-Robinson, 17, play football. The No. 13 prospect on the Post-Dispatch Super 30 countdown of the area’s top seniors, Doyle-Robinson verbally committed to Baylor at the end of May. He chose the Waco, Texas school over offers from Arkansas State, Austin Peay, Ball State, Bowling Green, Central Michigan, Charlotte, Kent State, Michigan State, Northeastern State, Northern Iowa, South Dakota, Toledo, UT-Martin and Washington State.

Doyle-Robinson said he wanted to play football in Texas.

“I’ve got family down there and feel like that’s a great opportunity for me,” he said. “I’m going to get out there and touch the waters a little bit.”

On the field he’s prone to reaching out and touching anyone who gets between him and the ball carrier. As a junior, Doyle-Robinson racked up 43 tackles, four sacks and powered through any offensive lineman silly enough to stand in his way.

“He’s the hardest hitting guy on our team,” De Smet coach Robert Steeples said. “He will run through people, too. He’s very explosive and nasty. He’s on the hunt every play. He can’t wait to get there and hit you.”

Doyle-Robinson wasn’t always a defensive tackle. He came up in youth football playing linebacker. The skills he acquired then have stayed with him as he’s transitioned to lining up in the trenches.

“You see that sideline to sideline movement (of a linebacker),” Steeples said. “He’s a land shark. He’s the most physical player on the team.”

He’s also among one of the most mature players on the team. Doyle-Robinson has held down a part-time job since he was 15. He’s been a server in a nursing home. He’s bagged groceries. When the coronavirus pandemic turned his summer upside down and left him without a regular schedule of offseason practices, camps and college visits, he found another job. Now he’s stocking shelves at a big box store.

“There was nothing else to do,” Doyle-Robinson said. “I went ahead and got a job. I've got a lot going on but I'm muscling through it."��

It’s that attitude that kept Doyle-Robinson plugging along when he didn’t have a scholarship offer. On a team with so many talented players like De Smet, it would be easy to get lost in the sauce. Even as his teammates started collecting offers and interest, Doyle-Robinson focused on making himself better. He knew his opportunities would follow.

“You have to be patient and you have to be selfless,” he said.

His turn finally came last school year. Doyle-Robinson was excused from class to have a chat with a member of Missouri State’s old coaching staff��— the Bears have since installed a completely new staff. ��Ƶ watched some film and began talking.

The Missouri State coach asked if Doyle-Robinson had an offer yet. He told them he did not.

“Well now you do,” the coach said.

Doyle-Robinson’s teammate, Rico Barfield, was nearby and heard the news. The talented running back immediately began celebrating his teammate.

“He was clapping loud,” Doyle-Robinson said with a chuckle. “I was fired up.”

It didn’t take long before he had a stack of offers to pick from. Now Doyle-Robinson will have the chance to drop jaws in Texas where he’ll continue proving to people he’s more than meets the eye.

“I felt like I was an underdog. I’ve always been a big dog but an underdog,” he said. “If you keep grinding your time is going to come. I’ve always wanted to go to college. Now I’ve got that opportunity and I’m going to take it.”