PRO FOOTBALL / DAILY REPORT : RAIDERS : Robinson Will Try to Give Team a Start

Greg Robinson knew something was up when he saw the herd of reporters heading his way Wednesday.

But he wasn’t sure just what it was.

Yes, he knew that No. 1 tailback Nick Bell will sit out Sunday’s season opener against the Minnesota Vikings because of a hamstring injury.

And yes, Robinson knew that he had been running with the first team in practice this week.

But Robinson said he didn’t know he had been designated as Sunday’s starter by Coach Art Shell until reporters told him.

So how did it feel to go from being an eighth-round draft choice to being a rookie opening-day starter, the Raiders’ first at that position since Marcus Allen in 1982?

“I haven’t felt it yet,” Robinson said. “It will hit me Sunday. I just go out there and run and try to hit the seams.”

Robinson’s stock in the draft dropped because of a knee injury he suffered in his junior year at Northeast Louisiana and because of questions about his speed. But his stock soared last month after he broke five tackles to score on a 74-yard run against the Indianapolis Colts.

One Raider whose stock has dropped dramatically is Gaston Green.

UCLA’s all-time rushing leader, Green came to the Raiders in an off-season trade after spending his previous five seasons with the Rams and the Denver Broncos.

It was assumed that Green would back up Bell. But after a horrible exhibition season that saw him gain only 49 yards in 22 carries for a 2.2-yard average, Green finds himself fourth on the depth chart below Tyrone Montgomery, a former receiver.

“Gaston is not the same type of guy as Greg Robinson,” Shell said. “We wouldn’t ask Gaston Green to do some of the things that we ask Greg Robinson to do. Not that he wouldn’t try, but we wouldn’t put him in that position. He’s still an excellent runner with the football and I wouldn’t be afraid to put him in the game.”

But not, apparently, unless all other options are exhausted.