Top draft pick Chop Robinson ‘blessed and happy to be a Dolphin'
MIAMI GARDENS — The Dolphins can’t be sure their veteran edge rushers will be ready for the start of the 2024 season.
So Thursday night, they bought themselves insurance.
The Dolphins took Penn State edge rusher Chop Robinson in the first round of the NFL draft. Robinson was taken with the 21st overall pick to harass quarterbacks in the event Jaelan Phillips and Bradley Chubb need time to recover from injuries that prematurely ended their 2023 seasons.
“I’m honestly just blessed and happy to be a Dolphin,” Robinson said on a conference call with South Florida reporters moments after the pick.
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Robinson has been compared to Micah Parsons of the Dallas Cowboys despite modest 2023 stats.
“I like Micah,” he said. “I’ve been watching Micah since I was in high school. To see how hard he played, he’s very relentless, very consistent with everything he does. So I try to play my game after him.”
Dolphins general manager Chris Grier painted Robinson as a Parsons-type player in one important way.
"He plays hard," Grier said. "He plays his ass off. And that's what we like."
In 10 games, Robinson had 15 tackles and four sacks. He had 11.5 sacks in three years. But Grier said it's not unusual for pass rushers to have modest stats in college before blossoming in the pros.
"We've always talked about the ability to disrupt the passer," Grier said. "And his disruption numbers are all very high."
So why didn't more sacks come?
“For me, it was just being inconsistent with my hands,” Robinson said. “It’s something I’ve been working on. I know it’s something that will come naturally when I put my hands to good use.”
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Grier said his phone was active with teams interested in trading up to No. 21 and that the Dolphins weren't looking to trade up from there. But, he added, he did attempt to trade back into the first round after taking Robinson.
Grier believes in drafting the best player available, but if he entered the draft targeting help on the defensive front after losing tackle Christian Wilkins, the tone of the night shifted drastically in the minutes before the Dolphins took their turn on the clock.
Chop Robinson available as offensive players drafted early
For the first time ever, all of the top 14 picks were used on offense. But once defensive players started coming off the board, it triggered a run.
First came the Indianapolis Colts, taking UCLA edge rusher Laiatu Latu. Seattle, picking next, went with Texas defensive tackle Byron Murphy II.
Then, tension. The Vikings swung a trade with Jacksonville to move up to 17 after losing Danielle Hunter. Coordinator Brian Flores now has linebacker Dallas Turner to coach.
And if the Dolphins had eyes on staying in state, that ended at 19 when the L.A. Rams took edge rusher Jared Verse.
Robinson has nine siblings
Robinson’s actual first name is Demeioun. But when he weighed 14 pounds at birth, his mother named him Pork Chop, which eventually was shortened to Chop.
Robinson comes from a family that includes nine siblings, with Chop being the third youngest.
“It’s crazy,” he said. “All your older siblings are trying to bully you when you’re young. But it definitely shaped me into the man I am today.”
Robinson was carted off in a game against Ohio State after a head-to-head collision.
Miami Dolphins were in frequent contact with Robinson
Robinson is unfamiliar with Miami (the city) but not Miami (the football team). He said he has had significant contact with the Dolphins starting with the NFL Combine and continuing through his pro day.
Robinson is the first Dolphin drafted in the first round since Jaylen Waddle and Phillips were selected in 2021. The Dolphins traded away two first-round picks in 2022 (for Tyreek Hill and a pick-swap with Philadelphia). They would have had two first-round picks last year but traded one for Chubb and forfeited one pick — coincidentally, also 21st overall — because of tampering with Sean Payton and Tom Brady.
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Although the second and third rounds will be held Friday, the Dolphins have only pick No. 55 in Round 2.
After that, the Dolphins are scheduled to be spectators for a stretch. Their third-round pick also was forfeited because of tampering, and their fourth-round pick was shipped to Denver in the Chubb trade, meaning more than 100 players will come off the board before the Dolphins are back on the clock.
The maneuvering left Miami with a fifth-round pick (No. 158), two sixth-rounders (Nos. 184 and 198) and a seventh-rounder (241).
Dolphins reporter Hal Habib can be reached at hhabib@pbpost.com. Follow him on social media @gunnerhal. Click here to subscribe.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Top draft pick Chop Robinson ‘blessed and happy to be a Dolphin'
