Dolphins draft Penn State edge rusher Chop Robinson with first opening-round pick in three years

The Miami Dolphins went with an edge defender with their first-round pick in the draft Thursday night, selecting Penn State's Chop Robinson.

MIAMI GARDENS — Miami Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel has said edge rusher is his favorite position in football, despite having an offensive background.

True to form then, the Dolphins selected Penn State edge defender Chop Robinson with the No. 21 pick in Thursday’s first round of the NFL draft.

“I’m honestly just blessed and happy to be a Dolphin,” Robinson said in a web conference call with reporters shortly after being picked, adding he had plenty of contact with the organization between the NFL scouting combine and his pro day.

It was the first time the Dolphins picked in the draft’s opening round in three years, the last being Jaelan Phillips, the former Miami Hurricane edge rusher who was the Dolphins’ selection with the No. 18 pick in 2021 after they picked wide receiver Jaylen Waddle at 6 that year. So, the last two first-round picks for the Miami Dolphins have now been pass rushers.

“He was a player that we kind of identified early that we liked,” general manager Chris Grier said late Thursday night. “He was someone that we felt could impact our team and had some traits we liked, both as a person and a player.

“He plays hard. He plays his ass off, and that’s what we like. And then, obviously, the athletic traits and what he has. You see a first-step quickness, the explosion, his ability to bend.”

Added McDaniel: “If you have a player contributing in pass rush, those are things that you feel very fortunate to not pass up. As passing games become more and more of a focus, those players are a really big part of the driving force of your defense.”

With Phillips (Achilles) and fellow outside linebacker Bradley Chubb (knee) rehabbing from season-ending injuries this offseason, Robinson gives Miami a security blanket at the position if either does not quite return to form or is delayed in recovery. He can also work into a pass-rushing rotation with Phillips, Chubb and veteran signing Shaquil Barrett when all are healthy.

“I feel like that’s going to be a great situation for me,” said Robinson, who added he has never been to Miami before, “coming in and learning from those guys, competing every day, being able to take things from them and put it into my game.”

The Dolphins lost outside linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel in free agency to the Minnesota Vikings this offseason, so there was already a void, and the team likely wanted to stock up on edge rushers after having so many injuries at the position last season.

Robinson, who is 6 foot 3, 254 pounds, was the draft’s fourth edge defender taken behind Laiatu Latu, Dallas Turner and Jared Verse. The Dolphins got the fifth defensive player selected in the draft, benefiting from the first 14 picks going to offense, with six of the first 12 being quarterbacks.

Robinson is an athletic, quick player at his size, running a 4.48-second 40-yard dash at the NFL combine. He had four sacks last season for the Nittany Lions and 5 1/2 in 2022.

“For us, it’s an important part, but we always talk about the ability to rush the passer,” Grier said about Robinson’s sack numbers that don’t exactly jump off the page. “Working the analytics, watching him, what he does, what he contributes … we think a lot of his traits and things he does on film translate.”

Robinson said he feels improving his hand placement will help him increase his sack numbers as a pro.

Putting together a high pressure rate, though, Robinson has drawn comparisons to another standout Penn State pass rusher, Micah Parsons, for his athleticism.

“Robinson might not be as fast as Parsons, but he’s close,” wrote NFL.com draft analyst Lance Zierlein in a scouting report. “He’s ultra-twitchy with the explosiveness to get on top of blockers and overwhelm them in an instant. However, he will need to level up his hand skills and attack angles to reach his potential against NFL tackles. Robinson’s electric athletic traits alone should give him a floor as a good NFL starter.”

Last season, Robinson was carted off the field with an undisclosed injury from a helmet-to-helmet collision with an offensive lineman against Ohio State in October.

Robinson’s name, Chop, comes from the nickname “Pork Chop” because he was 11 pounds at birth. With a first name of Demeioun, the nickname was later shortened to “Chop.”

With the pick, Miami passed up the opportunity to take one of several offensive linemen available: Duke’s Graham Barton, Oregon center Jackson Powers-Johnson or Oklahoma’s Tyler Guyton among them. They also could have taken the first cornerback of the draft with an array of talented defensive backs on the board or Illinois defensive tackle Jer’Zhan “Johnny” Newton.

Grier said Miami was active on the phones seeking trades throughout the first round, including trying to get back into the opening round for another player.

“There were a couple players at the end we were excited for,” Grier said, “so we were active in trying to get back in to get another one here in the late first.”

The Dolphins enter Friday with a second-round pick, No. 55 overall, as Rounds 2 and 3 of the draft take place, with the fourth through seventh rounds Saturday. Miami is currently slated to be without a third-round pick Friday, one that was stripped from the team for its tampering violation penalty handed down in August 2022, along with a first-rounder last year.