Dolphins and Chop Robinson are entering a period of discovery
Chop Robinson had limited production at Maryland and Penn State during his collegiate career, but his workout performance at the NFL Combine had draftniks making comparisons to All Pro pass rusher Micah Parsons.
As a result of the workout hype, the Miami Dolphins selected him 21st overall in the 2024 NFL Draft, but Robinson’s first two seasons can best be described as underwhelming, and inconsistent.
New Dolphins head coach Jeff Hafley had the pleasure of coaching Parsons after the Green Bay Packers acquired the five-time Pro Bowler in a trade with Dallas before last season, and the versatile defender thrived with his new team with Hafley as his playcaller before sustaining a season-ending knee injury in December.
One of Hafley and his staff’s biggest challenges in their first season is to find a way to get more out of Robinson, who has contributed 47 tackles and 10 sacks in the 32 games he has played the past two seasons.
“Chop has had some success. If you build a pass-rushing tape of Chop he does things that [make me say] ‘I can’t wait to get my hands on this guy,’” Hafley said of the 6-foot-3, 254 pound edge rusher, who was limited to four starts because of he struggled setting the edge and stopping the run.
A tape cut up of those plays would likely sound some alarms.
“We need to get to know him. I want to see him live,” Hafley added. “I want to see what he looks like in his stance. I want to see what we can do to help him out of his stance, out of his first step. What is his go-to move? Is he going to win with speed? What is his counter? Can we coach him up on that? What is his mind-set like?”
Hafley, who will interact with Dolphins players under contract for the first time next week when Miami begins the offseason training program, said he has had “a bunch” of phone conversations with Robinson. But openly acknowledges they need to become more acquainted with one another.
Hafley plans to run a 4-3 base defense, but he acknowledges that the vision for his scheme can and will change based on the team’s personnel. It will be interesting to see whether Robinson fits into Miami’s ideal defense as a traditional, hand-in-the-ground defensive end, or a strong-side linebacker.
That is yet to be determined. And that won’t happen until Hafley and his staff watch Robinson, and the rest of his teammates, play and practice football.
“His first few steps, his get off,” Hafley says, shaking his head slowly, seemingly in thought, or recollecting something he has seen. “He can roll. Now it’s our job to coach him up, develop him, and help him get better.”
This offseason Miami re-signed Cameron Goode, a special teams ace, Derrick McClendon, a talented young pass rusher who developed on the practice squad the past two seasons, and added Josh Uche, David Ojabo and Robert Beal Jr. in free agency.
“He’ll play a lot of sam [strong-side] linebacker for us at times. You can package him up as a [designated pass rusher] and let him go rush,” general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan said of Uche, a Miami native, who has logged 105 tackles and 21.5 sacks in 76 regular-season games.
However, Uche has only started four NFL games during his career, and it’s likely because of his limitations as a run defender.
Ojabo, who contributed 32 tackles and 4.5 sacks in the 32 games he has played for the Ravens the past four seasons, is viewed as a more traditional 4-3 end.
“He’s a bigger body who has length and a physical presence to him,” Sullivan said. “He’s a little bit of a different body type than we have with the other guys, which I think we need.”
And don’t be surprised if the Dolphins, who have 11 draft picks, add more in the draft, especially since Sullivan classified pass rusher as one of the deepest position units in the 2026 NFL Draft.
But the offseason goal is seemingly to figure out what Miami has in Robinson.
“I have a lot of confidence in Haf and his staff and their ability to teach and develop young players. Chop has a lot of natural talent. Everyone knows that,” Sullivan said. “I think we have really good coaches in the building and I think that will be a good marriage.”
