The Miami Dolphins made their selection in the 2024 NFL Draft as with the 21st overall pick, they went with a player on the defensive side of the ball in Penn State defensive lineman/linebacker Chop Robinson. After the pick was selected and the first round ended Thursday night, Dolphins general manager Chris Grier and head coach Mike McDaniel gave their reasoning on why they drafted the 21-year old.
There were a lot of different positions Miami could have went with their lone first-round pick, but a necessity was taking either a player on the offensive line or anywhere on the defense. With the Robinson selection, Grier said that the choice wasn't a case of other players they liked being taken before him as he harped that they “couldn't pass up” the opportunity to get “a player we identified early that we liked” according to the team's transcripts page.
“He was a player that we identified early that we liked,” Grier said. “We spent some time with him throughout the whole process and watching him work with the coaches and the scouts, he was someone we felt could impact our team and had a lot of traits we liked as a person and a player, which was important to us. So for us, the opportunity for us to get him, we couldn’t pass up. We were very excited – the defensive coaches, scouts, ownership, all of us were fired up we could get him.”
Grier talks about Robinson's tools that could help Miami
If there is one aspect about Robinson that is even admitted by Grier, it's that the Penn State product is more of a developmental piece rather than a player that will excel in his first snap in the NFL. However, his tape does display a level of explosiveness off the snap that could make for an exciting player as Grier even said he isn't a “finished product.”
“His testing numbers are elite and you see all the tools, the things he can do. But is he a finished product? No. And I think he’d probably admit that to you as well, and not many players who come into the league are,” Grier said. “So we think he has obviously the get off and speed that everyone talks about as kind of rare and his athletic tools. So I think again for us, he still has a runway to keep improving, but the fact that the guy works hard and has a tremendous motor and toughness to him which gives us really excitement to think he’ll reach his peak of ability that we think he can hit.”
“The one part is he plays hard. He plays his ass off, and that’s what we like,” Grier continued. “Then obviously the athletic traits and what he has, you see the first step quickness, the explosion, his ability to bend and do stuff. He’s done a lot of good things in college. We think with our coaching staff and his work ethic, we think he can even take it to another level. We’re very excited to have him.”
Robinson's college statistics an issue?
Even when McDaniel was asked whether Robinson is raw or polished, he humorously responded with “Rawlished,” as it's a combination of the two words. However, if there is one question mark about the Maryland-native, his statistics don't jump off the page. He's only recorded 11.5 sacks in three seasons as the Dolphins GM explained why he cared more about the ability to “disrupt the passer” and made the comparison to productive NFL pass rusher Danielle Hunter.
“Since you guys have known me over the years, we’ve talked about the stats part,” Grier said. “For us, it’s an important part, but we’ve always talked about the ability to disrupt the passer. His disruption stuff numbers are all very high. For us, working through the analytics, watching him and what he does and contributes, sacks people always want to – the guy that comes to mind for me would be Danielle Hunter had four career sacks coming out of college, and he’s become a really good player in this league.”
“I’m not putting that pressure on him to be Danielle Hunter,” Grier continued. “But it’s not just him; there are other players throughout the league that if you look at what their college numbers are compared to how they’ve had success in the pros – we think a lot of traits and the things you see on film translate. He has things he has to work on. He knows that. And the exciting part is the kid, and who he is, his work ethic, how much he loves ball and his toughness. We’re excited to work with him and we think he has a really good chance to be a really good player.”
McDaniel talks the importance of an edge rusher
There's no doubt that McDaniel really likes the pick and while he's known for being one of the most advanced minds on offense, his favorite position is edge rusher as he explains what they can do to help the defense and offense.
“The coolest thing about the opportunity that we had at that pick is that if you have a player contributing in pass rush, those are things that you feel very fortunate to not pass up,” McDaniel said. “As passing games become more and more of a focus, those players are a really, really big part of the driving force of your defense.
To double down on Chris (Grier)’s point –if you’re more used to receivers, we’re not just drafting the guy with the highest amount of production goes first or next,” McDaniel continued. “I’m not sure if anyone can even rattle off the order of the production of the players. Disrupting the passer, there are a lot of compounding variables to a sack, whether a quarterback sees it and holds onto it or not. But disrupting the passer and taking the rhythm off the pass game, that’s a stat for him but it’s also for teammates and production comes off of that too. It’s exciting to not have to block him.”
Dolphins have crowded edge rusher room?
Robinson now joins a team with an already bolstered pass rushing room where they have Jaelan Phillips and Bradley Chubb, though one reason to draft an edge rusher is because both suffered significant injuries last season. When asked how all will be used, the Dolphins head coach said “all scenarios are alive.”
“All scenarios are alive. I think it’s key to remember, man that team, ‘They just had too many pass rushers, that was their problem,’ that’s never been said,” McDaniel said. “So I think that’s the common denominator, is you know that you’re adding to your team, you feel great about that and you let the players kind of set the orchestration of all the multiple things that you can do. I know our coordinator is not afraid of outside the box, so he might be playing corner, who knows?”
The Dolphins look to improve off of their 11-6 record last season and also strive to win a playoff game after losing to the Kansas City Chiefs in the wild-card round. Before that, they have more draft selections as the second round begins Friday night.
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