The 2024 NFL Draft begins on Thursday, April 25 in Detroit, Michigan. Among the players waiting in the green room to hear their names called will be Penn State defensive end Chop Robinson, who is projected to be a first round pick in this year’s draft.
Robinson began his college career in 2021 at Maryland. He transferred to Penn State in 2022 and put together a season with 19 solo tackles, 10 tackles for loss, and seven sacks. Robinson was named first-team All-Big Ten after his 2023 season, in which he grabbed 12 solo tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss and four sacks.
Chop Robinson: Scouting Report
NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein describes Robinson as an immediate starter with the potential to become a central force of a team’s defense in future seasons.
Edge defender who offers the type of elite athleticism we’ve seen from players like Micah Parsons and Myles Garrett. Robinson might not be as fast as Parsons, but he’s close. 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. If he crafts a rush approach and learns to string moves/counters together, he could reach his ceiling as a destructive force capable of forcing teams to game plan around him.
Bleacher Report points out a few weak points that Robinson will need to improve upon at the next level.
Robinson also has sneaky strength and is physical at the point of attack. That helps him take advantage of weaker offensive tackles when turning speed to power and overcome some of his size deficiencies as a run defender when his hands and leverage are right. However, his hand placement and leverage are inconsistent.
Mock Draft landing spots
The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman has Robinson heading to the Buccaneers with the 26th overall pick of the draft, writing “His production was good but not great the past two years at Penn State…but there is a lot of big-play potential.” Mel Kiper sends Robinson to the Bucs at No. 26, as well. Another ESPN draft mocks the edge rusher to the Vikings at No. 23 overall.