Chop Robinson had a slow start to his rookie year with the Miami Dolphins. His first sack didn’t come until November and along the way he was “terrorized” by a Buffalo Bills four-time Pro Bowler.
“Dion Dawkins … he gave me my welcome to the league moment,” Robinson told The Athletic’s Dianna Russini on Thursday. “I was going against him — I mean, both games he gave me a welcome to the league moment. I was just going against him every single play I lined up on him and he was just terrorizing me. I didn’t think –seeing him on film, he moved good — but when you’re out there on the field and you’re going against him, he moves just as good as I can getting off the ball.”
In the Dolphins’ 31-10 loss to the Bills in Week 2, Robinson managed to record two pressures, including one against Dawkins. Six weeks later, the rookie got his first career sack by bringing down Josh Allen in a 30-27 loss. Robinson pushed Dawkins back into the quarterback to make the play.
CHOP ROBINSON FIRST CAREER SACK pic.twitter.com/EJTOUaem1L
— josh houtz (@houtz) November 3, 2024
While the rookie says it was his toughest matchup, his moderate success in the Week 8 rematch served as a springboard for a tremendous second half of his 2024 season.
Robinson racked up 42 pressures in the last nine games of the year — second most in the league over that stretch behind only the Cleveland Browns’ reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year, Myles Garrett.
It was a run of pass rushing success that Robinson himself wasn’t sure he’d be able to pull off earlier in the year.
“When I first came in I thought I wasn’t going to be able to survive the whole season,” Robinson told Russini. “Just a mental thing. Just going out there every single day, everybody competing. It’s a job now, it’s not just college so it was a big change. But once I got comfortable, I enjoyed every second of it.”
Robinson finished 2024 with six sacks and eight tackles for loss.
