Chop Robinson finished the 2024 season on a tear, but won’t get many accolades to show for it. The Miami Dolphins rookie didn’t earn a Pro Bowl nod, didn’t get any All-Pro votes, and doesn’t have much of a shot at NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year honors.
But ESPN thinks the Dolphins’ first-round pick deserves some acknowledgement for wreaking havoc down the stretch.
In their 2024 NFL All-Rookie Team, Robinson is even listed one spot ahead of the Los Angeles Rams’ Jared Verse, who is the runaway favorite for Defensive Rookie of the Year. Via Ben Solak of ESPN:
Robinson has had such a cool, underappreciated season. He was the eighth-fastest edge rusher off the ball, according to NFL Next Gen Stats, with an average get off of 0.76 seconds, and leveraged that wicked first step into a 17.2% pressure rate — sixth among all edge rushers with at least 200 pass rushes and first among rookies, including Jared Verse.
Robinson had a low sack rate given his pressure rate and get off, but that’s to be expected for a young speed racer off the edge. In college football, players just need to win the race to the corner and they’ll get the quarterback down; in the NFL, it’s much tougher. Robinson was never a high sack guy in college, so technical steps are still needed to become a strong finisher in the pocket, but the base of an elite pass rusher is already there.
Unsurprisingly, he’s the only Dolphins player on the list. Second-round pick Patrick Paul played sparingly when injuries stacked up at the offensive tackle position late in the year, and four of the team’s Day 3 selections — Jaylen Wright, Mohamed Kamara, Malik Washington, and Patrick McMorris — saw the field some as rookies. There was also undrafted cornerback Storm Duck who saw plenty of action.
None of those players had nearly the impact of Robinson, though.
