When more than 40 rookies hit the Miami Dolphins’ practice fields Friday for the first day of minicamp, no player drew more eyeballs than pass rusher Chop Robinson.
More than half the players are on tryout contracts, hunting for a spot on an NFL roster, while another 12 were signed as undrafted free agents and face an uphill climb to see the field in the fall. But none face the same kind of pressure to produce that Robinson will as a first-round pick.
“I don’t really pay attention to it, because I know what type of player I am,” Robinson told reporters Friday. “I just go to work every day, compete, give everything I got and control what I can control.”
Robinson, who was the No. 21 overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft, has a taste for the challenges that come with being a player who draws the attention of an opponent.
“Honestly, just focus on ball, that’s the main thing,” Robinson said. “There really is no big message to it. Just hang with my guys, keep my mind off of it. I had a good d-line coach at Penn State, so I was just able to get better every day and find something to do to get one percent better.”
Fortunately for Robinson, he won’t be the team’s top option off the edge. The Dolphins have a pair of starters who are former first-round picks in Bradley Chubb and Jaelan Phillips, although both are recovering from injuries that ended their 2023 season. There’s also Shaquil Barrett, a 31-year-old veteran with two Pro Bowls under his belt.
That trio should alleviate some of the pressure for Robinson to be an immediate star in the Miami defense. That leash won’t be too long, though. It wasn’t that long ago that the Dolphins picked Charles Harris at No. 22 overall in the 2017 NFL draft and got just 3.5 sacks in three seasons before giving up on the pass rusher. The expectation for Robinson will be to get the sacks rolling in sooner rather than later.
That’s a challenge he says he has no problem shouldering.
“No, it’s been what I’ve been working for,” Robinson said. “I know what I got to do and I know how to handle it. So it’s no big pressure for me.”
