In an unorthodox move, the Los Angeles Rams have scheduled a visit with a draft prospect. This is only unorthodox for the Rams. Many teams openly meet with players and attend pro days in the broad light of day. But for this franchise, news like this rarely happens and even more rarely makes the morning newspaper.
On Wednesday it was reported by Bleacher Reports, Jordan Schultz that the Rams would be flying to Penn State’s campus, Happy Valley, to meet with first-round edge prospect, Chop Robinson.
The consensus among scouts and drafter analysts is that Robinson is the third or fourth-best edge rusher in the class and that he should be taken in the mid-20s. He is regarded as a great athlete with a good toolbox blocker-beating techniques. However, his skill has never translated into the kind of production you’d like to see from such an athlete, with just 26 pressures and 4 sacks in 10 games last season.
He did have one of the better pass rush win rates in college football (20.9), but he wasn’t on the field as much as other elite pass rushers. One of the highest-producing edge rushers last year, Laiatu Latu, was used on pass rush snaps almost twice as much as Robinson. So his struggle to produce may be chalked up to Penn State’s misusage of him.
Chop Robinson’s Fit with the Los Angeles Rams
Robinson is the quintessential Rams edge rusher prospect. He is undersized, but also an incredibly twitchy and explosive athlete. This is the type they have targeted since adding Leonard Floyd in 2020. These players offer the Rams the versatility to have them rush the passer, set the edge in the rushing attack but also drop into coverage.
But this strategy was in place when the Rams had Aaron Donald as their primary pass rusher. With him out and Chris Shula in place as the new defensive coordinator, the question is will they/ can they run their defense with the same philosophy? A play toward Robinson points out that they believe they can operate the same way now in the new paradigm as they did with Donald leading the pass rush.
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