How to Get Chop Going

There have been too many disappointments to count for the Miami Dolphins so far in the 2025 season, but one that has flown the radar a bit — and really shouldn't — has been the performance of edge rusher Chop Robinson.

The 2024 first-round pick out of Penn State was listed in more than one place as a breakout star to watch heading into the season based on the second-half showing in his rookie season, but instead he has taken a signifcant step back.

This not only is bad for the Dolphins this season — because they could use some impact plays on defense, and that's putting it mildly — but for the future outlook because of Robinson's draft status and the promise he showed last season.

Through the first seven games of the season, Robinson has but one sack to go along with two tackles for loss and one QB hit.

Those are paltry numbers for any pass rusher, but even more disappointing for somebody who had four sacks, four tackles for loss and nine QB hits in his final games last season.

One issue that has remained constant has been deficiencies in run defense, which defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver acknowledged Thursday.

"Chop has had kind of an up-and-down year, right?" Weaver said. "Certainly not the production you want from a pass rush standpoint. It's not because of a lack of work. He's had some inconsistencies in the run game that we got to clean up, right? There's flashes where, 'Yeah, this is how you want it.' And there's times where you're like, 'Ah, come on, man.' Like, we know better. We got to do better. And until he cleans that up, he's going to have kind of the ups and downs he had. But I still love the kid and I know how much he wants it and we got to get it fixed."

HOW DOES ROBINSON REBOUND?

What also is noticeable with Robinson has been his lack of playing time.

Since playing 37 snaps on defense in the humbling season-opening loss against the Indianapolis Colts, Robinson hasn't topped 25 snaps.

This absolutely is not ideal for a second-year first-round pick who should be viewed as a foundational piece for the seemingly inevitable impending rebuilding project.

Robinson's playing time very well might increase by default pretty soon if the Dolphins wind up moving Bradley Chubb and/or Jaelan Phillips before the NFL Trade Deadline on November, 4, but it obviously would be more ideal if Robinson's performance simply dictated to the coaching staff that he needed to be on the field more often.

For his part, Weaver has a good idea about what Robinson needs to do to start looking more like the player of November/December 2024 than the version of September/October 2025.

"Yeah, the one thing I think first and foremost, he just needs to be confident regardless of down," Weaver said. "I don't necessarily know that it's a confidence issue for him. I think sometimes he wants to do right so bad that he puts himself in vulnerable situations because he's trying so hard to make a play. So if he can just take the pre-snap information, use it, apply it, whether that's a back offset away, home back, all the things that we talk about all the time, if he can use that, I think that'll give him a headstart potentially what he's going to see, and he'd have more chance to be advantageous on the play."

Obviously the Dolphins would love to see a Robinson breakthrough happen as soon as possible, but given the playoffs already might be out of reach — yes, in October — the timetable isn't as significant as the idea of it happening, period.

The Dolphins will need Robinson to be an impact player in 2026 and beyond, so seeing that 2024 late-season version would at least be something good to come out of this 2025 mess.

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