MIAMI, FL. – With the 21st pick of the 2024 NFL Draft, the Miami Dolphins selected Chop Robinson, LB, out of Penn State on Thursday night.
General manager Chris Grier used his first opening-round pick since 2021 to bolster a defense that saw a mass exodus of talent this spring.
“I feel like that’s going to be a great situation for me – come in there, learn from those guys, compete every day,” Robinson said. “Being able to take things from them and take it to my game and vice versa. So I think it’ll be a great thing for me.”
Robinson’s exceptional quickness and athleticism, particularly in the first step, are expected to be a game-changer for the new Dolphins defensive coordinator, Anthony Weaver, immediately addressing a crucial need.
Robinson, who is 6-foot-3, 254 pounds, had 60 tackles, 11 1/2 sacks and three forced fumbles over three college seasons.
“He was a player that we identified early that we liked. We spent some time with him throughout the whole process and watching him work with the coaches and the scouts, he was someone we felt could impact our team and had a lot of traits we liked as a person and a player, which was important to us,” Dolphins General Manager Chris Grier said. “So for us, the opportunity for us to get him, we couldn’t pass up. We were very excited – the defensive coaches, scouts, ownership, all of us were fired up we could get him.”
Robinson is the 13th player from Penn State to be drafted by the Dolphins and the third Nittany Lion to be taken in the first round by Miami.
At No. 21 overall, Robinson is the quickest Miami has taken a player from Penn State in any NFL Draft.
“You know that you’re adding to your team, you feel great about that and you let the players kind of set the orchestration of all the multiple things that you can do,” Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel said. “I know our coordinator is not afraid of outside the box, so he might be playing corner, who knows?”
Miami also selected the other two Penn State players in the first round: DT Jared Odrick (28th overall) in 2010 and WR O.J. McDuffie (25th overall) in 1993.
Since the start of free agency, the Dolphins have tried to address some of their losses on defense. Defensive tackle Christian Wilkins, linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel, safety Brandon Jones, and others signed free-agent deals elsewhere, and veterans Xavien Howard and Jerome Baker were cut.
The Dolphins will select again on Friday and Saturday. Miami has a second-round pick on Friday and four more picks on Saturday, for a total of six picks.
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