{"id":290019,"date":"2026-05-30T11:29:35","date_gmt":"2026-05-30T11:29:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/290019\/"},"modified":"2026-05-30T11:29:35","modified_gmt":"2026-05-30T11:29:35","slug":"how-dolphins-new-scheme-will-empower-rusher-chop-robinson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/290019\/","title":{"rendered":"How Dolphins\u2019 new scheme will empower rusher Chop Robinson"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s a big season<\/a> for Chop Robinson.<\/p>\n

Dolphins coach Jeff Hafley knows it. General manager Jon-Eric Sullivan knows it<\/a>. And the 23-year-old himself certainly knows it.<\/p>\n

Luckily, Robinson believes Hafley\u2019s scheme lends itself to his ability.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s different compared to last year because I\u2019m not dropping into coverage and stuff like that,\u201d Robinson said Wednesday afternoon. \u201cNow, it\u2019s just kind of set the edge and get the quarterback so that\u2019s kind of what I like. It\u2019s not a lot of thinking so you just go out there and play.\u201d<\/p>\n

After a middling first two seasons in the NFL, Robinson enters a pivotal point in his career. The former Penn State standout has accumulated just 10 sacks in his brief NFL career, a number that hopefully the presence of edge rushers such as Bradley Chubb and Jaelan Phillips has significantly impacted.<\/p>\n

Now, with no one standing in his way as well as the affirmation of a new regime, Robinson believes his time has come. And with the Dolphins\u2019 lack of established edge rushers, it will be up to him to set the tone.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe can benefit a lot\u201d from the scheme, defensive coordinator Sean Duggan said of Robinson. \u201cI think from your stance to where your eyes are to your hand placement, just a lot goes into that. Whether it\u2019s setting the edge on early downs, having a great get-off on third down; it starts with a stance, and then you build it from there with eyes and hand placement, where do my feet need to go?\u201d<\/p>\n

Added Sullivan: \u201cChop is in a great position because he\u2019s going to be the elder statesmen and in a position of leadership. My expectations for him are to work his ass off, continue to improve and be a leader in that locker room.\u201d<\/p>\n

Robinson arrived in Miami a first-round in the 2024 NFL Draft. With Chubb and Phillips still on the mend from gruesome injuries the year prior, the then-rookie was thought to be the heir apparent.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately that didn\u2019t immediately happen. While Robinson showed promise, particularly in the last seven games of the season when he racked up five of his six total sacks, it didn\u2019t necessarily come together in year two.<\/p>\n

Not only did Robinson register less sacks in his second season (four) than in his first, his percentage of defensive snaps decreased from 53.1% to 44.2%<\/a>. There does, however, remain one positive: in the final six games of the season, Robinson snagged three sacks.<\/p>\n

\u201cChop has had some success,\u201d Hafley said. \u201cIf you build a pass rush tape of Chop, he does things that you\u2019re like, \u2018I can\u2019t wait to get my hands on this guy.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cHe certainly has that,\u201d Sullivan said. \u201cHis first few steps, his get-off, he can roll. Now it\u2019s our job to coach him up and develop him and help him get better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Robinson, however, isn\u2019t focused on what he was able to do in years past. In fact, Hafley already told him to throw his first couple of seasons out the window.<\/p>\n

\u201cPut everything that happened before, behind us, and just focus on now, and just one step forward, one foot behind the other,\u201d Robinson said of his early conversations with Hafley.<\/p>\n

While questions about his ability to set the edge still remain, there\u2019s hope that his change in position coach to Austin Clark, who is often credited with the development of Zach Sieler, could help.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou guys know I feel about Clark from Day 1,\u201d Sieler said. \u201cI attest a lot of my success and all that to him and what he\u2019s done. I think to see him work with these edge guys, Chop Robinson in particular because he\u2019s got a little more time with him this year and last year had that rapport with him, to see them grow and us play as one unit\u2026 is exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n

This story was originally published May 28, 2026 at 4:34 PM.<\/p>\n


\n \"Profile
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

C. Isaiah Smalls II<\/a><\/p>\n

Miami Herald<\/p>\n

C. Isaiah Smalls II is a sports and culture writer who covers the Miami Dolphins. In his previous capacity at the Miami Herald, he was the race and culture reporter who created The 44 Percent, a newsletter dedicated to the Black men who voted to incorporate the city of Miami. A graduate of both Morehouse College and Columbia Graduate School of Journalism, Smalls previously worked for ESPN\u2019s Andscape.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s a big season for Chop Robinson. Dolphins coach Jeff Hafley knows it. General manager Jon-Eric Sullivan knows…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":290020,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[123,125,124],"class_list":["post-290019","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290019","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=290019"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290019\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/290020"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=290019"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=290019"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=290019"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}