Celebrate Chop Robinson’s DPOY Nomination!

There’s plenty to worry about, but Robinson is one fans should celebrate

The Miami Dolphins have more issues than a ‘clean freak‘ forced to ‘dumpster-dive’ to get a meal, but we can’t forget to point out the good too! It’s super easy to fixate on the issues after decades of letdowns. I’m hyper aware that the Phins situation isn’t gripping over a mole on a super model because there’s more ugly than good at the moment, starting with Chris Grier. But fair is fair and Chop Robinson in the running for Rookie Defensive Player of the Year and that’s a great story in the endless flow of bad that Miami churns out.

Grier doesn’t give us much, so at least we have this to smile about!

Robinson showed he can bite early & often

Robinson had plenty of unhappy Phins fans with his draft and early play, and I wanted another player and position, but he’s done tremendous work, and his play should be celebrated.

While Robinson might not win the award, either way he had a great season, and you can bet with the best pay per head that not many 2024 Dolphins can say that. In fact, it’s been decades since any Dolphin was in the running for the award. Not since Tim Bowens in 1994 has a Phin defender been up for the award. Bowens is a Dolphins great, so Robinson is in amazing company.

Robinson’s 7 sacks and 42 pressures with 197 pass rushes that ranked 11th best in win percentage at 19% is the highlight of his season. He was a serious threat to quarterbacks that OCs certainly focused their protection on. Robinson is currently ranked 3rd most likely to win DPOY, which isn’t too shabby at all. I think Verse was the superior player and will win it because he was the better all-around player.

Chop has shown a ton, but still needs to grow

Now, Robinson needs to grow because he has weaknesses, but pass rush is so critical in the game of football that it outweighed the areas he needs to grow in.

Robinson had a 33% miss tackle rate and was poor against the run too often even though he did have some big plays with 14 stops. But his 9 missed tackles with only had 13 tackles with 5 assists on the season shows where he really needs to step it up to be more than a situational pass rusher. Still, there’s plenty of hope he’ll grow, Jaelen Phillips also struggled Year 1 too–most edge defenders do– and he became a force in the run game, before his injuries.

Chop is clearly an elite pass rusher, but for him to get into the Tim Bowens level of play he must make strong strides in his run defense. It will likely take 2-3 season for him to get there, but this upcoming season will be a big tell on his trajectory. Let’s hope Chop keeps giving us great news for years to come… because we need some hope badly! Go Phins!!!