Rise of Chop Robinson Could Begin at NFL Combine

Nic Hill has spent the past half-minute rattling off similarities between Chop Robinson and All-Pro edge rusher Maxx Crosby, eventually coming to this conclusion about the Penn State product’s placement in the draft.

“I think somebody gets a steal with Chop,” said Hill, a highly-decorated trainer at Exos who is preparing Robinson for next week’s NFL Combine.

And then Hill reconsiders.

“Unfortunately for the (later-picking first-round) teams, he’s going to go and blow it up out there and turn some heads in Indy,” Hill said. “Maybe they don’t get a steal.”

Robinson is a tantalizing ball of clay that has the potential to morph into an elite pass-rusher at the NFL level.

Highly-respected draft analyst Lance Zierlein unveiled his draft grades this week, and Robinson was second among defensive players behind only Florida State edge rusher Jared Verse.

Robinson evokes comparisons to Micah Parsons, but he’s not there yet. The biggest knock in college was production, as Robinson finished with only four sacks in 2023 and 11.5 sacks in 30 career games.

“I definitely feel like I missed out on some plays where I could have had sacks,” Robinson said. “But I gave my all on every play, and I felt like I was way more consistent than my sophomore season. I feel like as I get more developed — I’m not a finished product — that as I build more, learn more, I think I’ll be a way better player, more consistent. Plays will come to me.”

While the sack numbers weren’t dominant, Robinson, 21, was highly-rated for his pass-rushing by Pro Football Focus and has one of the highest ceilings of any draft prospect.

“Chop’s a young guy,” Hill said. “There’s a lot of development that can still take place. He’s going to be a rookie, and that’s what rookies are supposed to do — develop. The potential is through the roof. That’s what makes everybody so excited. His physical ability, his coachability and his potential. The upside to Chop, he’s far from what he’s going to be.”

Robinson’s technical progress will come primarily through on-field coaching , but the first step is wowing NFL teams at the combine next week, and he has the athleticism to put on a show.

The 6-foot-3 Robinson was 250 pounds with 13% body fat when he arrived at Exos in January. Now he is 255 pounds with 8% body fat.

“It’s made me faster,” Robinson said, “and stronger.”

Hill has been working with Robinson and the rest of his 50-plus NFL prospects on the intricacies of speed training, while the nutrition staff gets their bodies ready.

Robinson has rare speed for a player of his size and will be in tip-top shape to show it off.

“If he’s preparing for a season, I kind of want them to go in with a little bit more body fat to have some cushion going into camp, some durability,” Hill said. “But when you’re running a 40, fat doesn’t fly. You want to be as lean as possible. For him to be 8%, probably 7 or 6% when he gets to Indy — he’s going to run fast and he’s going to look good in his underwear on the scale. That’s going to be turning heads two ways.”

Robinson will have things to address with teams. There is the lack of superstar sack numbers, along with questions about his ability to hold up against the run as a smaller edge.

Robinson believes he’s made strides in run-stopping.

“This season I felt like it was a big improvement from my sophomore season,” Robinson said. “I played the run first and thought about the pass last. When you stop the run, you can have fun. My best thing is rushing the passer, but you’ve got to earn the right to pass-rush.”

When asked to detail the fun of rushing the passer, Robinson beams.

“It is honestly too good to be true every time you beat the person in front of you and there’s a clear path,” he said. “Nobody is there to block you, and the quarterback doesn’t see you coming. It’s so great.”

Robinson’s first step is electric, and he has a natural bend that cannot be taught. He is working hard on refining the rest of his game, including one aspect in particular.

“Being consistent with my hands,” Robinson said. “I feel like sometimes I know I have the speed, so I often think speed-first and use my speed as an advantage. But sometimes I leave my hands behind. So I’ve been working on that this whole process, and I’ll take that with me to the next level.”

Robinson likes to pattern his game off two of the game’s pre-eminent pass-rushers: Nick Bosa and T.J. Watt.

“They both play with a motor,” Robinson said. “They’re always playing with effort and they’re consistent. I watch their game and try to resemble everything they do.”

He also sees similarities between himself and Haason Reddick, who was in Philadelphia the past couple years while Robinson was a couple hours away in Happy Valley.

“I’m a little bit bigger than he is, but the way he gets off the ball, the way he uses his hands and flips his hips, can bend around the corner — me and his game is kind of the same,” Robinson said.

Hill brought up the Crosby comparison because of the way the Raiders star went from a raw, toolsy athlete to a legitimate NFL game-wrecker.

“Maxx Crosby was similar,” said Hill, who trained Crosby coming out of college. “Needed to develop as a pass-rusher. Needed to develop strength and power. Maybe Chop doesn’t need that, but Maxx ends up developing all that and becomes one of the best pass-rushers, if not the best pass-rusher, in the game. And four years later he’s got one of the biggest contracts in the game.”

Robinson is generally projected to go late in the first round, though a terrific combine could boost his stock.

He said getting chosen within the top-32 would “mean the world to me.”

“I’ve been working for this my whole life,” Robinson said. “I always knew that football would be my way out.”