The Unpacking Future Packers Countdown is a countdown of 100 prospects who could be selected by the Green Bay Packers in the 2024 NFL draft.
A team can never have enough pass rushers. With Rashan Gary, Preston Smith and Lukas Van Ness, the Green Bay Packers have a solid stable of edge rushers. They could always use another.
If the Packers opt to add an edge rusher early in the 2024 NFL Draft, a prospect they could target is Chop Robinson. The Penn State edge rusher checks in at No. 70 in the Unpacking Future Packers Countdown.
A Maryland transfer, Robinson recorded 10 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks during his first season as a Nittany Lion. This past season, Robinson had 7.5 tackles for loss and four sacks.
“Chop Robinson was a key piece of the Penn State pass rush and defense in 2023,” Daniel Gallen, a Penn State reporter for Lions247, said. “Robinson was the type of pass rusher who needed extra attention from opposing offenses, which provided him with more opportunities to make big plays for the Nittany Lions. There is a heavy dose of “almost” in his game, in terms of quarterback hits or hurries that he couldn’t quite turn into sacks — look at what he did to Michigan in the first quarter in November — but Robinson was a pass rusher who always needed to be accounted for and could wreck a game.”
Robinson truly is a blur off the edge. He’s an alien athlete who will blow up the NFL Scouting Combine. He’s twitched up and screams off the edge with his first-step quickness that keeps offensive linemen on their heels. The Penn State edge rusher is bendy and runs the arc with speed.
“Robinson’s first step is elite,” Gallen said. “He can be in the backfield before the tackle is out of his stance. He’s a bendy athlete, and his explosiveness is tough to match. He’s got an assortment of pass-rush moves to use against opposing tackles and he honed those by going against Olu Fashanu in practice for two seasons. He goes for the ball when he gets to the quarterback.”
As a run defender, Robinson sets a hard edge. Robinson has excellent chase speed as a backside defender. He forces his way through gaps and while he may not always make the play he disrupts the action behind the line of scrimmage.
“In his first season at Penn State in 2022 after transferring in from Maryland, Robinson operated more as a No. 3 defensive end, and he would primarily rotate in on passing downs,” Gallen said. “This past fall, Robinson was more of a three-down defensive end. He has a more compact frame compared to teammates like Adisa Isaac or Dani Dennis-Sutton, and he could be sturdy. That was an area of his game that came along well during his time in the program after he was primarily a standup outside linebacker in Maryland as a freshman in 2021.”
Robinson’s greatest strength is his freakish athleticism. Penn State leaned into that athleticism by lining him up all over the defensive front to create favorable matchups for Robinson.
“Robinson’s versatility is impressive,” Gallen said. “In the Iowa game in September, former defensive coordinator Manny Diaz unveiled a package where Robinson was one of three defensive ends on the field and lined up over the center for rushing over the middle. Robinson against interior offensive linemen was a mismatch, even against a unit with a solid reputation like Iowa’s. He can utilize his athleticism in a ton of different ways, and he can disrupt a game from multiple areas on the line.”
Fit with the Packers
The Penn State edge rusher simply has tools that you can’t coach. His explosiveness off the edge is eye-popping and he can get after the quarterback with the best of them. Once he develops a pass-rush plan, Robinson could truly be a dominant force.
“I would draft Robinson to add explosiveness to my pass rush,” Gallen said. “I am curious to see what his exact fit is in the NFL, but I still believe that he’s the type of pass rusher that any defense would welcome. He can move around a defense, and if he can be schemed up on passing downs, he’ll most likely deliver. His measurables are going to be off the charts, and he backs it up with his tape.”
With his juice off the edge, Robinson would offer something different to the mix for Green Bay’s pass rush. While Gary and Van Ness are both outstanding athletes, they don’t possess Robinson’s explosiveness.
If the Packers were to add Robinson it would likely cost them either the 41st overall pick or possibly even the 25th overall pick. The Packers may have bigger needs on the roster, but there is no denying that Robinson is dripping with assets that you simply can’t coach.
The Penn State product will require coaching up, as he builds a pass-rush plan and develops as a run defender. That doesn’t mean he won’t be able to make an impact right with his edge speed as a sub-package pass rusher.