Do the Giants have the right environment for Robinson to reach his potential?

Penn State Edge Defender Chop Robinson is going to be an interesting case to follow over the course of the draft and his rookie year.

His versatility and athleticism make comparisons to (former Nittany Lion) Micah Parsons extremely easy. However, Robinson isn’t as technically refined as Parsons and isn’t nearly as disruptive as Parsons despite a similar athletic profile.

As it so happens, the Giants have one of the best defensive line coaches in the NFL on their staff in Andre Patterson.

The Giants have invested heavily in their defensive line over the last couple years. They selected Kayvon Thibodeaux with the fifth overall pick in 2022, signed Dexter Lawrence to a massive contract in 2023, and signed Brian Burns to a massive contract after trading a second round pick for him in 2024.

Could the Giants be an ideal situation to mold Robinson’s explosiveness and help him reach his ceiling?

Prospect: Chop Robinson (44)
Games Watched: vs. Illinois (2023), vs. Iowa (2023), vs. Ohio State (2023), vs. Michigan (2023)
Red Flags: Undefined “Upper Body” and “Lower Body” injuries (2023)

Measurables

Strengths

• Athleticism
• Explosiveness
• Competitive toughness
• Fluidity

Chop Robinson is an explosively athletic and versatile edge defender.

Robinson has a good blend of size (at 254 pounds) with natural leverage, an explosive first step, great quickness and agility, and good flexibility in his lower body. Robinson’s blend of traits allowed Penn State to play him out of a 2 and 3-point stance, drop him into coverage, and use him as a blitzer attacking interior gaps.

A sudden and explosive first step is the hallmark of Robinson’s game. He does a great job of keying the snap and fires out of his stance with no wasted energy or movement. He gains good ground with his second and third steps, while also playing with good leverage to maximize his play strength when converting speed to power. He also has a flexible and fluid lower body, allowing him to bend around the edge, get under blockers’ pads, and carry his speed into the backfield.

Robinson also has a good long-arm move to capitalize on his leverage and athleticism, serving as a counter to his speed-to-power. He also has great competitive toughness and flashes a solid football IQ. He’s willing to fight through blockers, as well as pursue ball carriers across the field.

Weaknesses

• Hand usage
• Length

Robinson is an elite athlete for the position, but he lacks the technical refinement to fully unlock his athletic upside.

As things stand now, Robinson’s hand usage is underdeveloped and haphazard. While he seems to want to use techniques like rip or club moves, his hands are unfocused and not crisp. He doesn’t really neutralize blockers hands and doesn’t cleanly defeat their blocks. That can slow his rushes and prevent him from capitalizing on his explosive first step. Poor technique in his rushes can also allow blockers to

Robinson also lacks ideal length compared to the NFL’s archetype for the position. That too can limit the advantage given to him by his impressive athleticism. Combined with his poor technique, blockers are often able to get their hands on him first despite his explosive first step.

Game Tape

Projection

Chop Robinson projects as a high-volume rotational edge defender to start his career, but he has the upside to seize a starting job before his rookie contract is up.

Robinson has yet to live up to his athletic upside, however his potential is incredibly tantalizing. Few pass rushers can boast his blend of explosiveness and fluidity, or his versatility to play from a wide variety of alignments. Whether Robinson ever reaches his (considerable) ceiling will come down to whether or not he’s able to improve as a technician. Robinson has the potential to terrorize opponents’ backfields, but will need to consistently and efficiently defeat blockers to do so.

His speed will always make him a threat, but whether or not he becomes a “hit” will depend on if he can refine his technique to fully harness his athleticism.

Does he fit the Giants?
Yes.

Final Word: A later first round or early second value