Draft Darlings: Chop Robinson would be worth trading up for

The Penn State edge rusher would be worth Kansas City moving up for.

The Kansas City Chiefs should continue to find ways to bolster their pass rush in this year’s NFL Draft. Penn State edge rusher Chop Robinson is a dynamic athlete and a high-level pass rusher from the edge.

Robinson is one of the more unique talents in this year’s draft class, and it would be worth it for the Chiefs to move up and select him.

Intangibles

Robinson tested at an elite level at the NFL Scouting Combine, showing that his explosive pass-rush ability was no mirage.

Running the second-fastest 40-yard dash time of any edge prospect at 4.48 seconds showed off his athletic ability, but having the fastest ten-yard split among the edge group showed why his first step was feared in college football.

Good jumping numbers further proved his explosion. While he is slightly undersized for the position, he made up for it with long arms.

Being a lighter and smaller prospect may have knocked down his Relative Athletic Score, but it helped him to win one-on-one pass rush matchups.

Explosion and bend

Robinson can go out of a 4-point stance with both hands in the ground or out of a 2-point stance walking up the line of scrimmage.

The ability to rush from both stances helps give him an aura of unpredictability. On long pass-rushing downs, teams often align a tight end to his side or assign a running back to help chip block.

Even with the extra help, this did not always work.

Robinson is lined up outside of a tight end on the snap. The tight end is going out in a pass pattern, but his alignment makes Robinson take a wider path to the quarterback and allows the tackle more time to get into a pass set.

On the snap, Robinson blows past the tight end and tackle while taking his path to the quarterback. In one smooth motion, he dips, bends the arc and hits the quarterback hard just as the ball is released.

Robinson made this play as a classic edge position lined up wide, but he also can tighten up and put his hand in the dirt.

Using a somewhat narrow stance helps Robinson create an explosion out of his stance, and the left tackle is taken off guard by how fast he is off the ball.

The tackle is late out of his stance and looks to lunge and get his hands on the lighter Robinson. When the tackle raises his hands, Robinson knocks them away and continues to bend the arc. In one smooth motion, Robinson dips low and lays a blindside hit on the quarterback, who fumbles the football.

It is one thing to get to the quarterback but another to get the football out. Robinson forced three fumbles in his career at Penn State, mainly because of his ability to take quarterbacks by surprise with how quickly he enters the backfield.

It would be easy to pin Robinson as a classic pass-rush specialist, but the film tells a different story.

Power potential

Despite his light frame, Robinson plays with a lot of power and can use his size to his advantage while creating leverage to move larger players into the pocket.

Penn State lines up, showing simulated pressure, and Robinson is head-up over the center. This forces Iowa into a big protection, which means Robinson is about to have a one-on-one.

On the snap, the center squares up to Robinson, expecting a quick rush. Robinson surprises him by throwing two hands into his chest and walking the center into the backfield. With pressure off the edge and Robinson crushing the pocket from the middle, the quarterback has nowhere to go.

Taking advantage of his leverage and natural bend, Robinson can work angles that tackles can have a hard time getting to and attack them at different levels. After a week of preparation for setting wide and taking away the arc bending ability, he did a great job of getting low and delivering contact.

On the snap, Robinson fires out of his stance low and builds up speed. The left tackle quickly sets to the outside, expecting to see the bend, but Robinson stuns him with the bull rush, winning the inside hand battle and crushing the pocket.

He drives the tackle into the quarterback’s hip, forcing a bad pass and resulting in an incomplete pass.

Robinson uses his first step and ability to bend the arc to galvanize the NFL, but his power shows a player with a much higher ceiling.

Fit with the Chiefs

Robinson will likely be an early to mid-round first-round selection. His athletic prowess and potential to continue to improve his game are too great for him to be passed over for an extraordinary amount of time.

The Chiefs would likely have to trade up for his talents, but it would be worth it.

Although he does not fit many of the “usual criteria” that defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo has looked for in defensive ends in the past, taking a player like Robinson would further show Spagnuolo’s willingness to adapt certain parts of his defense to the modern game.

This season, in particular, the Chiefs ran multiple defensive fronts, using odd and even alignments for the front seven. A player like Robinson is built for these hybrid fronts, and his versatility would allow him to strive in the controlled chaos that Spagnuolo creates.

He would likely not start his career as an every-down player, but he would be allowed to compete for snaps as the season progressed and grow under Joe Cullen’s tutelage.

Trading up would be worth it for the Chiefs in this scenario. They could add another pass rusher with an ability that would be unique to their roster while starting to develop their next wave of defensive playmakers.