'We're counting on him': After down year, Dolphins...

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. -- There are high expectations, and then there are the Miami Dolphins' expectations for Chop Robinson in 2026. The onetime first-round pick began his career with a six-sack rookie season, in which he finished fifth in defensive rookie of the year voting. He followed it with a relatively disappointing 2025 season, when his production dipped in nearly every defensive category. With a stripped-down roster in 2026 and a new, defense-minded head coach, the Dolphins will rely on Robinson to bolster their pass rush and then some. "Hopefully he becomes an every-down player," Dolphins coach Jeff Hafley said. "I think the easy answer is his pass rush, his get off, his ability to affect the quarterback; but I'm looking for a lot more from Chop. He's going to play a position where he's going to line up in a 9-technique and play on tight ends and he has to set the edge; and he's going to have to reduce down to a 6-technique and play through tight ends. He might reduce down and play a 5-technique. "There's going to be pass rush times when he's going to be coming off the edge. We might slide him around, move him around to put him in good situations, but he needs to become a complete football player going into Year 3, and we have high expectations for him. We need to coach him, we need to develop him, but the guy's got such a good attitude. He's working so hard and I'm excited to see where that goes." During his first two NFL seasons, Robinson either mixed in with or played behind veteran pass rushers such as Bradley Chubb and Jaelan Phillips. But Phillips was traded midway through the 2025 season and Chubb was released this offseason. The Dolphins added David Ojabo and Josh Uche in free agency, and drafted Trey Moore -- none of whom should supplant Robinson if he plays to his potential. The former Penn State standout suggested that he overthought things instead of playing instinctively last season, leading to his sack production dropping from six in 2024 to four in 2025, while his pressure rate declined from 12.3% to 8.9%. It's one of his focal points this coming season. "Really just not thinking, just lining up and playing football and beating the man in front of you," he said when asked why he believed he could make a leap in Year 3. "That's the No. 1 job. You just whip the man in front of you and then that's it. Make the tackle and everything, so really just line up and just play." Beyond his impact as a pass rusher, the Dolphins want Robinson to be a force against the run. Last season, his run stop win rate declined from 23% in 2024 to 18%. To become more physical at the point of attack, Robinson said he has bulked up this offseason to 265 pounds -- up from the 258 pounds at which he finished last season. Hafley said he has been pleased by Robinson's progress in that area, while detailing exactly what he expects from the linebacker in 2026. "He's got to play the run well, which I've been really proud of him the way he's playing in individual and even in the walkthroughs," Hafley said. "How deliberate he's been in using his hands and getting his eyes in the right place and taking a good first step. You earn the right to rush by playing the run well, and that's one thing I continually talk to him about and I think we'll see him do really well. "We're counting on him and that sack production we need. That's a skill set that he has and needs to be developed still, and that's our job to put him in those situations to have the production and figure that out." Dolphins defensive coordinator Sean Duggan said Robinson and the rest of the team's pass rushers have done a good job refining their technique but refrained from heaping too much praise on the group. Duggan said he wanted to wait until the pads come on in training camp at the end of this month, but he did express confidence in Robinson's weight gain helping with his physicality. This third season is pivotal for Robinson; the Dolphins probably will decide whether to exercise his fifth-year option based on his performance in 2026. But in reality, he's no longer defined by his draft position, he said. He's just a player looking to make an impact. "I'm never going to feel like I'm just another guy," he said. "I feel like I'm Chop, but the first round, all that stuff is out the window now. It's just I'm an NFL player now, and I just got to go out there and do my job."