MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — The Miami Dolphins selected Penn State edge rusher Chop Robinson with the 21st pick in the NFL draft on Thursday night, hoping to bolster a defense that has seen a mass exodus this spring.
General manager Chris Grier used his first opening-round pick since 2021 to try and restore some talent to a defense whose losses include standout defensive tackle Christian Wilkins, who signed a $110 million contract with Las Vegas.
Robinson figures to fill an immediate need for new defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver with his quickness, but his college production didn't quite match his athleticism — he had 9 1/2 sacks, 31 tackles and three forced fumbles over the past two seasons with the Nittany Lions, along with two sacks at linebacker with Maryland in 2021.
The 6-foot-3, 254-pound Robinson, who switched to defensive end after transferring to Penn State in 2022, said his lack of production in college was because of “inconsistencies” with his hand placement.
“That's something I've been working on this whole offseason," Robinson said, "and I feel very confident because I've been working on it so much repeatedly. And I know it's going to be natural when it comes time to put my hands to use.”
Grier said while Robinson's sack numbers were low, the team values his disruptive skills.
“Over the years we've talked about the sacks and stats part,” Grier said. "For us, it's an important part, but we've always talked about the ability to disrupt the passer. And his disruption numbers are all very high.
“The guy that comes to mind for me would be Danielle Hunter, (who) had four career sacks coming out of college, and he's been a really good player in this league. Not putting that pressure on (Robinson) to be Danielle Hunter, but ... we think a lot of his traits and the things you see on film translate.”
Robinson gives the Dolphins an option to plug in right away with linebackers Bradley Chubb and Jaelan Phillips coming off significant injuries and at risk of missing the start of the season. Even with the production of Chubb and Phillips, who combined for 17 1/2 sacks in 2023, Miami needed pass rushing depth behind them.
The Dolphins signed veteran linebacker veteran Shaquil Barrett in March, but the addition of Robinson gives them a solid rotation at the position.
“I feel like that's going to be a great situation for me,” Robinson said. “Coming in and learning from those guys. Take things from them and take it into my game and vice versa.”
Miami coach Mike McDaniel didn't rule out putting Robinson, Chubb and Phillips on the field at the same time.
“All scenarios are live,” McDaniel said. “I think it's key to remember, ‘Man that team — they had too many pass rushers. That was their problem.’ That's never been said. ... You let the players set the orchestration of all the multiple things you can do."
Robinson said he hasn't talked much with Weaver about how he will be used in the defensive coordinator's creative playcalling, but added that Weaver's defense is the same one that Robinson played in at Penn State, moving to both nose tackle and on the edge.
Robinson was a third-team AP All-American last season and has drawn comparisons to Dallas Cowboys All-Pro linebacker Micah Parsons because of his explosiveness. Robinson ran a 4.48-second 40-yard dash at 2024 combine. Parsons ran a 4.39 in 2021.
“I would say the speed and bend that we both have,” Robinson said. “Micah has the speed — he ran a fast 40. He plays like it. I have the speed. Micah also has a great bend. He's able to bend around a big offensive lineman and turn tight corners, and I feel like that's a part of my game.”
Including Robinson, the Dolphins have essentially used three first-round picks on defensive rushers in the past three years — Miami drafted Phillips 18th overall in 2021 and sent a 2023 first-rounder to Denver to acquire Chubb in 2022.
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NFL commissioner Roger Goodell speaks during the first round of the NFL football draft, Thursday, April 25, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
FILE - Penn State defensive lineman Chop Robinson runs a drill at the NFL football scouting combine Feb. 29, 2024, in Indianapolis. The Miami Dolphins selected Robinson with the 21st pick in the NFL draft Thursday night, April 25. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings, File
N'DJAMENA, Chad (AP) — Voters in Chad headed to the polls on Monday to cast their ballot in a long delayed presidential election that is set to end three years of military rule under interim president, Mahamat Deby Itno.
Deby Itno seized power after his father who ran the country for more than three decades was killed fighting rebels in 2021. Last year, the government announced it was extending the 18-month transition for two more years, which provoked protests across the country.
There are 10 candidates on the ballot, including a woman. Some 8 million people are registered to vote, in a country of more than 17 million people, one of the poorest in the world. Analysts say Deby Itno is expected to win the vote. The main opposition figure Yaya Dillo, the current president’s cousin, was killed in February in circumstances that remain unclear.
The oil-exporting country of nearly 18 million people has not had a free-and-fair transfer of power since it became independent in 1960 after decades of French colonial rule.
Chad is seen by the U.S. and France as one of the last remaining stable allies in the vast Sahel region following military coups in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger in recent years. The ruling juntas in all three nations have expelled French forces and turned to Russia’s mercenary units for security assistance instead.
Earlier this year, Niger’s junta ordered all U.S. troops out, meaning Washington will lose access to its key base in Agadez, the center of its counter-terrorism operations in the region. The U.S. and France still have a military presence in Chad, who consider it an especially critical partner.
The West also fears that any instability in Chad, which has absorbed over half a million refugees from Sudan, could increase the flow of illegal migrants north towards Europe.
“These are all the reasons the West is staying relatively quiet about the democratic transition in Chad,” said Ulf Laessing, head of the Sahel program at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation. “Everybody just wants this vote to pass so Deby Itno gets elected so they continue to work with him and preserve the stability of the region," he added.
Along with the arrival of refugees from Sudan, Chad is also dealing with high food prices partly caused by the war in Ukraine and a renewed threat from the Boko Haram insurgency spilling over from its southwestern border with Nigeria.
In March, an attack the government blamed on Boko Haram killed 7 soldiers, reviving fears of violence in the Lake Chad area after a period of peace following a successful operation launched in 2020 by the Chadian army to destroy the extremist group’s bases there. Schools, mosques and churches reopened and humanitarian organizations returned.
“For years now, we’ve had to cope with the high cost of living, without any solution,” said Adoumadji Jean, a teacher at a state secondary school in Moyen-Chari province, in an interview with The Associated Press. “We want a change this year through this election”, he added.
Boko Haram launched an insurgency more than a decade ago against Western education and seeks to establish Islamic law in Nigeria’s northeast. The insurgency has spread to West African neighbors including Cameroon, Niger and Chad.
Human rights groups have called for an investigation in to the killing of Chad’s main opposition figure, Dillo. The government has said Dillo was killed during an attack on the the National State Security Agency by his group, known as The Socialist Party Without Borders. But a photo of Dillo showed he was killed by a single bullet wound to the head.
Human Rights Watch said the killing raised serious concerns about the environment for the election.
“With his most significant opponents either co-opted or eliminated, and critical electoral institutions stacked with his supporters, Déby Itno’s victory is all but certain,” wrote Michelle Gavin for the Council of Foreign Relations, a Washington DC based think tank.
Votes will be first counted at polling stations after polls close at 5pm, but preliminary results will be announced three weeks later on May 21. If no candidate wins outright, a runoff will be held on June 5.
Chadian interim President Mahamat Deby Itno casts his ballot, in N'djamena, Chad, Monday, May 6, 2024, in a long delayed presidential election that is set to end three years of military rule. (AP Photo/Mouta)
