Penn State's Chop Robinson: 'I Feel Unstoppable'
The chop celebration? That was a teammate's idea. In his first year playing defensive end for Penn State, Chop Robinson didn't have a go-to move to punctuate sacks or tackles for loss. "You should do a chop," fellow defensive end Deni Dennis-Sutton suggested. Robinson loved the idea as much as he loves his name and began chopping.
Demeioun Robinson weighed 14 pounds when he was born, so his parents nicknamed him "Porkchop." It fit early since, as Robinson said, he was a big kid with "no neck." But then Robinson grew out of the nickname — he was the tallest kid in elementary school and 6-1 by eighth grade — and eventually just shortened it to Chop. Now, Robinson is a 6-3, 255-pound athlete who ran a 4.47 time in the 40-yard dash and has built himself into one of the nation's strongest and most explosive edge rushers.
Penn State strength coach Chuck Losey calls Robinson "freaky" because of his ability to change direction and move suddenly at his size. And when offensive line coach Phil Trautwein trains his linemen to play low and be agile, he points to Robinson as the reason.
"When you're stiff and high, you're off balance, and Chop Robinson will throw you 15 yards up the field," Trautwein said.
So how did Robinson make his way to Penn State after beginning his college career as a linebacker at Maryland? And what do the Lions have in store for him this season? The answers lie in what makes Robinson "chop."
Robinson was an Under Armour All-American defensive end at Maryland's Quince Orchard High, where he set the school sacks record (14). Penn State recruited him heavily, but Robinson chose to play at Maryland as a freshman. He made an immediate impact at outside linebacker, playing in all 13 games, but felt out of position. He was an edge rusher in heart and mind, but the opportunity was not available at Maryland. So after the 2021 season, Robinson entered the NCAA Transfer Portal.
Penn State was among the first programs to reconnect with Robinson, who felt comfortable in his prior relationship with head coach James Franklin. The Lions also viewed Robinson as an edge rusher and not just one who filled a need. He was a player of value, the kind coaches gravitate to no matter what their depth chart looks like.
"You see what happened with a guy like Chop and the impact he had on our defense [in 2022]," defensive coordinator Manny Diaz said. "But the players had to understand why we needed Chop. Because it's a luxury? No. Everyone saw that, for us to be great, we needed more help on the edge."
Robinson provided that help, making 10 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks in his first season with the Lions. But those numbers only hinted at his impact. Robinson generated such stress on opposing offenses that Pro Football Focus graded him as the nation's top edge rusher last season, though he wasn't among the nation's top 100 in sacks. As Franklin said, "There's a lot more to playing defensive end in the system we run than just sacks."
Penn State's Chop Robinson (44) was the nation's highest-graded edge rusher in 2022, according to Pro Football Focus.
Matthew O'Haren/USA Today Sports
But generating that disruption proved more difficult than Robinson showed last season. Fortunately for him, he had a mentor. At the time, Deion Barnes was a graduate assistant working with Penn State's defensive line. The former Lions star, and 2012 Big Ten Freshman of the Year, saw a lot of himself in Robinson: a coachable player who needed just needed the road map. Before Penn State, Robinson had not played a college snap with his hand in the dirt. He had so much to learn, which initially proved frustrating.
When he arrived at Penn State, Robinson began working with Barnes on his hand-fighting techniques. He needed time to build muscle memory and often tried to race ahead of the process in drills. Barnes slowed Robinson down, working with him after practice to develop those skills essentially from scratch.
"I had a lot to learn," Robinson said. "I honestly thought that, being a fast guy on the edge, you could just run around guys. But playing in the Big Ten and going against the best offensive linemen in the country, you can't just run around guys. You have to use your hands to be effective."
Barnes and Robinson drilled painstakingly on those concepts and much more, rebuilding Robinson's edge-rushing platform after the year he spent playing outside linebacker. Both also crafted a future from the relationship. Robinson began transforming himself into a first-round edge-rushing talent, and Barnes built a live-action resume for Franklin to watch. This past April, Franklin hired Barnes as his full-time defensive line coach.
Barnes and Robinson work together exceptionally well. Barnes said he doesn't have to yell at Robinson, who internalizes every drill. And Robinson said he's thankful for Barnes' insistence on becoming so precise with his hands.
"He's a kid who understands his flaws at times and he’ll work on those things before or after practice, in the film room, do whatever he needs to do to fix those flaws," Barnes said. "He’s a conscientious, self-aware player."
He's also one of the Big Ten's most athletic defensive ends. Robinson added 10 pounds in the offseason while lowering his 40 time by more than one-tenth of a second. He shocked himself in offseason testing by running that 4.47, a time that would have ranked seventh at the 2023 NFL Combine. "That's insane," Robinson said. "I didn't expect to move that fast." And his raised standards don't end there.
"He's just so much bigger, stronger and more explosive both in the run game and the pass game," Franklin said. "... He's killing it."
Robinson called this offseason his most productive in terms of being pushed and responding. As a result, Robinson said, "I feel unstoppable." And he's channeling that into his natural position.
"It's just my mindset," Robinson said. "When I’m rushing the passer or I have anyone in front of me, that person in front of me can't block me."
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