MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — The news that Miami Dolphins pass rusher Bradley Chubb will miss at least the first four games of the 2024 season was unfortunate, but not a surprise.
It was long expected that Chubb would start the season on the physically unable to perform list. He’s just eight months removed from a torn ACL, which usually needs nine to 12. So, Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel made the expected official on Monday.
What does it mean for his defense? A sizable role early for rookie Chop Robinson and Mohamed Kamara.
Miami Dolphins’ Chop Robinson 2024 Outlook
“It’s been awesome to work with them and play off them and learn how to take their game to the next level,” Dolphins defensive tackle Zach Sieler said of Robinson and Kamara.
“It’ll be really exciting to work with them this season and these weeks coming up while Chubb is down to get him right and to stay right and to get ready and to play in those big games.”
Robinson and Kamara will start the season as the Dolphins’ No. 3 and 4 outside linebackers. By way of reference, Andrew Van Ginkel — Miami’s No. 3 EDGE defender last season — logged 726 snaps in 2023.
Accounting for six sacks, 19 quarterback hits, and eight tackles for loss, the Dolphins would be thrilled to get anywhere close to Van Ginkel’s 2023 production from either Robinson or Kamara this fall.
But the reality is that neither is close to being as polished as AVG is at this stage of his career, even if Tua Tagovailoa believes, as he said Monday, that Robinson is the defense’s most improved player this offseason.
Robinson had a bunch of splash plays in practice this camp but was mostly invisible in his two preseason games. He had three tackles (one for loss) total but no sacks, quarterback hits, pressures, or hurries against the Washington Commanders and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
He also had some tough moments in run defense, struggling at times to set the edge. McDaniel seemed to suggest that Robinson can expect to get tested in that way early and often in his career.
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“In the National Football League, if you don’t do something well, teams will take advantage of it, especially if you put it on tape,” McDaniel said Monday. “So you have to get stuff fixed, which is what’s been so monumental for watching these guys get these reps, is I’m-not-just-saying-I need-to-see progression.
“I need to because the second we are able to adjust something in your game or identify that something is lacking, needs improvement, you better fix it. Otherwise, the whole defense will feel — listen, if you’re not on the backside run chasing appropriately, you’ll turn the page, and you’ll get three bootlegs on you.
“And then you play the next week, you’ve got to show that you’ll stop the boot with that same guy, or they’re going to keep running and they’ll test you early. That’s just the nature of football.”
There is some important context needed, however.
The improvement isn’t a straight line, but things are generally trending in the right direction for both players, McDaniel suggested.
“The biggest thing is that you want to see continued progression without halt, because there’s so much ground to gain,” he said.
“And I’ve seen a ton of that. There’s been days that all of our young guys have, as they would say it, not a good day. And those are irrelevant to me, if and only if, things are approved upon. And I’ve seen that consistent progression with the whole group. And that’s super important, because that’s what you end up having to do during the season.”
