NEWS NOW: Lions Projected to Acquire ‘Freak Athlete’ to….
Detroit Lions have advanced to their first NFC championship game in 32 years behind a top 5-ranked offense. To become a more complete team next season, though, NFL mock draft experts are predicting the Lions to target defensive players in the draft. In his first 2024 mock draft, NFL.com’s Bucky Brooks projected the Lions to pick Penn State edge rusher Chop Robinson.
“The Lions need to find a complementary pass rusher to place opposite Aidan Hutchinson,” Brooks wrote. “Robinson is a freak athlete.”
The Lions could use an additional pass rusher opposite defensive end Aidan Hutchinson. While Detroit had 18 defenders record at least 1 sack during the 2023 regular season, Hutchinson was the only Lions defender with more than 5 sacks.
Robinson had 4 sacks in 10 games during his final season at Penn State.
How Chop Robinson Could Fit With the Lions
Hutchinson is one of the bright, young pass rushers in the NFL. He posted at least 9.5 sacks in each of his first two seasons in the league. During 2023, Hutchinson led the NFL in pressures.
In the past four games alone, Hutchinson has recorded 8 sacks. The other statistics he’s produced during that four-game stretch rivals what his teammates have done the entire season.
“The 31 pressures he created through the previous four weeks would rank Hutchinson third on the Lions, including the regular season and two postseason games,” wrote MLive.com’s Benjamin Raven.
Clearly, Brooks is correct. The Lions could use a complimentary pass rusher to Hutchinson.
Robinson only had 11.5 sacks in 30 college games during his career at Maryland and Penn State. But NFL scouts love Robinson’s potential at the next level because of his tremendous athleticism.
“He’s a top-tier athlete which, combined with how well he sets up his pass-rush moves, gives him a ton of potential as an edge-rusher in the NFL,” the BR NFL scouting department wrote.
“Robinson also has sneaky strength and is physical at the point of attack. That helps him take advantage of weaker offensive tackles when turning speed to power and overcome some of his size deficiencies as a run defender when his hands and leverage are right.”
In addition to 11.5 sacks, Robinson had 20 tackles for loss, 3 forced fumbles, 3 pass defenses and 2 fumble recoveries during his college career.
