With under a month until the Miami Dolphins open up training camp, one of the areas that will be a major focus during the summer will be the pass rushers. The Dolphins are lacking depth in players who can get to the quarterback off the edge, and it’s this area that is the next part of Dolphins Wire’s series of what to look for when Miami begins camp.
The Edge Rushers
For better or for worse, the edge rusher with the highest expectations on this Dolphins’ roster is Chop Robinson. Entering his third season, this is a pivotal year in the young pass rusher’s career. Having a slow rookie season to start in 2024, Robinson had a very good second half and showed sparks of being a dominant edge rusher.
Robinson didn’t register a sack in his first seven games as a rookie and had just one quarterback hit on two pressures in this span. Yet over his last 10 games in 2024, Robinson broke out with 18 pressures, six sacks and 13 quarterback hits. However, there was a noticeable regression from last season. He totaled just four sacks and seven quarterback hits on his 20 pressures and showed that he needs to improve his rush-defending and overall repertoire of moves.
Enter new head coach, Jeff Hafley, who has taken a noticeable liking to Robinson. Based on several comments made during organized team activities, it appears that the defensive-minded coach is challenging Robinson to step up in 2026.
Back in the beginning of June, Hafley told South Florida reporters when asked about Robinson’s benefit on the defense, “Hopefully he becomes an every-down player. 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.”
The words from Hafley seem like an invitation or even a challenge to the Penn State product to become a more versatile player as he added, “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.
Under Hafley’s tutelage, Robinson can turn the corner and make good on his first-round selection from the 2024 NFL Draft. Hafley will rely on Robinson to not just rush the passer, but set the edge in the run game, and be a more well-rounded player.
Hafley added, “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.”
Should Robinson take to his coaching and make that next step, it could be a major boost to this Dolphins defense, which needs a surefire sack artist this season.
Joining Robinson will be a pair of veterans who are looking to resurrect their careers following injuries as well as inconsistent performances. A pair of Michigan men, David Ojabo and Josh Uche, were each signed to one-year deals in the offseason. Both could be given the chance to prove their second-round worth, and perhaps stay in Miami following 2026 and beyond, or simply up their value for another team moving forward.
Ojabo was the 45th overall selection in 2022 and spent four seasons with the Baltimore Ravens. Multiple injuries limited him to just 32 appearances in that span, 14 of which came last season. He has 4.5 career sacks and a pair of tackles for loss and 10 quarterback hits.
Uche was drafted 60th overall by the New England Patriots. After a slow start, he was productive in 2022 with 11.5 sacks but followed with just three during the 2023 season. He spent half the 2024 season in New England, then was traded to the Kansas City Chiefs. He spent 2025 with the Philadelphia Eagles. Miami hopes that he can work his way into the rotation on pass-rushing downs.
Shifting to rookies, the Dolphins spent their seventh-round pick on Iowa edge rusher Max Llewellyn. At 6-foot-5, he brings length and a solid bag of moves to the room. Not one to beat blockers with speed, however, Llewellyn has potential as a situational pass rusher with upside. He finished his career at Iowa with 14.5 sacks and 20.5 tackles for loss. He gets into the backfield often, as 32% of his tackles in college resulted in a loss of yards for the ball carrier. A high motor player, when Llewellyn was drafted back in April, Hafley said, “Max has got a toughness to him that we liked. He’s a rugged player. He plays really hard.”
When looking at a draftee with versatility and position flexibility, fifth-round pick Trey Moore is an edge/off-ball linebacker. Moore transferred from UT-San Antonio in 2024 after two very productive seasons. In 2022 and 2023, Moore had 22 sacks and 35.5 tackles for loss for San Antonio.
He utilizes a lethal spin move to help get to the quarterback and had 8.5 sacks and 14.5 tackles for loss in his two seasons with the Longhorns. Hafley spoke about that versatility when he was selected, saying, “A guy like Trey Moore, all the things that Trey can do, the amount of sacks that he’s had in his career, the ability to play linebacker, the ability to play off the edge. That’s really exciting for us.”
Another rookie, yet undrafted, is Mason Reiger out of Wisconsin. He has the skills, size and athleticism that could have made him a Day 3 pick if not for right leg surgery after three seasons at Louisville. He was back on the field for Wisconsin in 2025 after missing 2024, where he had five sacks and six tackles for loss. He has reminded people of another former Badger, as well as ex-Dolphins edge rusher Andrew Van Ginkel.
Miami signed another undrafted free agent following the selection process in Western Michigan’s Rodney McGraw, who transferred in 2024 following stints with Penn State and Louisville. McGraw totaled eight sacks and 11 tackles for loss for Western Michigan and looks to battle for at least a practice squad spot for Miami. At 6-foot-5, he also could be factored into defensive tackle work.
Fighting to remain on the roster will be Cameron Goode, who is more of a value on special teams than anything else. He had 15 special teams tackles in 2025, six being solo. A 2022 seventh-round draft pick, Goode will have to impress this new regime to remain in South Florida in 2026.
The Dolphins also signed free agent Robert Beal Jr, who was a 2023 fifth-round pick of the San Francisco 49ers, as well as Seth Coleman, who was a 2025 practice squad player for the Seattle Seahawks and Indianapolis Colts. Hafley and the coaching staff will have some work to do in this specific room come training camp.
This article originally appeared on Dolphins Wire: Dolphins’ OTA takeaways, outlook to training camp Part IV: Pass Rush
Reporting by Jason Sarney, Dolphins Wire / Dolphins Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Jason Sarney, Dolphins Wire | USA TODAY Network
