An early mock draft has the Minnesota Vikings using their first-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft on current Penn State pass rusher Chop Robinson.
Looking ahead to next year's offseason, there are a number of positions the Minnesota Vikings could look to improve with their top pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.
Improving their pass rush is a direction that ESPN's Jordan Reid believes the Vikings could take during next year's draft, as he has Minnesota selecting current Penn State edge rusher Chop Robinson with their first-round pick in his early 2024 mock draft.
In 12 games last season, Robinson accumulated 26 tackles (10 for a loss), 5.5 sacks, two pass deflections, one forced fumble, and one fumble recovery.
What Penn State edge rusher Chop Robinson could add to the Minnesota Vikings
With Marcus Davenport only signed to a one-year deal and there still being plenty of uncertainty surrounding the team's future with Danielle Hunter, the Vikings using their top pick in next year's NFL Draft definitely seems like a legitimate possibility.
Reid noted that Robinson was not a starter in any of his 12 appearances for Penn State in 2022. However, the young edge rusher still displayed the "ability to create chaos" by generating "first pressure within 2.5 seconds on an FBS-best 12.1 percent of his pass-rush snaps" last season, according to Reid.
As for some areas of improvement for Robinson, Reid also added that the Penn State pass rusher "still needs to fill out his frame and show he can be relied on as an early-down run defender." Robinson is currently listed at 6-foot-3 and 240 pounds.
Some would like to see Minnesota add a quarterback with their top pick in the 2024 draft instead of an edge rusher. But the selection in this mock draft was made with the No. 21 pick in the first round, so if that is where the Vikings land in the opening round, the chances of ending up with one of the top passing prospects seem pretty low.