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NFL Draft 2024: Arizona Cardinals Take Darius Robinson, One of NFL Draft’s ‘Biggest Sleepers’

Originally posted on Gridiron Heroics | By Matt Lombardo | Last updated 4/25/24

The Arizona Cardinals chose Mizzouri edge rusher Darius Robinson with the No. 27 overall pick in the first-Round of the 2024 NFL Draft on Thursday night.

Robinson, 6-foot-5 and 296 pounds, was one of the bigger risers of the pre-draft season, after logging a career-high 8.5 sacks and 14 tackles for loss during a standout 2023 campaign for the Tigers.

“If you want a round 1 sleeper to watch,” an AFC scouting director tells me. “Darius Robinson, the defensive lineman from Missouri is a very versatile player that can line up at multiple spots, play all three downs, and has emerging rush skills.”

Robinson significantly boosted his draft stock during a stellar week at the NFL Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala., and could walk into Arizona as a plug-and-play starter in the Cardinals’ defense.

After Zaven Collins posted 3.5 sacks last season and B.J. Ojulari four, Robinson has the chance to make a run at being the most productive Cardinals edge rusher as a rookie.

Darius Robinson NFL Draft Scouting Report

A productive pass-rusher, Robinson spent his career in Missouri as one of the Tigers’ most consistently disruptive presences along the front-seven.

Across five seasons, Robinson produced 13 sacks, 21 tackles for loss, while adding 112 total tackles with one forced fumble and one fumble recovery.

Meanwhile, Pro Football Focus points out that Robinson posted a stellar 17 percent pas-rush win rate, while adding a career-high 27 hurries en route to a strong 83.1 overall grade from the outlet.

“He’s still learning to play,” an NFC Scouting Director tells NFL.com. “And kind of reminds me of Keion White (Patriots second-round pick in 2023) with his traits and what he could become.”

Following his prolific collegiate career, Robinson turned in an impressive showing at the NFL Combine including running the 40-yard dash in 4.95 seconds and posting a 35-inch vertical leap, 9-foot-3-inch broad jump, and putting up 21 reps on the bench press.

“Schematically,” the Bleacher Report Scouting Department writes of Robinson. “Robinson has some positional flexibility. He can play right away as a defensive end in even or odd fronts, lining up as a 5- or 4i-technique. While he would probably have to add about 10 to 15 pounds, he has the strength and physicality to potentially line up as a 3-technique as well; that’d just be more of a project.”