NFL Combine: Buccaneers Have Formal Meeting with Micah Parsons Comparison

Needing to bolster their pass rush the Tampa Bay Buccaneers met with one of the top rushers in this year's NFL Draft.

INDIANAPOLIS -- As the Tampa Bay Buccaneers move into the post-Shaquil Barrett era they'll need some help to make sure coach Todd Bowles' pass rush stays effective.

Sure, young guys like YaYa Diaby and Joe Tryon-Shoyinka provide some potential while defensive linemen Vita Vea and Calijah Kancey look like a solid duo up front for the Buccaneers. 

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But to call the Tampa Bay pass rush a complete weapon would fall short of the exact truth, and that makes NFL Draft prospects like Penn State's Chop Robinson attractive options at the end of April.

While we know what the Bucs need, what does Robinson need? Well, for starters, he needs football.

Chop Robinson, DE, Penn State / USA Today

"It means everything," Robinson says of football itself. "This game, it takes the stress away from me. It leaves me free-minded (and) at peace."

Who would the Buccaneers get in Robinson? Well, for starters, they'd get a pass rusher who is being compared to fellow Penn State product Micah Parsons. Not in the top-shelf talent area as much as play style.

Parsons is arguably the league's best pass rusher today, and Robinson appreciates the comparison and knows what it takes to get the best out of himself.

"A guy that could get off the ball, a guy with some speed, a guy that could bend crazy," is what Robinson says when asked to describe the best pass rusher. "I think that makes the best pass rusher. A guy that could bend and use his hands."

Bending is something he aims to show he has the capability to do more than people think at this stage in the evaluation process. He also plans on running a 4.4 in the 40-yard dash. 

Parsons, for comparison, ran a 4.39.

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Tampa Bay could sure use some of that on the roster, and there's a high likelihood he'll be available for general manager to take at pick No. 26 in the first round of April's selection meeting. 

Are the Bucs interested? Robinson says the team was one of his first meetings on Tuesday. And it was a formal, something teams only have so much to spend while at the NFL Scouting Combine.

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