Jul
13
Football games are won in the trenches, and the Miami Dolphins‘ biggest strengths and biggest weaknesses lie in the trenches.
The best positional unit for the Dolphins is the defensive line, while the worst is the offensive line.
We’re going to dissect both of those units today, as they are not only the most important positional units on the Dolphins but will also be the sites of some great training-camp battles.
Lynne Sladky/Associated Press
Best Positional Unit: Defensive Line
Last year’s defensive line started off well, but as the year progressed, the line regressed to the point where stopping the run was a major challenge by the end of the season—and the pass rush was nonexistent.
You can’t blame that slip in performance on injury, like how you can pin the secondary’s problems on the loss of Louis Delmas (knee). Rather, it was just bad play toward the end of the season.
Instead, it was due to some weakness in the interior, as you can see from this table:
Player
Pass-Rush Grade
Run-Stop Grade
Pass-Coverage Grade
Overall Grade
Olivier Vernon
8.0
3.9
-5.5
6.5
Cameron Wake
36.3
-1.9
-2.0
32.2
Jared Odrick
7.3
1.0
1.0
9.0
Randy Starks
4.9
-9.5
2
-1.1
Earl Mitchell
3.6
-3.8
0.0
0.4
Derrick Shelby
-7.0
6.7
2.0
-2.2
Dion Jordan
-2.6
-2.6
2.0
-2.2
Totals
50.5
-6.2
-5.0
42.5
Pro Football Focus
While the two defensive ends performed well, the interior defensive line (save for Jared Odrick) faded away, especially in regard to run defense.
Because of that slip in play, out goes Randy Starks, and in come Ndamukong Suh and C.J. Mosley from the Detroit Lions.
Adding their 2014 Pro Football Focus grades to Miami’s defense shows a massive increase in the team’s overall run-stopping grade. That is to be expected, considering that the Lions had the top run defense in the NFL in 2014, allowing only 68.4 yards per game:
Player
Pass-Rush Grade
Run-Stop Grade
Pass-Coverage Grade
Overall Grade
Olivier Vernon
8.0
3.9
-5.5
6.5
Cameron Wake
36.3
-1.9
-2.0
32.2
Earl Mitchell
3.6
-3.8
0.0
0.4
Derrick Shelby
-7.0
6.7
-2.5
-2.3
Ndamukong Suh
15.3
17.6
1.5
27.5
C.J. Mosley
1.1
1.2
0.0
3.9
Totals
57.3
23.7
-8.5
68.2
Pro Football Focus
Miami finished 24th, allowing 121.1 yards per game.
This won’t just bolster the run defense, as Suh and Mosley will improve the pass defense as well.
NFL Game Rewind/Photoshop by Thomas Galicia
NFL Game Rewind/Photoshop by Thomas Galicia
NFL Game Rewind
It won’t just be with plays like this sequence against the Dallas Cowboys, but Suh will also gobble up double-teams, opening up the edges for the defensive ends and linebackers to swarm in.
Here’s a look at how Detroit’s defensive ends performed, thanks in part to Suh and Mosley, with Detroit’s Pro Football Focus grades:
Player
Pass-Rush Grade
Run-Stop Grade
Pass-Coverage Grade
Overall Grade
Ndamukong Suh
15.3
17.6
1.5
27.5
C.J. Mosley
1.1
1.2
0.0
1.9
Ezekiel Ansah
8.5
10.1
-0.5
17.6
Jason D. Jones
-8.0
2.9
-0.5
-10.4
George Johnson
6.2
-5.9
-0.5
-10.4
Nick Fairley
8.1
5.7
0.0
9.8
Darryl Tapp
-1.0
-2.5
0.5
-2.8
Devin Taylor
-5.8
-0.4
-2
-8.2
Totals
24.4
28.7
-1.5
36.8
Pro Football Focus
The player to see here is Ezekiel Ansah, a top-five pick in the 2013 draft who was fairly raw but became a menace for opposing teams.
Suh had a lot to do with that, as he mentored Ansah during his rookie year, with Ansah saying this about Suh‘s leadership at the time, per Justin Rogers of MLive.com:
Yeah, definitely, he’s a really great guy. He leads me on the field, tells me what I do right. Off the field, he said if I need anything, I should just hit him up and he’s going to help me out. He’s been a big brother to me.
When I do something wrong, he’s like, ‘You’ve got to do it this way.’ He’s just helped me overall.
The player comparison here is second-round pick Jordan Phillips, who has more polish now than Ansah did in his rookie season. Unlike Ansah, Phillips is an interior lineman, but with Suh‘s leadership, he should develop well in 2015, ultimately improving Miami’s defensive line even more.
Overall, the defensive line is Miami’s best positional unit, thanks to talent in the interior and on the outside.
Throughout training camp, it will battle the worst positional unit.
Joel Auerbach/Getty Images
Worst Positional Unit: Offensive Line
Is it 2013 all over again? Not quite. Miami’s offensive line has improved over the last two seasons.
Unfortunately, that improvement has been from embarrassing and vomit-inducing to just plain bad, as you will see in this table comparing (and adding up) grades from 2013 and 2014:
Year
Sacks Allowed
Pass-Protection Grade
Run-Blocking Grade
2013
58
-8.3
-46.3
2014
46
-68.8
-39.0
Totals
104
-77.1
-85.3
Pro Football Focus
The tackles have been the reason for the improvement. Going from the 2013 tackle combination of Jonathan Martin and Tyson Clabo (and then Bryant McKinnie and Tyson Clabo) to Branden Albert and Ja’Wuan James was one of the most necessary and welcome upgrades in Miami Dolphins history.
It’s a shame that the pairing wasn’t meant to be for a full season, as Albert suffered a torn ACL in Week 10.
Jeff Haynes/Associated Press
If the pairing stays together for a full season, the Dolphins will be in good shape on the edges, as both players performed well at left and right tackle, respectively.
If not, it could be trouble, as James seemed overwhelmed at times at left tackle.
As for center, Mike Pouncey is back at the position, which is good news, considering his stint at guard was less than memorable.
Then come the guards—the weakest position of the weakest positional unit.
Can the Dolphins count on Dallas Thomas to improve in 2015? His 2014 season, when he played guard and tackle, suggests no, but the coaches are giving Thomas every opportunity to earn the starting job at left guard, per Andrew Abramson of the Palm Beach Post, where he is competing with rookie Jamil Douglas.
Douglas has a great shot at unseating Thomas, while on the right side, Billy Turner seems to have the job locked up, with Abramson reporting that the coaching staff is “high” on the second-year lineman.
Competing with the best positional unit on the team every day in practice should strengthen the offensive line to some degree, though, which is a good reason to come out and see the Dolphins in training camp later this month.
Advance stats provided by Pro Football Focus unless otherwise noted.
Comments
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.