The Miami Dolphins’ 2020 season figures to be a whole lot more fun than the 2019 year — even if the team doesn’t rack up wins at an exponentially faster rate than last year’s team did. The Dolphins battled the narrative last season that the team was “tanking” — and for a while it appeared as though perhaps general manager Chris Grier had gone too far in tearing down the roster. There’s little question of Grier’s intent these days — the Dolphins were much more aggressive in adding talent and took advantage of the team’s embarrassment of riches in the NFL Draft to add eleven new players into the fray.
Each unit for the Miami Dolphins figures to be, at the very least, equal to what they were last year. No position group can be pointed to as getting worse, as Miami didn’t lose significant free agents and retooled several key positions with young talent.
One of those key positions is the pass rush, where the Dolphins struggled in 2019. As a whole, Miami logged just 23 sacks on the season. The team’s leader was DE Taco Charlton, who never seemed to fully buy into the Dolphins’ approach and was cut this offseason after failing to dress for a slew of games at the end of the season. Who figures to be the team’s leading sack artist this year? And how many sacks should we expect?
DL Christian Wilkins
The incumbent on the roster who could challenge for this title is Wilkins. He was a top-15 pick for a reason — and with better talent around him this year he should warrant more one on one looks. Because of the construction of the Dolphins’ roster, there will be no one dominant player eating up the opposing quarterback — the team will have a by committee approach. And if that is the case, Wilkins could well end up leading the charge since he’s aligned closest to the quarterback to begin with.
Bold prediction: 7.0 sacks
LB Kyle Van Noy
Van Noy, coming over from the Patriots, enjoyed a career best season rushing the passer in 2019. He logged 6.5 sacks, 15 hits and an additional 24 pressures — all high water marks for his pro career. The barrier to Van Noy repeating those numbers may be a byproduct of his talent. He’s a versatile player and Miami may require him to spend additional time in space underneath in pass coverage instead of rushing the passer.
But if he’s encouraged to bring the heat, he may challenge this mark.
Bold prediction: 5.5 sacks
DE Shaq Lawson
Lawson is a very different player than Van Noy, but his story as a pass rusher isn’t too dissimilar. Lawson also logged a career best season rushing the passer — he tallied 6.5 sacks, 18 hits and an additional 28 pressures last season. Unlike Van Noy, however, Lawson will not be spending time out in space; and with a potent threat inside of him and the Dolphins’ aggressiveness likely also yielding reps where he’s protected with rushers outside of him as well, Lawson appears poised for a big season.
Bold prediction: 8.5 sacks (team leader)