Dolphins defense primed for big 2022 as team heads to Tampa Bay

Notes and reminders regarding Josh Boyer’s unit.

The Miami Dolphins will kick off their preseason on Saturday, Aug. 13 in Tampa Bay against the Buccaneers. Miami’s new coach Mike McDaniel and his Dolphins traveled to Tampa early for what will be a series of joint practices leading into Saturday night’s preseason opener.

While this is McDaniel’s first season as a head coach, he has 16 years of NFL coaching experience, and since his first appearance in Miami has stated his version of the Dolphins will be “all about passion and energy.”

McDaniel is known for his offensive wizardry and schemes, as he coached the 2021 San Francisco 49ers offense to be the seventh-ranked unit in the NFL, averaging 375.7 yards per game. When McDaniel was brought on board back in February, he stated to the media, “You should be able to turn on the TV and know who the team is, even if the color is distorted, by the energy that they play with, by how they bond together.”

2022 will mark the 11th season the Dolphins begin with a new head coach. On four occasions, a first-year head coach led the Dolphins to the playoffs – Don Shula in 1970, Dave Wannstedt in 2000, Tony Sparano in 2008 and Adam Gase in 2016.

Helping McDaniel will be a Dolphins’ defense that returns 95% of their 2021 unit, a group that finished fifth in the NFL in sacks with 48. Despite a rough start to the season, the second half showed this defense’s potential, as in the final nine games, Miami ranked second in scoring defense, giving up just 15.6 points per game.

Additionally, during that span, they ranked third in total defense, allowing just 275.9 yards per game, fourth in passing defense, giving up 171.3 passing yards per game and 10th in rushing defense, where they allowed only 104.6 rushing yards per contest.

13 Dolphins defensive players started at least five games for Miami in 2021, and each of those core pieces is back for coordinator Josh Boyer’s crew. Boyer, who was an apprentice to Brian Flores and his defensive scheming and has stayed on with McDaniel. With Flores fired following the 2021 season, the blueprints were left for Boyer, and clearly, his manpower remains virtually unchanged.

To add to this impressive continuity, all 11 defensive players that Miami started during last season’s Week 18 win against the New England Patriots were under the age of 30, and eight of those 11 were drafted by the Dolphins. More so, Boyer will have several defensive coaching lieutenants return. Defensive line coach Austin Clark, linebackers coach Anthony Campanile and safeties coach Steve Gregory all return to Boyer’s and McDaniel’s defensive staff.

A major returning player is, of course, defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah, who has led the Dolphins in sacks the past two seasons. Not only has he gotten to the passer, but he’s also set a mark of excellence in the passes defended category. His 12 batted passes were the highest in the NFL in 2021 and most by a defensive lineman in a single season since 2016. In total since 2016, Ogbah ranks second in the category among defensive linemen, behind only Carlos Dunlap.

Remarkably, Ogbah had a streak of seven straight games with a batted pass, which, according to FOX,  is the longest streak by an NFL defensive lineman in more than 20 seasons.

On the other side of the pass-rush, second-year rising star Jaelan Phillips looks to build off his 8.5 sacks, which was a Dolphins rookie record. Phillips had a stretch in 2021 where he became the first NFL rookie since Julius Peppers in 2002 to record at least six sacks in a three-game span. Phillips ranked behind only Micah Parsons last season in sacks, as the Dallas Cowboy recorded 13.

Andrew Van Ginkel, who finished with four sacks in 2021, actually was among the league leaders in quarterback knockdowns, ranking eighth, and set his teammates up on blitzes, finishing second in the league. Van Ginkel was sent on 115 blitzes last season, behind only Tampa Bay’s Devin White. In an interesting statistical trend, in Van Ginkel’s top seven games in terms of the amount the Dolphins sent him on a blitz, Miami was 7-0.

The Dolphins also add veteran pass-rusher Melvin Ingram, who spent 2021 in Pittsburgh as well as Kansas City. While the best years from his San Diego/Los Angeles Chargers days could be behind him, he’s just a few seasons removed from a Pro Bowl appearance (2019) which capped a three-year run of earning that honor. He brings 51 career sacks to a fearsome Miami front line, which also includes Christian Wilkins and Zach Sieler.

Wilkins had a tremendous 2021, leading defensive linemen with 89 tackles, a mark he tied with Steelers’ All-Pro Cameron Heyward. That mark was actually the most by a defensive lineman since 2013, and it was the most tackles by a Dolphin at the position since Jeff Cross recorded 93 in 1993.

Jerome Baker and Elandon Roberts will man the inside of the Dolphins’ linebacking corps, giving Miami a formidable front-seven rotation mixed with young talent and veterans nearing or in their prime.

Speaking of prime, it’s arguable that Xavien Howard is one of, if not the best cover cornerbacks in the NFL. Since being selected by Miami in the second round of the 2016 draft, Howard leads the league with 27 interceptions, despite missing a total of 25 games due to injury in that span.

Opposite Xavien Howard long-term this season is PUP-listed Byron Jones. When healthy, he pairs with Howard to form perhaps the league’s top cornerback duo. Listed as cornerback two on this week’s initial depth chart is Nik Needham, who will return to his natural boundary corner position in Jones’ absence. Needham shifted to slot cornerback last season and adjusted into one of the league’s rising lock-down slot corners. According to PFF, Needham’s 272 slot coverage snaps in 2021, all without allowing a TD, were the most among all cornerbacks.

Rounding out the secondary, and defense as a whole, are the young safety duo of Brandon Jones and Jevon Holland. Miami selected Jones in the third round, 70th overall, of the 2020 draft and Holland in the second round, 36th overall, in 2021’s selection process. They started 11 games together last year, and Jones led all NFL defensive backs with five sacks. Holland was among just five safeties who graded at 75 or better in both passing and running plays last season, according to PFF.

Holland finished 2021 with 68 tackles, ninth among NFL rookies, and his 10 passes defensed were tied for fourth. He was the only AFC player with multiple sacks, interceptions and fumble recoveries last year.

[listicle id=451847]