After the departure of linebacker Kyle Van Noy earlier this offseason, many expected the Miami Dolphins to get aligned for an addition for a linebacker in the early portions of the 2021 NFL Draft. And while perhaps No. 18 overall pick Jaelan Phillips can pick up some of Van Noy’s reps on the line of scrimmage in 2021, the collective group remains the same on the heels of the 2021 draft as what it was at this time last week — there were no true linebackers added into the fray.
One player who is likely to see an expanded role in 2021 as a result is new Miami Dolphin Benardrick McKinney. McKinney was acquired from the Houston Texans via trade earlier this offseason and as Miami’s vision for their 2021 football team comes into focus, one thing that is apparent is that McKinney will be taking on a number of different roles.
Brian Flores, during his Saturday post-draft press conference, confirmed as much when asked about his vision for the veteran linebacker.
“I’ve watched (McKinney) and scouted him for a long time. He’s big, fast, physical, really good in the run game. I think he’s a good pass rusher. Versatile on the ball, off the ball and smart. And my conversations with him already have been about how much do we think he can do, how much do we think – I think he can handle a lot, so I think we’ll see him in a lot of different roles on the line of scrimmage, off the line of scrimmage, on the edge, blitzing,” said Flores.
“And hopefully we get him in here and get him going with our terminology, our verbiage, get him in with his teammates. It’s one thing for one person to do it, but he’s obviously going to be working with several other teammates and we’ve just got to get him going along with the rest of the group.”
Van Noy spent the majority of his time during his one season in Miami as a linebacker rolled up onto the line of scrimmage — and while McKinney is much more of a stack linebacker who can play on the inside, Flores’ willingness to allude to McKinney rushing the passer on the edge seems to indicate that some the reps lost with Van Noy’s release can be accounted for by phasing in their new man in the middle.
If this feels like a lot of pieces to account for in Miami’s defense, that’s because it is. And Brian Flores likely wouldn’t have it any other way.