Tag: Christian Wilkins

Watch Dolphins players strike up college rivalry via video game

Miami Dolphins defenders Christian Wilkins and Chris Lammons are college rivals and they locked horns on the sticks to claim bragging rights

The end of the college football season has arrived for many, which means this past weekend featured rivalries clashing all over the country yesterday. Many, such as Ohio State vs. Michigan and Oklahoma vs. Oklahoma State, ended as anti-climatic snoozers. Others, such as Alabama vs. Auburn, provided instant classic status.

For Miami Dolphins 2019 1st-round pick Christian Wilkins, rivalry week against South Carolina was just another day. The Tigers rolled South Carolina with ease, but the matchup did afford Wilkins the chance to test his rivalry in a new way — by facing off with Dolphins teammate and former South Carolina Gamecock Chris Lammons in a game of NCAA Football.

The matchup, conducted by the Dolphins’ organization, highlights Wilkins’ strong personality — something that made it easy to be convinced that he was the kind of presence this team needed in the locker room in order to thrive under Brian Flores.

Wilkins’ Tigers indeed put a whooping on South Carolina, both in the Wilkins/Lammons showdown and for the real thing. And based on how much Wilkins let Lammons hear it during this showdown of Dolphins defenders on the sticks, we’d be willing to bet Lammons had something orange and purple waiting for him in his locker this morning as the Dolphins gear up to take on the Philadelphia Eagles.

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Dolphins’ defensive interior can serve as stout foundation for future

Miami’s defensive interior will serve as a strong foundation for the future of the Dolphins’ defense.

The Miami Dolphins’ roster has plenty of needs, no one can debate this to be anything other than the absolute truth. But when combing through the roster to identify pillars of long-term stability, one area of this team stands head and shoulders above the rest. The defensive interior group featuring defensive tackles Davon Godchaux and Christian Wilkins, plus linebackers Raekwon McMillan and Jerome Baker is as impressive as a group as Dolphins fans could have possibly hoped to see materialize. They’ll serve as the foundation around which the rest of Brian Flores’ defense is built.

The objective is clear: play stout up the middle and force teams to exert energy to run sideways before gaining positive yardage. From there, strong team defense and tackling habits can help ensure defensive efficiency.

Has the plan always worked this season? No. The Dallas Cowboys and Baltimore Ravens combined to hang 500 rushing yards on the Dolphins in those two games combined. But the rest of the schedule? Factoring out Miami’s porous efforts against Dallas and Baltimore (both within the first three weeks of the season), Miami is averaging 125.5 rushing yards allowed per game. Since Miami’s Week 5 bye, the defense is averaging total 360 yards per game allowed.

Elite? Certainly not. Respectable numbers? Most certainly. The Tennessee Titans are 17th in the NFL with 359.5 yards per game conceded.

And it’s no coincidence that the defensive respectability has come with the improvement of Christian Wilkins and the reassertion of power in the middle by LB Raekwon McMillan. Depth is needed behind them, that’s most certainly true. But if the Dolphins can build around this core for 2020 with edge rushers and secondary players, Miami’s defense is going to look a whole lot better next season with Brian Flores and company finally getting some firepower off the edge.

This are difficult times to be a Dolphins fan. But the young defensive core in the front seven should be a highlight of every week remaining in 2019.

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