Kelly: Tyrel Dodson is responsible for orchestrating Dolphins defense | Opinion
I have an unhealthy obsession, if not infatuation with professional athletes who have been where Tyrel Dodson is coming from, NFL role players or starters who have gotten where they are by drudging through the mud.
“This is how I eat,” Dodson said Tuesday, after getting spot work during Miami’s on-field organized team activities, which lead into next week’s mandatory minicamp work. “This is how I feed my family.”
He’s referring to playing football, being physical, making impact plays and surviving the politics of the game.
Dodson, a former Texas A&M standout, made it into the NFL as an undrafted free agent, one who worked his way up from the Buffalo Bills’ practice squad.
This 27-game starter has been used and abused by the league for the first four years of his career, and right when he finally felt like he found a little stability, signing with the Seattle to serve as a starter in 2024, the Seahawks cut the team’s leading tackler at midseason, and blamed most of their defensive problems on him.
“Fortunately I had some people in Seattle that could give us some really good intel, and all reports out of there was [he’s a] tremendous teammate, really good player,” defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver said back in January, referring to the Seahawks staff, which is led by Mike Mcdonald, whom Weaver coached alongside in Baltimore for years. “They just had some young guys they wanted to get on the field. That obviously has worked out in our favor.”
The Seahawks privately blamed Dodson for not being stout enough against the run, crediting him with making many of his 71 tackles in nine games downfield, after respectable gains had been made.
Dodson took offense to that criticism and has been laboring to change that perception since joining the Dolphins.
It took him a minute to learn Weaver’s defense. He handled 251 defensive snaps in eight games for Miami, and against the Patriots, Packers, Browns and Jets his impact was undeniable.
He led the team with three interceptions he pulled down during those four games, which happen to make up all but six of his defensive snaps in Miami.
It was those brief showcase games that convinced Miami’s coaches he would be a good partner for Jordyn Brooks even though they have very similar weak-side linebacker-like games, each being viewed as coverage specialists.
“You can lose a game, you can win a game [based] off of the communication,” Dodson said, referring to the chemistry he and Brooks are working to build. “If me and JB [Brooks] aren’t on the same page, that’s a bomb over our head…. This defense is built off the entire linebacker [unit]. So if you can’t stop the run, or cover the pass, you’re gonna have a long day.”
Miami re-signing the 26-year-old to a two-year deal worth $6.25 million this offseason hoping that he would pick up where he left off in 2024.
That salary is half of what a mid-tier veteran starting inside linebacker typically makes, which doesn’t put much respect on the career year he had last season, producing 107 tackles, two sacks, three interceptions and one forced fumble in the 17 games Dodson played last season for the Seahawks and Dolphins.
“I just wanted to go to the best option available,” Dodson said. “At the end of the day, I’m a businessman.”
At this point it’s clear Dodson has learned to take what this ruthless league gives him, until he’s in position to dictate the terms.
The argument can be made that Dodson’s play will be the determining factor on how good Miami’s defense becomes in 2025.
He’s becoming the green-dot player, which means he wears the helmet that communicates with the coaching staff, and subsequently runs the defense, which was a role David Long Jr. and Anthony Walker Jr. filled last season before Long was waived, and Walker got hurt.
“It’s been awesome to see these guys grow, all of us together in Weave’s system,” fellow defensive lineman Zach Sieler said earlier this summer, referring to linebackers working behind him, the players he and the fellow defensive linemen are responsible for keeping clean by occupying the guards and center. “Jordyn [Brooks], ‘T. Dot’ [Tyrel Dodson], Willie [Gay Jr.] and K.J. [Britt] behind us now. Those guys are learning the system and kind of rolling through [it], it’s been really cool.”
We will soon be the judge of that.
Knowing Dodson’s NFL track record, don’t be surprised if he again silences his doubters.
This story was originally published June 5, 2025 at 2:42 PM.
