How Ramsey/Howard duo is bottling up offenses. Dolphins players explain what’s happening
The Dolphins have had their share of elite defensive back tandems through the years, from safeties Dick Anderson and Jake Scott during the Perfect Season era to Patrick Surtain and Sam Madison early this century.
They have another dazzling duo, now, with cornerback Jalen Ramsey and Xavien Howard, and the early results have been spectacular. (You can also include ascending safety Jevon Holland, who has All-Pro potential.)
Ramsey has played five games since returning from August knee surgery and has a ridiculously good 7.4 passer rating in his coverage area, with eight completions in 22 targets for 77 yards and three interceptions.
But in the four games that he has played opposite Howard, the two have combined to allow just 139 passing yards in 36 combined targets against them — 53 against Ramsey and 86 against Howard, per Pro Football Focus.
Howard has a sterling 72.2 passer rating against in those four games — better than his work earlier in the season.
It’s no coincidence that the Dolphins’ defense has been exemplary in those four games, yielding 4.8 yards per play to Kansas City, 5.0 to the Raiders, 2.9 to the Jets and 4.5 to Washington. That 4.3 average over those four games would rank second, behind only Baltimore, over a full season.
Ramsey (a six-time Pro Bowler and first-team All-Pro in 2017, 2020, 2021) and Howard (a four-time Pro Bowler and first team All-Pro in 2020) have relished the experience of playing opposite each other.
“He’s a great teammate,” Ramsey said. “Obviously he’s been elite in this league for just as long as I have. It’s great to team up with him. He teaches me new techniques that I hadn’t tried yet or maybe that I’ve put in the back of my toolbox for a little bit and he brings them back up. That’s been good. We just challenge each other.”
Howard put it this way: “It’s very impactful to play with somebody as great also, who plays on
the other side. It has been a great experience. You learn from each other. We ask each other questions, what we see, how we play this a certain way. We came in the same draft. He came to my Pro Day in 2016 with his agent. We’ve always had a good relationship. But now that we’re on the same team and get to know each other, it’s cool.”
On Sunday, Howard and Ramsey limited Washington’s Terry McLaurin to no receptions on two targets. Howard defended him on one of those incomplete passes; safety Brandon Jones defended him on the other. McClaurin entered the day with 60 receptions for 694 yards.
During those four games that Ramsey and Howard have played together, Ramsey has been targeted 19 times, with seven receptions allowed for 53 yards.
Howard has been targeted 17 times, with 10 receptions permitted for those 86 yards.
Kohou has been thrown at 19 times and allowed 16 completions for 148 yards in those four games but has yielded just 23 yards on five targets in the past two, per PFF.
“It’s all about pick your poison, what side you want to pick,” Howard said. “Teams come at us in different ways. The little targets we do get, we’ve got to take advantage. Last week [against the Jets], I dropped an interception but [Jerome Baker] got it so I was happy for him.”
Among active players, Howard is eighth in career interceptions with 29 (one this season). Ramsey is 16th with 22.
Dolphins players have gained an added appreciation for Ramsey as a teammate.
Asked what unique, elite skill stands out about Ramsey, Howard cited “his reading routes. He’s as explosive as [expletive]. Being glue on a person is something he’s good at.”
Safety DeShon Elliott said: “I had never seen Jalen in person. When I saw him come back from his injury bending, cutting, bursting and being that big [listed at 6-1, 198] — and he’s built like a frog — because he has a big torso and he has long appendages.
“To see someone move like that is crazy. And the way he competes at practice, he does the scout team drills and everything. To watch him be a technician, the way he watches film, the way he conducts himself in meeting rooms, whether it’s notecards he has, whether he’s writing stuff down. I try to analyze him so I can try to be better for myself.”
What’s clear, Elliott said, is that Howard and Ramsey have made it easier for the safeties.
“X is a ball hawk, very smart but he’s a to-himself guy,” Elliott said. “Jalen takes control of a room. You can just tell his aura.”
Kohou appreciates that Howard and Ramsey are constantly giving him tips about how to play different receivers and said Ramsey is “one of my favorite teammates ever had. He’s down to earth, cool, selfless, always making jokes.”
The Anderson/Scott and Madison/Surtain duos each played six years together in Miami. It’s seemingly unrealistic for Ramsey and Howard, as a duo, to have that long a joint partnership in Miami because of the more transitory nature of the NFL today amid salary cap restrictions.
Ramsey, 29, has two-plus years remaining on a five-year, $105 million contract that is due to pay him $17 million in 2023, $17.5 million in 2024 and $19.5 million in 2025.
Howard, 30, and the Dolphins agreed to an April 2022 extension that runs through 2026. None of the money is guaranteed after this season.
But keeping this duo together in 2024 makes sense, not only because Howard is playing well, but also because there would be anywhere from a $7.4 million to a $23 million dead money cap hit if Miami moved on from Howard after this season.
How ever long they’re together here, they’re going to enjoy it.
“Playing football with this secondary is extremely fun,” Ramsey said. “I’m extremely blessed to be in this position and be around these guys.
“This team is definitely special. Getting to play with guys who I feel are also elite and who are Pro Bowl caliber guys and All Pro caliber guys always gives you an extra boost.”
