The praise, the problem, the possibilities with Dolphins cornerback
A position-by-position series breaking down each of the Miami Dolphins’ units, assessing where the team stands heading into the 2025 offseason, and examining what could possibly be done through free agency and the NFL Draft.
CORNERBACK
▪ Praise: Jalen Ramsey might not have had a Pro Bowl season, but he’s still that guy.
The seven-time Pro Bowler continued to shadow the opposition’s best player, and only struggled in a handful of games (Jets and Green Bay). He also filled in at nickel when Miami had injuries at that spot, but wasn’t as impactful as he had the potential to be working closer to the line of scrimmage.
Overall, Ramsey finished 2024 with 60 tackles, two interceptions, one sack and 11 pass breakups. But more importantly, opposing quarterbacks had an 83.2 passer rating when targeting a receiver he was defending, which was the second-lowest rating in the secondary.
Third-year cornerback Kader Kohou led the team, allowing just a 76 passer rating in his coverage area, while producing two interceptions and allowing two touchdown passes.
It was a solid rebound from a disappointing second season for Kohou, who clearly fits Anthony Weaver’s defense better than he did Vic Fangio’s defense.
However, Kohou is best suited for the nickel spot, which means the Dolphins need a solid boundary cornerback to pair with Ramsey.
Kendall Fuller had a season that’s on par with what he has done most of his career. While the seven-year veteran didn’t pull down an interception this season, he was reliable in coverage. The passer rating he allowed opposing quarterbacks was 97.0, and he only allowed one touchdown in the 32 completions he allowed in the 556 snaps on defense.
▪ Problem: Fuller sustained a serious knee injury in late December, and while it’s unclear how serious it was, the expectation is that Fuller will be eased into the offseason program with the hopes that he will be healthy enough to be on the field for the 2025 season opener.
If Fuller, who turns 30 next month, suffers a setback the Dolphins could find themselves in a tough spot because none of the young cornerbacks on the roster have stepped up and proven they are ready to handle a starting workload.
Cam Smith, who allowed 19 receptions on 22 targets for 174 yards in the few games he was healthy enough to play, struggled for his second straight season. At this point it’s not safe to put the 2023 second-round pick in the bust category, but would be irresponsible to rely on him considering two undrafted rookies have outperformed him the past two seasons.
Ethan Bonner outperformed Smith in their rookie season, playing ahead of the South Carolina standout. And last season Miami’s coaches trusted Storm Duck more than Smith.
Duck also struggled, allowing a 104.5 passer rating in his coverage area, with 24 completions in 33 targets for 251 yards, and one touchdown allowed.
It doesn’t help that all three young cornerbacks are relatively untested, and Kohou is a restricted free agent.
▪ The possibilities: The Dolphins have needs everywhere on the roster, but finding, keeping and developing four competent, efficient, reliable, durable cornerbacks should be atop the team’s priority list because of how much the NFL has developed into a passing league.
Atop the agenda for Miami will be determining how to handle Kohou’s free agency. If Miami placed a second-round tender on Kohou, which would prevent other teams from bidding on him, they would commit $5.2 million to him for the 2025 season. But it’s more realistic that Miami will give Kohou a right of first refusal tender, which would pay him roughly $3.2 million for 2025. If they decline to make that offer Kohou would become an unrestricted free agent.
Cornerback happens to be one of the deeper free agency groups, so any team looking to get better in the secondary has plenty of talent — Carlton Davis, D.J. Reed, Byron Murphy, Stephon Gilmore and Jonathan Jones — to pick from. The Dolphins likely won’t have the funds to improve this unit with a top-shelf free agent because of the team’s financial restraints, and various needs.
The Dolphins have a solid history of finding cornerback talent at all rounds of the draft, if not undrafted free agents like Nik Needham, Kohou, Bonner and Duck. However, don’t rule out Miami selecting a cornerback early because general manager Chris Grier believes in sticking to his board and selecting the highest-rated player. That’s how Miami ended up with Smith.
