What do Dolphins really have with the three rookie defensive linemen? Exploring
After a season of on-the-job training, the Dolphins know they have three serviceable young defensive tackles who can enter a game, make some plays and not look overwhelmed.
The question is whether any of the three will be difference-makers, the type of linemen who can make game-changing plays, the type of physical behemoths that opposing teams must game plan against.
That remains very much in question with first-round pick Kenneth Grant, fifth-rounder Jordan Phillips and seventh-rounder Zeek Biggers.
And new general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan — who has spoken of the importance of constructing a team strong and sturdy in the trenches — must determine that over the next year as he maps Miami’s future at the position.
“If we drafted them, we believe they can be great defensive linemen,” defensive line coach Austin Clark said in December when asked whether he can yet determine if any of the three can become great players or whether it’s simply too soon to know.
“These kids put in a ton of work, they’re very smart, they want the consistency just as much as we want for them, almost to a fault.
“They’re three completely different players. Zeek’s role can be a lot of different things. Jordan and KG are more nose [guards] to the three technique.”
Expectations naturally are different for each, whether the Dolphins admit it or not.
Simply becoming a long-term rotation player would suffice for Biggers, because that’s usually the most optimistic hope for a seventh-round pick.
As a fifth-round pick, evolving into a long-term NFL starter would be a reasonable goal for Phillips, even though most fifth-rounders don’t achieve that.
For Grant, more should be expected. Thirteenth overall picks must be impact players, and Grant isn’t that yet.
But he improved as the season went on, producing his highest Pro Football Focus grade of the season in Week 17 against the Buccaneers and making a handful of key stops during the final six weeks.
Former defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver and Clark pointed to the 31-6 loss in Cleveland on Oct. 19 as a key moment for Grant.
“He turned the page that Cleveland game,” Weaver said. “Once we got to that Cleveland week and that week of practice, I was like, ‘All right, I think the light switch might have gone off,’ and I don’t ever see that going backwards.”
Since that game, “you see a flash every game,” Clark said late in the season. “Early on, when you kind of get thrust into, ‘We need you to play 30 to 40 snaps out of the gate,’ and the first game it’s an offense you haven’t had experience against, it’s [difficult, coupled with] all the things that come with just playing in the NFL, getting ready for the game and stuff like that.”
With Grant, “the flashes and the movement skills have been great,” Clark said. “There’s times [he displays] a really good power rush. And I think like with all our players, especially the young ones, we’re searching for consistency, and he’s been getting better each week.”
That’s the good news. The more sobering news is that PFF ranked him 103rd among 129 defensive tackles, and he finished with just two sacks and two tackles for loss (and 33 tackles overall) in 554 defensive snaps over 17 games and five starts.
(In his defense, he dealt with some double-teams, and tackle statistics aren’t the best measurement of players at his position.)
Grant admitted that this season was “not up to my standards. I set the standard high for myself. Still a lot of things to work on.”
When a reporter mentioned that former Dolphins first-round defensive tackle Christian Wilkins took a big jump from year one to year two, Grant said: “Next year will be better. I will try to get better at things I messed up on.”
As a run defender, PFF rated him 107th among 126 defensive tackles. But Grant disputes that, saying he’s “pretty good” as a run defender, though he admits “there are definitely a lot of things to fix.”
As a pass rusher, he showed promise at times, finishing with 29 pressures in 332 pass-rushing snaps. “I’ve got to take things from practice to the game,” he said.
Grant, who is listed at 6-3 and 335 pounds, said he lost 5 pounds during the season and does not believe he needs to lose any more weight.
Biggers played only six defensive snaps in the first nine weeks of the season but 208 after that and flashed at times. PFF rated him poorly — 31st of Miami’s 36 defenders and ahead of only Matthew Butler, Matt Judon, Storm Duck, Jason Marshall Jr. and Elijah Campbell. Grant was ranked 29th among the 36.
Clark praised “the transformation of Zeek’s body” that allowed him to be “a guy who can play across the line. He’s real strong.”
So why didn’t he play sooner?
“We don’t play Madden,” Weaver said. “I can’t put [a rookie] on the field and they [don’t] know where to go [automatically]. There’s growth and maturation there. It’s a credit we got him where we did.
“Zeek put in a ton of work; even from his body composition standpoint, he looks different. Credit to the work he’s done on and off the field. He’s taken enormous strides in run defense. His pass rush has been there. His run defense has gotten so much better. He has all the potential in the world.”
Former Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel, now the Chargers’ offensive coordinator, said Phillips “had the quickest development” among the three.
PFF rated Phillips 76th among all 126 defensive tackles and 69th against the run. PFF rated him 21st among 36 Dolphins defenders this past season.
“I think Jordan Phillips has been pretty solid for a bulk of the year,” Weaver said in December. “I think early on he was kind of hanging on blocks too long when there were opportunities there for him to make plays, but he has remedied that.”
Phillips, who started 16 games, had only one tackle for loss and no sacks in 465 defensive snaps covering 17 games. In fact, Grant (two TFLs), Biggers (one) and Phillips (one) had a combined four tackles for loss in 1233 total defensive snaps.
But Weaver downplayed that.
“I don’t measure their success in terms of tackle for losses,” Weaver said. “I think particularly as it pertains to defensive linemen, interior defensive linemen, so much of what they do kind of goes unheralded and it’s not on the stat sheet.
“A lot of the positive plays they make create positive plays for the guys around them, whether that’s interior pocket push where edges can eat and get sacks or whether that’s holding up guards and double-teams to keep our linebackers clean. There’s a lot of people that benefit from a lot of the selfless acts that they do.”
The three young players have enjoyed experiencing their rookies seasons together. They hang out -- just the three of them -- at each other’s homes.
“Most of the time, we’re watching football,” Phillips said of their home visits. “We watch film a lot together. We like to talk about our personal lives and build a bond that’s very strong.”
If this goes as planned, they will be at the epicenter of a stout Dolphins run defense for the rest of the decade. But meaningful growth from all of them will be needed to achieve that.
This story was originally published January 27, 2026 at 1:41 PM.
