Dolphins’ defensive backs coach addresses situation at safety. And the LB question
If there’s a Dolphins position group in need of an established veteran starter, it’s probably safety.
The room, for now, consists of a veteran journeyman on his seventh team in five years (Lonnie Johnson Jr.), a special teams maven with two career starts (Zayne Anderson), a second-year player who had hiccups in coverage last season (Dante Trader Jr.), a rookie fifth-rounder (Michael Taaffe), an undrafted rookie (Louis Moore) and a developmental player (Omar Brown) whose NFL resume includes eight defensive snaps for the Packers in 2024.
Defensive backs coach Ryan Downard, who accompanied coach Jeff Hafley and new Dolphins defensive coordinator Sean Duggan from Green Bay, sized up what Miami has at the moment, while adding that he has no idea if another safety will be added:
▪ On Trader, who impressed against the run last season but allowed 16 of 18 passes to be caught for 197 yards: “Very promising. I love Trader. He’s extremely focused on getting better in every little facet. He brings an element of physicality, which we look for in the safeties. He’s very intelligent.”
▪ On Johnson, who has by far the most experience of the group (22 starts in seven years) but only three starts in the past four years, along with a career 104.2 passer rating against, with 11 touchdowns allowed and four interceptions (three in 2021) on 159 targets:
“Lonnie brings a vet presence to the room. His size [6-2, 221] is an advantage. He’s a bigger safety that can still move, which we’ve seen in the drills. His attitude in the room sets the course for the room.”
▪ On Anderson, who played no defensive snaps in his first three NFL seasons (two with Kansas City, one with Green Bay), 147 in 2024 but just two last season for the Packers.
“We knew he had the traits to be a good safety. If you asked him, after he got time to study the techniques and what we were trying to get done, he really took off.
“We had a really good safety room in Green Bay; there were guys in front of him. He showed up in [a 2024] Saints game and showed up in the Detroit game; there was a third-and-1, and he made a huge play. When he got in the games, that’s when we’re like, ‘OK, he can actually go in this in a game.’ We verified it in games.”
▪ On Taaffe: “Extremely intelligent; that jumped out the first meeting I had. The level of conversation I had with him was very advanced. When we asked him to recall and take it one step further in the meeting, he did that... He had a lot of ball production in college. He can check a lot of boxes.” But “it’s hard for a rookie to come in and play the safety position.”
▪ On Moore, the undrafted Indiana rookie who had six interceptions last season but has limited athleticism, according to evaluators: “The ball production is the thing that stuck out the most. He’s a winner. The ability to get the ball, we love that.”
▪ For now, fifth-round rookie Kyle Louis is working with the linebackers. Will he eventually work with the safeties some?
“It depends,” Downard said. “The way he plays, and as hard as he plays, he can serve in two different roles. It depends where we are going to place him. It depends on the other pieces as well.”
The Dolphins’ cap space will increase from less than $2 million to more than $21 million after Bradley Chubb’s release is processed June 1.
At that point, the Dolphins might sign a modestly priced safety from a group of free agents that includes former UM players Rayshawn Jenkins and Deon Bush (had torn Achilles last year); former first-round pick Jabrill Peppers (two starts for Pittsburgh last season); Xavier Woods (10 starts for Tennessee in 2025); Donovan Wilson (15 starts for Dallas last season); Quandre Diggs (four starts for Titans in 2025 before finishing season on Seattle’s practice squad); Taylor Rapp (six games for Bills in ‘25 because of a knee injury); Jamal Adams (Raiders moved him to linebacker last season); Terrell Edmunds (seven games in the past two years) and Mike Edwards (30 starts in seven years).
Inside linebacker question
If the Dolphins play their three best inside linebackers in a 4-3 base, those three might be Jordyn Brooks, Tyrel Dodson and Jacob Rodriguez. But can the Dolphins play them a lot of snaps together, considering it would be a somewhat smallish group, with all listed between 235 and 240?
“Anything is possible,” linebackers coach Al Washington said. “For me to say... it’s too far out. They’re capable of that for sure.”
Asked the same question, Duggan said: “The goal is to get the three best guys on the field.”
The Dolphins list 7.5 inside linebackers: Brooks, Dodson, Rodriguez; veterans Willie Gay Jr. and Ronnie Harrison Jr.; the rookie Louis and second-year player Jackson Woodard. Rookie Tre Moore is listed as an inside linebacker and edge player.
Washington said Gay personifies “violence” on the field: “I love him. I could watch Willie on a sled for hours. No matter what he does, he approaches it with enthusiasm.”
Washington said of Louis: “He’s explosive, he’s fast, he’s got great instincts. His coverage attributes help. There are a lot of things he can do.”
Clark duties expand
Defensive line coach Austin Clark confirmed that he also is now coaching the team’s edge players. One of only four holdovers from Mike McDaniel’s staff, Clark coached edge players when he was on Brian Flores’ Dolphins staff.
“We’re going to play the game the way Jeff and Sean wants us to play it,” Clark said, saying he’s happy about the expanded role. “You can look at the success they’ve had in other systems.”
Here’s my Thursday morning Dolphins notebook, including a schedule update and some notable comments from Hafley.
This story was originally published May 13, 2026 at 2:23 PM.
