Signing Eric Rowe another step as Miami Dolphins setting up their 2020 secondary | Opinion
The Miami Dolphins signing Eric Rowe to a three-year, $18 million extension on Monday is the culmination of a couple of weeks of negotiation and gives the club a chance to feel the team’s rebuild that will hit high gear next offseason won’t necessarily have to focus on the secondary.
The team has assured itself great flexibility in the secondary, and it can be argued the Dolphins’ 2020 secondary is already intact if the team opts to go in that direction.
Of course, a team source told me Monday afternoon, the search for upgrades in the secondary will not stop after this season. But there is great comfort within the organization that it already has a good nucleus, which is young and gaining experience.
The Dolphins already have 11 defensive backs signed for 2020. All have played significant snaps for Miami this season or in the past. And, amazingly, nine of the 11 have started games for the Dolphins this year or in the past.
Despite all that experience, the group includes two rookies, three first-year players, a second-year player, and a third-year player. None of those players is older than 26 years old.
The group obviously includes some older veterans, as well. Reshad Jones will be 32 in February. Rowe is 27 and Bobby McCain and Xavien Howard will both be 27 next season.
But of the entire group, only one player, Jones, has probably reached his career ceiling.
Everyone else still seems to have untapped potential for which to reach.
That’s a good place for the Dolphins to be because there are numerous other spots that the team needs to address in the next couple of offseasons. So the idea that the secondary is not quite complete but well on its way is beneficial.
This does not suggest the 11 defensive backs signed for 2020 must definitely be next year’s group. The Dolphins will have decisions to make on a couple of players, and a roster upgrade is always a fluid thing.
But this is a good group to work with:
CB Xavien Howard: He played only five games this season before being relegated to injured reserve with a knee injury. Howard is easily the most accomplished player of the group based on his 2018 Pro Bowl season. But when he returns, he needs a rebound because 2019 was not good.
Howard allowed 17 completions on 26 targets this year. That’s a 65.4 completion percentage compared to 52.4% against last year. Opposing quarterbacks had a rating of 117.0 when throwing against Howard this season, which is also higher than last year’s 61.2 rating.
CB/S Eric Rowe: His length (6-foot-1) and willingness to embrace versatility, which Miami defensive coaches love, got him the new contract, which reportedly includes $7 million in guaranteed money. He has had 11 starts in 12 games.
In games not including Sunday’s victory over Philadelphia (because advanced stats for that game won’t be available until Wednesday), Rowe was targeted 48 times and allowed 29 completions. His quarterback rating against in these games was 95.9, which needs to improve.
He has nonetheless been the workhorse of the secondary, collecting a career-high 720 defensive snaps so far.
FS/CB Bobby McCain: He started eight games his first season as the team’s free safety before he was placed on injured reserve with a shoulder injury, and so the stats he turned in where vastly different to the ones he had in 2018 when he played cornerback.
This season, McCain was targeted 17 times with 12 completions. The 99.5 quarterback rating against was a clear improvement from the 125.2 from a year ago, but again, McCain was playing deep this year as opposed to cornerback in 2018. Still, that latest rating against still needs to be better as McCain gains experience playing the new position.
SS Reshad Jones: This one is going to be interesting because Jones is signed for next season, but that doesn’t guarantee he will be on the team. Again, he will be 32 coming off an injury-riddled season, and his salary cap situation is such that Miami can save nearly $11.6 million against he cap by designating him a post-June 1 cut.
It’s not so much that the Dolphins need the cap space. But Jones’ production clearly declined this season. He allowed 10 catches in 12 targets and a touchdown. The opposing quarterback rating was 135.1 this season, which is more than double the 66.7 he posted in 2018.
He managed only four starts before going on injured reserve after struggling with a fractured rib and ankle injuries.
CB Cordrea Tankersley: He will miss all of 2019 but is signed for 2020. He played 638 defensive snaps as a rookie in 2017 but only 29 in six games (no starts) last season before tearing the ACL in his right knee.
The coaching staff obviously believed he wasn’t ready to compete to any significant degree this season. The unanswered question is whether that had to do with Tankersley’s health or because coaches didn’t love his talent — or both.
Still, this guy, despite his tight hips, seems to have the talent that most coaches can typically work with.
CB Ken Webster: He’s a rookie who has had four starts and played 146 snaps already this season. He has allowed six completions in 14 targets and a respectable 82.4 QB rating against mark. Look, a player typically takes a big leap in his second season.
Webster, who joined the team Sept. 1 after being cut in New England, might significantly improve with an entire offseason program and training camp in Miami next year.
CB Jomal Wiltz: Another Patriots discard, Wiltz has played 11 games with three starts. He has taken 399 defensive snaps for the Dolphins this season so that’s a lot of seasoning for the first-year player.
Wiltz, 25, has allowed 26 completions in 41 targets, including three touchdowns in games prior to last Sunday. He has one interception and his QB rating against is 97.9, which needs to improve. But again, a very young player.
S Steven Parker: He has played in 10 games with four starts and has one interception. He has yielded six completions on 10 targets in games before Sunday’s victory over Philadelphia. He has intercepted one pass and opposing QBs have a 35.4 rating against when they throw against him, which is very good for Parker.
Oh, look, Parker is in his first full NFL season. He’s just 23 years old. He’s nowhere near his ceiling.
CB Chris Lammons: He has not started any games and is primarily a special-teams player, but he has participated in 144 defensive snaps this season. So include him among the young corps gaining valuable experience this year.
Lammons has yielded 12 catches on 16 targets prior to Sunday’s game against Philadelphia. The 123.2 QB rating against is problematic as are the two TDs he has yielded, but he’s a month shy of his 24th birthday. So, young; very young.
CB Ryan Lewis: He has three starts for the Dolphins and has allowed 17 completions in 28 targets in games prior to Sunday’s against the Eagles. His 94 QB rating against is not awesome, but not terrible, either. He has played 233 snaps so far this season for Miami.
CB Nik Needham: Another rookie with seven starts, he has come a very long way since the preseason when he couldn’t cover a twin bed with king-sized sheets. He has been targeted 43 times and yielded 23 completions in games prior to Sunday. He has allowed two TDs in 387 defensive snaps.
This story was originally published December 3, 2019 at 12:00 AM.
