The Miami Dolphins postdraft depth chart with position-by-position commentary
The team the Miami Dolphins are going to take to training camp in 2020 is almost completely intact.
Yes, there will be additions here and there, including undrafted free agents announced eventually. But for the most part, your 2020 Miami Dolphins are in that depth chart down there ...
I showed you what the defensive depth chart looked like on April 6 before the draft. I showed you what the offensive depth chart looked like on April 7.
Here’s the postdraft breakdown:
OFFENSE
QB: Ryan Fitzpatrick, Josh Rosen or Tua Tagovailoa.
QB COMMENT: Everyone knows it’s Fitzpatrick’s job right now. Everyone knows it Tagovailoa’s job by next season. Everyone knows Rosen is in a bad spot if he ever wants to be an NFL starter.
RB: Jordan Howard, Matt Breida, Patrick Laird.
RB COMMENT: Howard and Breida are both experienced and solid but neither is the long-term answer at this stage. They have to prove themselves in 2020 and then we’ll see. And, I know, Kalen Ballage is not on this list although he’s on the team. That’s by design.
WR: DeVante Parker, Jakeem Grant.
WR: Preston Williams. Allen Hurns.
WR: Albert Wilson, Isaiah Ford or Malcolm Perry.
WR COMMENT: The Dolphins’ wide receiver room is interesting in that rookie Malcolm Perry is the only one without an injury history. All the others have had significant or disappointing injuries in recent years. The Dolphins believe Parker will pick up where he left off in 2019 after a breakthrough season. They need Wilson to recapture the magic he showed in 2018 before his hip injury — something that began to happen late last season. And they need Williams to continue showing the promise he did as an undrafted rookie before he got injured and went out for the season in 2019, Perry, by the way, is headed for work as Miami’s slot receiver. He has the quickness for it. Consider that he ran an unremarkable 4.63 in the 40-yard dash, which measures straight-line speed. But in the 20-yard shuttle, which measures quickness and lateral agility, he ran a 4.31. Now compare that to New York Jets second-round pick Denzel Mims, who ran an impressive 4.38 in the 40 but a 4.43 in the 20-yard shuttle. And Philadelphia Eagles sixth-round pick Quez Watkins who ran a 4.35 in the 40 but 4.36 in 20-yard shuttle. Perry’s quicker than either of those faster players. And with that and his 5-9 size, he reminds of, I’ll say it, Wes Welker.
TE: Mike Gesicki, Durham Smythe.
TE COMMENT: The team has been looking for ways to address this position because neither Gesicki nor Smythe is a complete tight end — one (Smythe) is a solid blocker but limited pass catcher while the other (Gesicki) has improved as a pass-catching threat but remains limited as a blocker, in effect making him a big receiver. This position needs upgrade.
LT: Julie’n Davenport, Austin Jackson, Adam Pankey.
LT COMMENT: Everyone knows the Dolphins forecast Jackson and Davenport to eventually flip positions, with the first-round pick as the starter. That may or may not happen in training camp. It has to happen by 2021 or something went wrong. Davenport is an unrestricted free agent after this season.
LG: Ereck Flowers, Michael Deiter.
C: Ted Karras, Keaton Sutherland.
RG: Michael Deiter or Danny Isidora or Solomon Kindley or Shaq Calhoun.
INTERIOR OL COMMENT: I don’t love the situation at center even if the Dolphins experiment with Deiter or Calhoun at center. I would bring back Daniel Kilgore as a backup on a veteran minimum deal. Karras is playing on a one-year, prove-it deal. The Dolphins need to sign or draft a center in 2021. As to the guard situation, there are a lot of bodies, I’ll give them that. Deiter has obviously lost his starting job at left guard and the question now is whether he joins a crowded competition for the right guard spot or he simply remains as the backup at LG and perhaps center. Kindley has good promise and is well built for a line that can protect Tagovailoa because he is an excellent anchor. His problem has been keeping his weight down.
RT: Jesse Davis, Robert Hunt.
RT COMMENT: Davis is going to be the starter when training camp opens. And Hunt, who some NFL people think is better suited for guard, is going to compete at right tackle. The Dolphins want Hunt to be a good right tackle. That’s the reason they drafted him high in the second round. They have the option of moving him to right guard if he’s a flop at right tackle. If Davis loses the right tackle competition, he can obviously try to win the right guard spot because he started there in 2017-18. This should be an interesting competition.
DEFENSE
DE/LB: Shaq Lawson/Kyle Van Noy, Emmanuel Ogbah/Vince Biegel., Jason Strowbridge.
DT: Davon Godchaux, Raekwon Davis.
DE/DT: Christian Wilkins/Wilkins, Taco Charlton/Raekwon Davis.
LB/DE: Kyle Van Noy/Emmanuel Ogbah, Vince Biegel/Taco Charlton or Charles Harris or Jason Strowbridge.
4-3 LINE COMMENT: Lawson is versatile in that he has played 4-3 and 3-4 end and he’s volunteered for duty in both. Ogbah is a classic 4-3 end who will get his chance to show he’s a legitimate starter at that position. Charlton and Harris are 4-3 ends and I wouldn’t be surprised if neither makes the team. Both almost certainly do not make it. If Strowbridge, a 4-3 end, shows any sort of promise and upside, look for a former first-round draft pick to be moving on. The defensive tackles in this look include Wilkins, Godchaux and Davis.
3-4 LINE COMMENT: Davis is interesting because he can play five-technique or perhaps even the zero-technique (nose tackle) in this configuration. Obviously Wilkins and Lawson would play end in this configuration while Godchaux is also a zero technique here.
MLB or ILB: Elandon Roberts, Raekwon McMillan.
ILB: Raekwon McMillan, Vince Biegel.
LB/DB: Jerome Baker, Andrew Van Ginkel or Curtis Weaver.
4-3 LINEBACKER COMMENT: So Roberts and McMillan are going to have a competition for playing time in a 4-3 look but, honestly, the Dolphins are not getting hung up on this. Because if the Dolphins are in a passing down, probably both guys are off the field. And the NFL is a passing league. Baker was drafted to play in a 4-3 set but showed enough versatility last year to continue to be a strong possibility in either the 4-3 or 3-4. Van Noy, who is perhaps Miami’s most versatile front-seven player, fits when the Dolphins are in either configuration, in a 5-2 look, and in any number of hybrid looks Brian Flores might dream up.
3-4 LINEBACKER COMMENT: The Dolphins need pass rush from the edge out of a linebacker in this look. And Van Noy can apply pressure. And the Dolphins used Beigel and Van Ginkel, once he was healthy in December, in this role. Weaver will also be tried as an edge rusher in any look the Dolphins put on the field — assuming he proves to be an effective pass rusher. By the way, if you’re asking why Weaver lasted until the 164th overall pick it’s because some scouts question his speed and explosiveness off the ball.
CB: Byron Jones, Nik Needham or Ken Webster or Ryan Lewis.
CB: Xavien Howard, Nik Needham or Ken Webster or Ryan Lewis.
NICKEL: Noah Igbinoghene, Bobby McCain, Jamal Perry, Brandon Jones.
CB COMMENT: The obvious is Howard and Byron Jones are starting and playing practically all the snaps and if they’re not, something went wrong. They’re the NFL’s highest-paid cornerback tandem so it’s time Miami gets a big return on its investment. Needham had some good moments and some bad moments his rookie year, but generally he improved throughout the season. The most interesting player here is first-round pick Igbinoghene, who has designs on competing for a starting job. The idea is compete for the nickel position this year and maybe back up on the outside for the future or in case one of the starters goes down. Igbinoghene must improve his ball skills. The Dolphins drafted Brandon Jones because he’s versatile in that he can play safety or cover receivers (at least in college). He will get an opportunity to compete to be on the field in nickel.
S/CB: Eric Rowe, Kavon Frazier, Steven Parker/Webster or Lewis.
S: Bobby McCain, Adrian Colbert or Brandon Jones.
SAFETY COMMENT: Ever since NFL rules curtailed big hits in the secondary, NFL teams started going away from big-sized hitters. The Dolphins obviously are following that trend in that Rowe and McCain are former corners. That means they have coverage skills. But neither is, say, 220 pounds. Enter Kavon Frazier, signed Sunday, to the mix. He weighs 220 pounds. Look, Frazier figures more prominently on special teams so I wouldn’t bet on him displacing McCain or Rowe. For me the interesting thing is what happens in the competition for the No. 3 safety job. Who wins that? Frazier, Colbert, Parker or Jones? By next year, Jones should be figuring quite prominently in the competition to start.
This story was originally published April 29, 2020 at 12:00 AM.
