Dolphins’ missed chances to add pass rusher more painful with injuries to Phillips, Van Ginkel
The number of times Miami Dolphins coach Brian Flores has told reporters “it’s early” since the start of the 2021 training camp is beyond counting on fingers and toes but in one area where the team needs help it might be getting a bit late.
The area is the pass rush.
And it’s one area on defense the Dolphins clearly must manage because it threatens to be problematic.
Here’s why:
We all know the Dolphins made the decision to move on from Kyle Van Noy and Shaq Lawson in the offseason, and while that meant they shed bloated salaries, they also shed 10 sacks from a year ago.
At that point it was 2020 sack leader Emmanuel Ogbah as Miami’s big pass rush answer and, well, not a lot else,
But there seemed to be a plan to fill the void.
That plan was partly to expect linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel, who had 5.5 sacks a year ago, to maybe get more snaps — although he started 11 games in 2020 and played 46 percent of the defensive snaps.
The club then drafted University of Miami linebacker Jaelan Phillips in the first round, and that was the most significant move to address the issue as Phillips had 15.5 sacks his junior year with the Hurricanes.
The Dolphins also sheepishly insist that inside linebackers Benardrick McKinney and Jerome Baker can rush the passer but everyone understands that is probably an accompanying side dish and not the main course.
The Dolphins also signed Vince Biegel, who missed last season with a torn Achilles tendon, to a one-year, $1,057,500 deal that is modest by every measure including the $25,000 it includes in guaranteed money.
Biegel is an insurance policy.
The small problem now is the Dolphins are already needing that insurance.
Because Phillips has been managing a left leg injury for about a week and hasn’t practiced in that time and Van Ginkel left practice with an unknown injury Tuesday and missed Wednesday’s practice.
Both are expected back eventually, but their absence is obvious when the Dolphins try to rush the passer — even in a controlled setting that is a training camp practice.
The Dolphins rightly looked for more insurance in this area when they hosted and offered a contract to former Pro Bowl pass rusher Melvin Ingram. But Ingram instead signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers for what is effectively a one-year (with four years that void for cap purposes), $4 million deal.
So that one got away.
The problem is the Dolphins didn’t seem to put their net back in the water.
Because even with Ingram gone from the free agent market, a more accomplished pass rusher remained available in Justin Houston.
It’s unclear if the Dolphins had any interest in Houston, as the club doesn’t speak publicly about such things. It is known the Dolphins didn’t bring Houston to South Florida on a visit like it did Ingram.
So Houston, who has 97.5 career sacks and 19 the past two years with the Indianapolis Colts, marinated on the open market for months without picking a team. That was an opportunity for Miami.
But the opportunity vanished when the Baltimore Ravens swooped in two days ago and signed Houston for one year and $2,075,000. The Ravens gave Houston a whopping (not really) $1 million signing bonus and his base salary will be $1,075,000.
So the Dolphins could have had Houston for about $1 million more than they’re paying Biegel.
And, I get it, Houston is 32 years old.
But if the Dolphins liked 32-year-old Ingram, who had zero sacks last season, I don’t understand how they couldn’t like 32-year-old Houston, who had eight sacks last season.
I mean, Houston is a professional pass rusher with better credentials than anyone on the Dolphins roster right now and Baltimore defensive coordinator Wink Martindale loves the flexibility he offers.
Let me try to recall what other coach has spoken endlessly about how much he values flexibility in his defensive players ...
But, nope.
So now one looks around the remaining list of unsigned edge rushers and it is close to barren.
Jabal Sheard, Ezekiel Ansah, Trent Murphy are out there. Former Dolphin Olivier Vernon is unsigned, but maybe that has something to do with the Achilles injury he had in January. Former Dolphin Dion Jordan is out there, but ... never mind.
The Dolphins on Wednesday were playing Biegel, who has 2.5 career sacks, with the starters at times.
Look, Biegel is a try-hard kind of guy. And Flores likes to believe he can mount a pass rush using the scheme to overcome a lack of individual talent.
But I think 2019 when the Dolphins were last in the league in sacks and 2020 when they improved to No. 11 shows there is no substitute for having more talent.
Barring Miami pulling a pass rusher out of, well, somewhere, the focus will remain on Van Ginkel and Phillips to be the primary help for Ogbah in chasing quarterbacks.
But those two have to get, and stay, healthy first.
