A look inside how the Dolphins’ unheralded cornerbacks have played. Beckham, Landry await.
The six players who have manned cornerback for the Dolphins in the past month are essentially household names only in their own households. Only one of the six was drafted, and that player (Ken Webster) was a seventh-rounder who was cut by his team (New England) four months after the draft.
Which makes it all the more remarkable that this patchwork group of rookies, journeymen and former practice squad players have actually held up pretty well, all things considered.
And they’re driven by the goal of proving everyone wrong for bypassing them in the draft.
“If you are like me, overlooked, undrafted, there is constant motivation because you passed on me and you’re going to pay,” said one of those cornerbacks, Ryan Lewis. “A lot of teams slept on us. You have a chip on your shoulder.”
A huge challenge awaits Sunday, with the Dolphins trying to slow Cleveland receivers Odell Beckham Jr. (a three-time Pro Bowler) and former Dolphins standout Jarvis Landry, who’s a four-time Pro Bowler.
A look at how each of the six has measured up:
▪ Nik Needham, the undrafted rookie from UTEP, has been the most pleasant surprise of the group. According to Pro Football Focus, the 78.2 passer rating in his coverage area is 24th best of all NFL cornerbacks who have played a minimum of 150 snaps in coverage.
Needham has allowed 18 of the 35 passes in his coverage area to be caught for 219 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.
▪ Ken Crawley, who started 23 games for the Saints but lost his job to Eli Apple in training camp, joined the Dolphins earlier this month, started his first game Sunday and held up well. During his brief time as a Dolphin, he allowed four of seven passes thrown against him to be caught, for 40 yards and 73.5 passer rating.
Crawley and Needham both are making a case for a spot as boundary cornerbacks on next season’s team.
▪ Jomal Wiltz, who spent the past two seasons on the Patriots practice squad, has played mostly the slot — and a bit at safety — and allowed 21 of 35 passes in his coverage area to be caught, for 249 yards, three touchdowns (one of those should have been an offensive pass interference on then-Patriots receiver Josh Gordon), one interception and a 98.4 rating in his coverage area.
He has played much better recently after a shaky start this season, and the coaching staff believes in him, going back to his time with the Patriots practice squad the past two seasons.
▪ Webster, signed by the Dolphins the day before Labor Day after the Patriots released their rookie seventh-rounder, was starting to play well before an ankle injury sustained in the Pittsburgh Monday night game. He returned to practice this week on a limited basis.
For the season, he has allowed eight of 14 passes to be caught for 93 yards and a touchdown, equaling a 101.2 passer rating, per PFF.
▪ Lewis, signed by Miami on Oct. 15 one day after being cut by the Eagles, has allowed 11 of 17 passes to be caught for 165 yards and a touchdown, equal to a 116.1 passer rating. His playing time diminished after Crawley was signed.
▪ Chris Lammons, who joined the Dolphins’ practice squad last November, has permitted 13 of 18 passes in his coverage area to be caught for 206 yards and a touchdown — a 128.5 rating in his coverage area.
A seventh cornerback on the 53-man roster, Xavier Crawford, was inactive last week. Miami signed him last month after the Houston Texans released the rookie sixth-rounder with the intent of moving him to their practice squad.
Being overlooked, Wiltz said, “gives us extra motivation to prove yourself.”
Flores said “what impresses me” about these young cornerbacks “is they work hard and try to improve. They are competitors.”
Veteran Eric Rowe, signed from New England as a free agent in March, has played capably at safety the past five weeks after working the first six games as cornerback, with mixed results. For the season, he has a 95.5 rating in his coverage area, and he’s hoping the Dolphins re-sign him. He figures to remain at safety in the wake of Reshad Jones and Bobby McCain going on injured reserve this week.
And Pro Bowl cornerback Xavien Howard, now on injured reserve with knee soreness, ended his season with one interception and a 117.9 passer rating in his coverage area.
INJURY UPDATE
The Dolphins listed defensive end Taco Charlton (elbow) as questionable for Sunday’s game and Webster (ankle) as doubtful.
No other players are listed on the final injury report. Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, who has been dealing with shoulder and forearm injuries that limited him on Wednesday and Thursday, practiced fully on Friday and will play Sunday, Flores said. “He’s gotten better each day,” Flores said.
Linebacker Raekwon McMillan will play Sunday after missing a game with a knee injury. And linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel would make his season debut if he’s on the active roster Sunday.
▪ The Dolphins are planning to open a gondola ride at Hard Rock Stadium in the coming months, for entertainment purposes, but are not ready to release pricing or other details.
This story was originally published November 22, 2019 at 2:04 PM.
