What the Miami Dolphins are getting with fifth-round pick Jason Strowbridge
The questions were raised by analysts almost immediately after the Dolphins selected Jason Strowbridge in the fifth round of April’s NFL Draft:
Is he a defensive end or a tackle? And how will the Dolphins use him?
The Dolphins don’t view the position question as a conundrum. They actually see it as an asset because they value defensive players who can play multiple positions.
“I’ve had a lot of conversations with NFL teams about him,” North Carolina defensive coordinator Jay Bateman said. “I think with the primarily 4-3 teams in the NFL, they are looking at him as a first-down defensive end that moves inside on pass rush downs...
“I think some of them think he’ll be big enough to be an inside guy, but everyone is really intrigued by him because he’s a really good player that can do a lot. And I think playing in this defense, and us moving him around, and standing him up some, dropping him some, I think really increased his value because you see him now on film do things that make him more attractive to every defense instead of just certain defenses, and that’s where he’s improved a lot.”
The Dolphins play a 4-3 and 3-4, and North Carolina coaches believe he’s well suited to both.
“I think what he really showcased was his versatility,” North Carolina defensive line coach Tim Cross said in a phone conversation. “He’s physical and strong enough to set an edge. He can go inside and cause some mismatch as an inside rusher.
“The sky is the limit for him. He can rush off the edge as well. They got themselves a versatile, coachable, passionate young man who was eager to maximize his potential. He’s a high-character young man and great leader.”
Cross said Strowbridge was “excellent against the run. He has violent heavy hands, has the ability to get off blocks and make plays. His ability to disengage” is very good.
During the past two years, he had 43 tackles that held a run to 2 yards or fewer, which is outstanding.
“I’m just as comfortable inside as I am outside,” Strowbridge said of the end-versus-tackle question. “I pride myself on being able to move around on the line and that’s kind of what I did in my career in college.”
He had five sacks in 2018 and 2.5 last season and is still developing as a pass rusher.
“As people saw in the Senior Bowl, he’s a very good pass rusher,” Cross said. “He’s still finding his niche on what’s his go-to move. Upside on him as pass rusher is off the charts.”
What impressed North Carolina coach Mack Brown was his unselfishness.
“We were playing him inside, and he could have easily pouted or been worried about showing the NFL what he could do on the outside, but he was a true team player and did what we needed him to to help our defense be as good as it could possibly be,” Brown said.
Pro Football Focus draft analyst Mike Renner loves him:
“He’ll fit teams in need of base run-stuffing ends,” Renner wrote in PFF’s draft guide. “One hand was often enough for him to bring down running backs. Gifted quickness for a big fella that can get by the offensive line in a blink on stunts and slants.”
At the NFL Combine, Strowbridge was in the top 10 percent among defensive linemen in the 40-yard dash (4.89), the 20-yard shuttle (4.37) and the broad jump (113 inches). So there’s the type of athleticism there that teams traditionally want now in ends who can also move inside.
“Strowbridge will give opponents a physical challenge with good length, toughness and hand usage at the point of attack, but he lacks the suddenness and short-area directional change to be a consistent disruptor,” NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein said. “He appears to offer the necessary physical tools and demeanor to become a rotational 3-4 five-technique or 4-3 base end with eventual-starter potential.”
Mike Tannenbaum, the Dolphins’ former president/football operations and now an ESPN commentator, tweeted: “He can play all four downs with good versatility and upside. In the later rounds front offices will always look for one special talent and for Strowbridge, it’s his ability to play [three positions] on the defensive line.”
Strowbridge, a three-star prospect out of Deerfield Beach High in 2015, was scheduled to work out for the Dolphins during their local day the first week of April, but the NFL canceled every team’s “local day” due to coronavirus.
Instead, he did a Zoom call with Dolphins coaches, and impressed them enough on tape -and during that conversation — to prompt Miami to select him 154th overall.
“To get the call to say that I’m staying home, it’s everything just to be able to have all my family watch me play at the Dolphins’ stadium. Just coming back again, it’s a great feeling.”
NEWS NOTES
▪ The Dolphins hoped to do joint training camp practices with the Atlanta Falcons, but the NFL says that won’t be permitted.
▪ Seventh-rounder Malcolm Perry, who this week became Miami’s eighth draft pick to sign, is working on his running and receiving skills under the presumption that he will be asked to play a dual-purpose running back/receiver role.
▪ Dolphins defensive tackle Davon Godchaux filed for a trademark on “ChauxDown” to use on apparel, his attorney, Darren Heitner told us.
This is my seventh profile of Miami Dolphins draft choices.
Here are my features on Austin Jackson and Curtis Weaver and Malcolm Perry and Robert Hunt and Noah Igbinoghene and Brandon Jones.
This story was originally published June 3, 2020 at 1:50 PM.
