The buzz on some of the Miami Dolphins’ emerging rookies besides Tua Tagovailoa
A six-pack of Miami Dolphins notes on a Friday:
▪ One of the interesting story lines of this Dolphins season is watching the emergence of the team’s rookies beyond Tua Tagovailoa, who has started the past three games, and guard Solomon Kindley, who has started all season.
And there have been encouraging signs the past couple of weeks from several of them.
Raekwon Davis, the 56th overall pick in April’s draft, has gone from struggling in his first NFL game to grading out the best of any interior defensive lineman in football last week, per Pro Football Focus.
Alabama coach Nick Saban told South Florida reporters after the draft that “Raekwon has got all the tools to be a really good player. He’s got great size. He’s hard to block. He is athletic. He can move fairly well.”
But… “he needs a good coach who is going to get him a lot of reps and teach him well,” Saban said. “We were always trying to get his ability to match his production.”
Informed of that comment this week, Davis wasn’t surprised.
“Coach Saban is always a guy who would tell you before it got too bad,” he said. “He would just stay on you. He would try to make sure you just stay perfect and do stuff right and keep learning and work on your technique.”
Miami has been searching for years for a young, emerging, athletic behemoth defensive tackle with Pro Bowl ability, and the hope is Davis can grow into that.
ESPN cameras caught Flores waving his arm in celebration after Miami drafted Davis.
“I was excited obviously to get Raekwon,” Flores said Friday when asked about that video. “We got him. He’s improving on a daily basis. He’s probably never seen me smile. He can spend time thinking about whether that’s the same guy he deals with on a daily basis. Not sure he feels that” way.
Davis’ position — occupying the middle over the center when Miami lines up in a 3-4 — is challenging because “you just have so many different blocks,” Davis said.
“Teams do different schemes and that middle is you. That middle is all you. Your name is written on it. You’ve got two A gaps. It’s hard. You’ve got to know your responsibilities, you’ve got to know what scheme that the offense is in and you’ve got to know what you’re doing at all times.”
Malcolm Perry and Davis might be the team’s most improved rookies in the past two weeks, aside from Tagovailoa, of course.
Inactive the first six weeks of the season, Perry has displayed signs of becoming a legitimate slot receiver. He caught three of the four passes thrown to him during the past three games, for 31 yards.
Here’s the question with Perry and fellow rookie Lynn Bowden Jr.: As former college quarterbacks transitioning to receiver, will they be change-of-pace gimmick/Wildcat players in their career or full-time reliable slot receivers?
Perry said he never thinks about that. Offensive coordinator Chan Gailey said he doesn’t know yet but sees considerable improvement in Perry’s work at receiver.
Where has Perry most improved?
“Probably just the knowledge of what’s going on [with an opposing] defense,” Perry said. “In college, everything was a lot more simple.”
While Perry finally gets his chance, 18th overall pick Austin Jackson is back at left tackle after missing three weeks with a foot injury. He played very well against the Chargers, per Pro Football Focus.
With Tagovailoa becoming the starter, “Austin Jackson has benefited as much as anybody, not necessarily because Tua is better at handling the pocket, but because the team has massively increased its use of roll-out plays or moving pockets,” PFF said.
“That makes an offensive lineman’s life easier, and Jackson has responded by earning the best two PFF game grades of his season with Tua as the quarterback.”
Jackson — who said he feels 100 percent and totally back in rhythm after the foot injury — on Sunday faces Denver defensive end Bradley Chubb, who has 5.5 sacks this season and 18.5 in 29 career games.
“Chubb is a bigger type of athlete,” he said. “He will throw a counter move after an initial rush.”
Jackson said it’s interesting to watch the offensive tackles drafted ahead of him — Andrew Thomas, Jedrick Wills, Mekhi Becton and Tristan Wirfs — but not to compare himself.
Meanwhile, third-round safety Brandon Jones has played more recently, and his speed and tackling ability (he has 32 for the season) are valued.
Before the draft, Jones watched all 32 NFL teams and wrote down “what I thought they were running on defense. It was challenging. I look back now and think it was pretty cool. The majority of the time, I was right with basic coverage.”
Jones isn’t sure how much that project is helping him now, but his ability to grasp the Dolphins’ defense — one that can be complicated and gives teams multiple looks — has earned him trust from coaches.
Also notable: fifth-round rookie defensive end Jason Strowbridge, inactive the first seven games, had a tackle for loss last week.
And undrafted rookie defensive tackle Benito Jones — who was elevated for last Sunday’s game and this upcoming game — has made an impression. Coaches “are pretty happy with my performance,” he said Friday.
▪ Flores said linebacker Kyle Van Noy (hip) and guard Kindley (foot) were again limited in practice and are questionable for Sunday’s game at Denver. All the assistant coaches - except quality control coach Kolby Smith - are back with the team after four others missed time in quarantine.
“Players were excited to see them [the coaches]; I was excited to see them,” said Flores, who began his Friday Zoom session by offering condolences to former Dolphins All-Pro safety Jake Scott’s family after his death on Thursday.
Denver coach Vic Fangio said a decision would be made Saturday about whether quarterback Drew Lock (soreness in rib area) would start Sunday’s game. He has thrown 10 interceptions in Denver’s past five games. Brett Rypien is the backup.
▪ According to a league source, defensive tackle Zach Sieler’s new Dolphins contract (through 2023) is for three years and $9.3 million, with $3.8 million guaranteed.
There are modest cap hits of $2.5 million, $2.6 million and $3.2 million in 2021, 2022, 2023. He’s perhaps the best waiver claim pickup of the Flores regime.
▪ Notable feats Part 1: Salvon Ahmed’s 85 rushing yards last Sunday were the most by an undrafted rookie in franchise history. Ronald Scott had 99 rushing yards in a 1987 game as a replacement player.
What’s more, his 85 rushing yards were the most by a Dolphins player in their first or second career game since Daniel Thomas had 95 in his second career game on Sept. 25, 2011…
Durham Smythe, Mike Gesicki and Adam Shaheen have two touchdown receptions apiece this season. The last time the Dolphins had three tight ends each have multiple touchdown catches in a season was 1985 with Bruce Hardy (4), WQAM’s Joe Rose (4) and Dan Johnson (3).
▪ Notable feats Part 2: Tagovailoa is tied for the third-most TD passes in his first three starts without throwing an interception since 1950. The only two who had more are hardly luminaries: Case Keenum (7) and Kyle Allen (6)....
Linebacker Jerome Baker is the first Dolphins player since at least 2000 to produce at least 267 tackles in the first three years of his NFL career. He played a season-low 38 defensive snaps last week but said Thursday “it doesn’t affect me. We win, that’s all that’s important to me.”
▪ How tight is the Dolphins’ battle for a playoff spot?
There are nine teams in the AFC with six wins (including Miami) that are competing for seven playoff spots. This is the first time that either conference had that many six-win teams through 10 weeks of the season.
This story was originally published November 20, 2020 at 2:23 PM.
