Dolphins will have key person at UM Pro Day. And reaction on Tua, free agents signed
A six-pack of Miami Dolphins notes on a Monday:
▪ The Miami Dolphins’ RSVP list to the Miami Hurricanes’ Pro Day on Monday afternoon includes one particularly interesting name:
Coach Brian Flores.
NFL teams are permitted to have as many as three employees attend a particular school’s pro day, and according to a source, the Dolphins submitted the names of Flores, player personnel coordinator Minh Luu and scouting assistant Matt Leitch.
General manager Chris Grier is at the University of North Carolina on Monday. Defensive coordinator Josh Boyer also was not on the Dolphins’ RSVP list, notably, though Flores’ presence is obviously enough to cover Miami from all angles.
That means Flores will have his first chance to get an up-close-and-personal look at Greg Rousseau and Jaelan Phillips, two edge rushers projected for the Dolphins’ range with the 18th pick, the second of Miami’s two first-rounders.
Rousseau could easily be gone by 18; some mock drafts have him in the 10 to 15 range.
Most analysts rate Rousseau ahead of Phillips, with ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. one exception.
NFL Network draft analyst Bucky Brooks said Rousseau “reminds me a lot of Jason Pierre-Paul.”
NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein notes that Rousseau “rushed from a variety of positions. We don’t know exactly who he is.”
Tony Pauline of Pro Football Network calls Rousseau “a natural pass rusher who creates a lot of havoc off the edge and up the field. He was relentless in pursuit of opposing quarterbacks and impossible to stop at times. He will struggle holding the point at the next level and must fill out his tall, thin frame as well as improve the details of his position, but Rousseau comes with tremendous upside and should make an impact as a rookie rushing the passer.”
As for Phillips, Kiper has said he might be the best pure pass rusher in the draft.
NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein said Phillips is “an edge defender with plus physical attributes and a motor that keeps him working and attacking throughout the rep. Philips might have the combination of length and athleticism that would allow teams to look at him with a hand on the ground or standing depending on his weight.
“He’s a slippery-limbed pass rusher with good first-step quickness, which bodes well for his future rush success if he gets better with his hands and learns a go-to counter. He has a shot at becoming a solid future starter along the edge if his medicals pan out.”
Patriots coach Bill Belichick is also expected to be in attendance. New England has the 15th pick in the first round.
▪ ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky made an impassioned defense of Tua Tagovailoa the other day.
“The conversation of moving on from Tua is absurd and stupid,” he said. “I need someone to tell me what he can’t do ...Just be patient. Tua is great at so many things. I need somebody to tell me what he can’t do.
“Who do you want him to throw downfield to? DeVante Parker played like 10 games [actually 14, with 11 starts]. Tua was really good last year, a year after an injury where the question was would he be able to walk again, no offseason, below average offensive line and below average skill position people. He was really good.”
Memo to all: The Dolphins aren’t moving on from Tagovailoa. They’re committed to him barring an unforeseen and surprising turn of events.
▪ Though not every Dolphin is convinced that Tagovailoa will blossom — as Armando Salguero wrote previously — three players conveyed that they’re optimistic that he can be pretty good.
And one agent with a prominent Dolphin said his non-Dolphins clients previously have criticized first-round quarterbacks on their other teams, but his Dolphins client didn’t with Tagovailoa, expressing hope he can develop into something good.
▪ Here’s how Pro Football Focus evaluated the signing of running back Malcolm Brown:
“Miami adds a solid committee back who earned carries in Sean McVay’s Rams offense even after second-round picks were used in consecutive drafts on Darrell Henderson and Cam Akers. Brown forced 16 missed tackles in 2020 on 102 attempts, with his missed tackle per attempt rate of 15.7% ranking a respectable 29th among all running backs with at least 100 carries.
“Brown doesn’t offer much in the passing game, with receiving grades in the 40.0s the past two seasons and a 40.1 pass-blocking grade in 2020 — the only season where he truly had enough snaps to consider.”
▪ And here’s how PFF evaluated the signing of center Matt Skura:
“This deal would have looked better had it been signed last offseason when Skura was coming off a two-year grade of 65.1 that ranked 23rd among 44 qualifying centers. Things didn’t go quite so well for Skura in 2020. His 50.1 grade at center this past season ranked 35th out of 37 qualifiers, beating out only Dan Feeney and Lloyd Cushenberry III. Skura dealt with snapping issues, in particular.
“This isn’t a bad move on the part of the Dolphins to try to buy low on what looked to be a league-average center just one to two years ago. With Karras’ return back to New England, the team had a need at the position. Skura should be the favorite to step in next to Ereck Flowers as two veteran presences in an otherwise young group.”
▪ Quick stuff: The Dolphins are down to $9.3 million in cap space, per overthecap.com. They need $10.6 million to sign their draft class... Former Dolphins offensive tackle Julien Davenport signed with the Colts...
The Dolphins will need a new preseason TV play-by-play announcer after Dick Stockton, 77, retired from broadcasting in recent days.
The job is an attractive one and has been handled by network quality voices in the past, including Stockton and Brad Nessler.
This story was originally published March 29, 2021 at 10:46 AM.
