Dolphins sign Jaelan Phillips. And how analytics site ranks Miami’s defense
The Miami Dolphins now have both of their first-round picks under contract after agreeing to terms with former Miami Hurricanes standout Jaelan Phillips on Wednesday.
Phillips, who is being listed as a linebacker but also can play defensive end, was due to receive a four-year, $14.018 million contract, including a signing bonus of $7.55 million.
Per the NFL’s rookie salary pool, he will make base salaries of $660,000, $1.29 million, $1.93 million and $2.57 million over the next four seasons.
His cap hits over the next four seasons will be $2.54 million, $3.18 million, $3.82 million and $4.46 million.
The Dolphins have now signed four draft picks: Jaylen Waddle (the No. 6 overall pick), Phillips (the 18th overall selection) and seventh-rounders Larnel Coleman and Gerrid Doaks.
That leaves three picks still unsigned: second-round safety Jevon Holland, second-round offensive lineman Liam Eichenberg and third-round tight end Hunter Long.
PFF RATINGS
Pro Football Focus has been ranking NFL teams at every position.
Miami didn’t fare particularly well in PFF’s ranking of team defenses, even though the Dolphins led the league in forced turnovers last season and ranked fourth best in points allowed per game at 21.1.
Here’s where PFF rated the Dolphins:
DEFENSIVE BACKFIELD
PFF rated the Dolphins 10th, with this comment:
“A big part of what head coach Brian Flores wants to do defensively — blitzing and running man coverage at one of the highest rates in the NFL — relies on having reliable cornerbacks in single coverage. Xavien Howard and Byron Jones provide exactly that. Both graded above the 75th percentile in single coverage over the past three seasons.
“Second-round selection Jevon Holland should provide quality competition at safety following the release of 2020 starter Bobby McCain, but the safety and slot positions are what keep Miami at the back end of the top 10.”
The only secondaries given higher marks by PFF: Denver, Baltimore, Cleveland, Buffalo, New England, Green Bay, the New York Giants, Tampa Bay and the Rams.
DEFENSIVE LINE
PFF rates the Dolphins 28th, ahead of only Atlanta, Jacksonville, Seattle and Houston.
PFF said: “A team can lean more on the blitz when its starting cornerbacks are Xavien Howard and Byron Jones. Miami did just that, blitzing at a top-five rate of 41.2%.
“The Dolphins still ranked only 14th in team pressure rate, in part because there aren’t many above-average pass rushers on their roster. Emmanuel Ogbah was their most productive pass rusher in 2020, but even he finished the year with only a 64.5 pass-rushing grade.
“First-round rookie Jaelan Phillips could begin to change that next season, coming off an 86.6 PFF grade last season at the University of Miami.”
I would have placed the Dolphins more middle of the pack. The group of Ogbah, Christian Wilkins, Raekwon Davis, Adam Butler and Zach Sieler has the potential to be clearly above average. But Wilkins and Davis must make leaps this season.
Here’s my March breakdown of the Dolphins’ defensive line and here’s my piece on what the Dolphins are getting with Butler.
LINEBACKERS
PFF rated the Dolphins a surprisingly low 26th, with this comment:
Newcomer Benardrick McKinney “was limited to just 234 snaps [for Houston] last season due to injury, but before that, he had earned five straight average or better PFF grades. If he can return to full health, he should be a significant upgrade to the defense.
“Jerome Baker regressed after an impressive rookie season, earning overall PFF grades of just 46.7 and 55.2 over the past two seasons. Baker rediscovering his rookie form would completely transform this unit’s outlook.”
I hold Baker in higher regard than PFF. Of the 43 players who had at least 100 tackles last season, Baker and Tampa Bay’s Devin White were the only two who had more than five sacks. Baker had seven sacks and was 28th in the league with 112 tackles.
I broke down the Dolphins’ linebacker unit in this March piece. And in this piece, I explored what the Dolphins are getting with McKinney.
To read all of PFF’s rankings, sign up here.
NOTABLE
McKinney and wide receiver Will Fuller joined Dolphins’ voluntary workouts this week after not participating in sessions that happened to be open to the media the past two weeks. Linebacker Brennan Scarlett also arrived in town and joined the sessions.
Here’s my Wednesday piece on the NBA fining Heat president Pat Riley.
Here’s my Wednesday Miami Marlins 6-pack.
This story was originally published June 9, 2021 at 2:38 PM.
