Dolphins coaching insight on Ogbah feat, what changed with Phillips and a pass rush change
All season, even when their pass rush kept coming up short, the Dolphins asked for observers to judge them on how much they disrupt the quarterback, not on their number of sacks.
That, after all, is how they say they judge themselves.
But now they’re doing both — rattling and impacting the quarterback and getting him to the ground.
The Dolphins have four sacks in each of the past two games — the first time the franchise has achieved that in consecutive games since 2016.
That sack festival has helped them rise to tied for 15th in the league in sacks, with 21.
They entered this past weekend first in quarterback hits, with 66.
Some notable numbers:
▪ Defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah has five sacks and is now on pace to match or approach last year’s total of nine.
What’s more, he has 40 quarterback pressures, which is 10th among all NFL edge players. And Pro Football Focus rates him 15th among all edge defenders this season.
Even though the team values pressures, does Ogbah — who’s set for free agency — believe teams reward edge rushers primarily for sacks and thus feel pressure to produce sacks and not just pressures?
“I would say sacks are the flashy numbers,” Ogbah said. “But as long as you affect the quarterback whichever way you can and stop them from making a play with batted balls, pressures, hits. As long as you’re throwing them off the spot, you’re doing your job.”
Ogbah’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus, recently said on his WSVN-Fox TV segment that discussions with the Dolphins on an Ogbah extension are ongoing.
Even beyond the pressures, Ogbah is making an impact in the passing game by knocking away passes in five consecutive games and six overall in that stretch.
“When the quarterback is getting the ball out quick and on time, there is not a whole lot you can do other than close [in on] him and getting your hands up, “defensive line coach Austin Clark said. “He’s had a knack for that throughout his career and elevated that over the last couple of weeks. [And] he’s playing very hard and doing a good job in the run game.”
▪ After a slow start, linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel has started to come on. He had five quarterback pressures in a season-high 67 snaps against Baltimore and now has 23 pressures, which is tied for 39th among edge players.
He also has two sacks, a forced fumble and four tackles for loss.
“He’s very instinctive and does things naturally,” outside linebackers coach Rob Leonard said. “Sometimes, he anticipates a lot of things based on tendencies. He takes every note. He’s always in tune into what the offense is going to do. When he’s able to play off of those instincts, he’s at his best.”
Van Ginkel is also at his best when he’s very active, and Leonard cracked: “I saw his uniform was all dirty after the [Baltimore] game. He plays special teams, he plays base package, sub package. He does a lot of things well. He’s such a selfless guy, will do whatever job we ask him to do. I‘m so happy for Andrew when he has success.”
▪ Linebacker Jaelan Phillips now ranks second among all rookie edge players in quarterback pressures, with 22, behind only Baltimore’s Odaf Oweh.
He’s now up to 2.5 sacks with eight quarterback hits.
Leonard has noticed a recent change:
“He always plays fast. He can run. But I think the violence with which he’s playing is increasing. The hand-to-hand combat, whatever move you want to make — the long chop, cross chop, double swipe. The violence in which he’s playing is increasing, which is helping him get to the quarterback.”
▪ Defensive lineman Adam Butler, who had 15 sacks in four years with New England, finally got his first as a Dolphin on Thursday.
But the low sack total doesn’t reflect how well he has played, according to Dolphins coaches and the PFF metrics site.
Butler has 14 pressures. Overall, PFF rates him 63rd of 128 among all defensive tackles.
“Adam has played at a high level,” Clark said. “The guy does everything that’s asked of him in the scheme. Sometimes when you’re taking two [blockers], you don’t always get as many sacks.”
▪ Another key change during the past month has been Miami’s increased use of safety blitzes. Jevon Holland leads all NFL safeties in pressures with 14. Brandon Jones is second with 12.
Jones has rushed the quarterback 74 times — most of any NFL safety. Holland has rushed 60 times, the second most of any NFL safety.
“For them to be able to do that [blitz effectively] is an asset for the defense,” Clark said. “They’re doing a great job. They’re great young players and the best is yet to come. They’re fun to watch.”
NEWS NOTE
Defensive coordinator Josh Boyer said Flores has been holding play sheets for offense, defense and special teams and offers his thoughts during the game on play calls.
“It’s my job to make sure we get the right calls in there,” Boyer said.
Flores has said Boyer is calling the plays on defense. It has been widely reported that George Godsey is calling the plays on offense.
ROSTER MOVE
The Dolphins placed offensive tackle Greg Little on injured reserve and waived cornerback Sheldrick Redwine; neither appeared in a game this season.
Defensive end Jabaal Sheard was cut from the practice squad to make room for former Bengals starting defensive tackle Andrew Billings.
This story was originally published November 16, 2021 at 12:15 PM.
