Dolphins bring talented running back prospect to team headquarters. And more draft notes
A six-pack of Miami Dolphins notes on a Thursday:
▪ The Dolphins — still open to adding another running back — this week brought LSU’s Tyrion Davis-Price to team headquarters to meet with coaches and management, according to an LSU source familiar with his schedule.
Davis-Price ran 211 times for 1,003 yards last season (a 4.8 average) and has a 4.6 career average.
He hasn’t had the chance to do a lot in the passing game and closed his career with 28 receptions for 185 yards.
Here’s how NFL/com’s Lance Zierlein assessed the 6-1, 232-pounder: “Big, athletic back offering an enticing blend of size and explosiveness to go with an SEC pedigree....
“He’s an enigmatic back featuring urgency, indecisiveness, physicality and finesse on any given carry. He got much better as the season progressed and clearly finds a rhythm when given volume carries.
“Scouts say that staying motivated will be a major factor in future success. His athletic ability and hammerhead finishes will help him create yardage. He has the size and upside worthy of consideration in the middle rounds.”
▪ The Dolphins also have shown interest in University of Houston defensive end/tackle Logan Hall, who had 47 tackles (13 for loss) and six sacks last season.
Per a Cougars source, Miami sent an assistant coach and assistant general manager Marvin Allen to watch him at his Pro Day; they also spent an hour meeting with Hall the night before.
NFL.com’s Zierlein said he’s a “hard-working, two-year starter with projectable frame and developmental traits whose best positional fit could be in the eye of the beholder.
“Hall played defensive tackle in college, but his playing style and physical profile are better suited for defensive end in a 3-4 alignment. He’s segmented and a little gradual in his attack, but flashes violent hands and forward charge as an interior rusher. Improvement lies ahead for Hall, but he needs a scheme fit and extended runway as a rotational lineman.”
The Dolphins play a 4-3 defense but use a 3-4 look at times.
▪ How is the Dolphins defense going to change without coach Brian Flores here? Not much, from linebacker Elandon Roberts’ perspective. Josh Boyer remains defensive coordinator.
“I think Josh is going to do a great job and do what he’s been doing since he took over the last two years,” Roberts said.
Roberts was a quintessential “Flores guy,” but general manager Chris Grier and Boyer and coach Mike McDaniel valued him — and wanted to keep him — after parting ways with Flores.
Roberts’ impression of McDaniel?
“I think he’s his own guy,” Roberts said. “We had conversations and it’s been great. My job is to make sure that I lead the defense and the team in the right direction. What way that he wants me to do that, that’s the way I’m going to do it because that’s my head coach.”
▪ The Dolphins sent a team official to do a private workout with Western Kentucky defensive end DeAngelo Malone, the Senior Bowl MVP for the American Team and a two-time All-Conference USA performer.
He had 32.5 sacks in five seasons, including eight last season. He also forced eight fumbles, four of which came last season. He had 94 tackles, including 17.5 for loss in 2021.
Miami holds him in high regard.
Zierlein assessed him this way on NFL.com: “Super senior who decided to come back for another season to put more on film for general managers to think about. Malone’s wiry build belies his toughness and play strength at the point of attack.
“He uses quick feet, a flexible frame and unusually successful recovery balance to slink into playmaking positions in the run game. His rush is unorthodox and unpredictable but his burst to close and fluidity inside the pocket are valuable in finishing against mobile quarterbacks.
“His slender frame will get knocked and he needs to craft a more repeatable rush, but he is competitive and savvy. Malone could challenge for a future starting job as a 3-4 outside linebacker and offers immediate special-teams value.”
▪ Tight end Mike Gesicki, on the Dolphins’ acquisition of receiver Tyreek Hill: “Love having more playmakers on the field. So to bring in a guy that’s one of, if not the best, at what he does in this league, it’s only going to help everybody in this offense.
“It’s going to help our run game, it’s going to help our pass game, it’s going to help Tua [Tagovailoa], it’s going to help me, it’s going to help Jaylen [Waddle]. It’s going to help everybody. So I’m super excited about that acquisition.”
▪ Gesicki has studied tape of how the 49ers used tight ends. Not only did McDaniel come over to the Dolphins from the 49ers, but so did the 49ers’ tight ends coach, John Embree.
“It’s definitely a different scheme as to what we’ve played in, but football is football,” Gesicki said.
Embree coached Pro Bowl tight end George Kittle in San Francisco.
“The thing that he’s the best at in the league, I think out of probably anybody in any position, is yards after the catch,” Gesicki said of Kittle. “He gets the ball and he runs angry, he runs people over, he stiff arms people, he runs by people.
“So I think having coach Embree here... they worked together and did a very good job together, so he was able to help him in a lot of aspects and obviously George is the player he is now. So I’m happy to have coach Embree here and it’s definitely some good tape to watch.”
Gesicki noted this week that “the last two years we’ve been the odd team out, the last team out at the end of the regular season in terms of playoffs. So [the focus is doing] whatever it takes to go out there and win some games, win a playoff game and get back out there and kind of get this city going in the right direction.”
This story was originally published April 14, 2022 at 1:11 PM.
