Kelly: Is Anthony Weaver going to end Dolphins’ defensive coordinator carousel? | Opinion
Anthony Weaver’s charming.
He’s gregarious, relatable and has a smile that brightens a room.
Most importantly, the Miami Dolphins’ new defensive coordinator comes off as authentic and not arrogant.
That’s a total contrast from his predecessor, Vic Fangio, and that’s a great starting point for a defense unit that disliked its coordinator last season.
Weaver has served as a starter in the NFL, playing four of his seven NFL seasons for the physical and forceful Baltimore Ravens teams.
He rose up the coaching ranks quickly this decade. But he’s relatively unproven as a defensive playcaller heading into his first game as the conductor for the Dolphins defense.
However, he’s not a rookie. He has failed before, in his one season as defensive coordinator for the Houston Texans, and that’s important because failure is usually the best catalyst for growth.
“There were so many lessons learned there,” Weaver said about his stint with running the Texans defense, which ranked 29th in points allowed in 2020.
The Texans allowed 375.2 yards per game that season, which ranked 20th in the NFL that season. But the Texans allowed 6.39 yards per play defensively, which ranked last in the NFL.
“Ultimately, when we were let go, and I had opportunities to go elsewhere and potentially coordinate again, I chose to go to Baltimore and see how that dinner was being made because they were doing a lot of good things there,” Weaver said. “I took a step back in order to take a huge step forward.”
The hope is that those steps pay dividends and Weaver cooks up a tasty defense — which will feature a 3-4 front base that provides multiple looks — for Miami.
This is head coach Mike McDaniel’s third chance to get the defensive coordinator position right.
Josh Boyer, a coach he inherited from Brian Flores’ staff, was forced on McDaniel. He got rid of him after one season and pursued the coach he initially wanted to hire when he became the Dolphins’ head coach.
Problem was, Fangio and McDaniel’s style clashed, and Fangio consistently rubbed his players the wrong way because of his rigid nature, which led to a mutual parting of the ways with Miami.
Fangio took the same role with the Philadelphia Eagles, and Miami interviewed half a dozen defensive coordinator candidates before selecting Weaver, whom McDaniel coached with in 2014 while with the Cleveland Browns.
Why Weaver?
Because he and McDaniel are like-minded and want to empower the players.
“The teams that I’ve been apart of that cared about one another, they hung outside the building, they cared about their families, wives, girlfriends, kids, that’s transcending,” Weaver said. “Now when they are out there playing next to someone, you are playing for him and his family and everyone he cares about.”
In my opinion, the best trait a good defensive coordinator has is his ability to mask his unit’s shortcomings, and Weaver’s got his hands full early this season.
The Dolphins are ultra light on defensive linemen going into Sunday’s game with five on the 53-man roster, and only two of them (Zach Sieler and Calais Campbell are proven commodities.
“You need to have the right balance of grinders and then you need your tweeners, guys who are athletic enough to win in pass rush, whether that’s through power or finesse,” Weaver said of Miami’s defensive linemen, speaking on the unit he played and coached his entire NFL life..
How will he address the fact one of his top edge rushers (Jealan Phillips) is on a snap count because he’s nine months into rehabbing an Achilles tendon injury, and another two are rookies (Chop Robinson and Mohamed Kamara) who are rough around the edges?
“Some of the younger players like Chop and Mo are going to have some growing pains. They are going to make some mistakes,” Weaver said. “From my standpoint, having been in their shoes, you got to let them touch the stove a little bit and then coach them through those hard times to make sure they aren’t repeat offenders.”
How will he mask coverage issues of David Long Jr. and Jordan Poyer? Long’s a heat-seeking missile when it comes to stuffing the run, but has never excelled covering tight ends or tailbacks running routes.
Poyer was once an elite safety, but that was years ago. Last year Buffalo used him like a linebacker because of concerns he couldn’t run with receivers anymore. Has that changed?
Last year opposing quarterbacks had a 101.5 passer rating, completed 35 of 51 passes when throwing to playmakers Poyer was supposedly responsible for.
And let’s not even get into possibly playing without All-Pro cornerback Jalen Ramsey, who is the top performer on the entire team. Ramsey’s playing status is in question because of a hamstring injury he has been nursing for the past three weeks.
A good defensive coordinator helps his team adjust, overcoming adversity.
The Dolphins will face plenty of that this season, like usual. We will soon learn if the Dolphins have one of those.
“There’s going to be a learning process. He’s been a playcaller before, but it wasn’t really long,” said Campbell, a 17-year veteran who previously played for Weaver during their time in Baltimore together. “What I tell him is, ‘We’ve got your back. Be confident. Whatever you’re feeling, trust it. If it goes wrong, we’ll line up and keep laying ball. Like everything else it’s a learning process. I just know the way he loves the game, and prepares, he’ll have a shot.”
This story was originally published September 5, 2024 at 4:59 PM.
