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Dolphins Have Good Athletes At Linebacker

DKphin

DKphin

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From defensive coordinator Vance Joseph’s perspective, the linebackers have a chance to make plenty of headlines of their own once the regular season starts.

With Alonso and returning starters Jelani and Koa, Joseph said the Dolphins have playmaking ability at the position.

“Between Kiko, Jelani and Koa, that’s three pretty good athletes,” Joseph said. “That’s more scheme than it is a personal gift. We have to move those guys around and we have to blitz those guys and allow them to make negative plays.”

What would go a long way toward helping the Dolphins linebacker corps becoming an impact group is if Alonso can regain the form he displayed in 2013 with the Buffalo Bills when he earned NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year honors from the Professional Football Writers Association.

Alonso dealt with various injuries the past two seasons, but Joseph said he liked what he saw from the linebacker when the Dolphins hit the practice field during their recent voluntary veteran minicamp and during the early portions of the offseason program.

“Last year’s film was tough,” Joseph said. “It was a different scheme. They were in a 3-4 defense. But what I’ve seen — in our minicamp, the last couple of weeks — is he has got great instincts. He’s a long, tall, Mike (middle) backer that has great instincts. He covers a bunch of ground with his movement. He has great eyes. He has been a great leader in the huddle, and that has been surprising. He has been very vocal. He has been assertive in the huddle. That was good to see from him.”
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http://www.miamidolphins.com/news/a...nebacker/c604a5f5-8f62-4675-a084-ccce8cf3aa7e
 
I am cautiously optimistic about our rookies linebackers (Vigil, Hewitt) from last year. I hope one of those guys and perhaps James Burgess steps up. No doubt we have much better depth and with perhaps a better system we might be pleasantly surprised.
 
Still feel like the unit could be a liability...a lot hinges on Kiko returning to form and staying healthy.
 
I'm looking forward to the season now. I wasn't really before the draft but the more I think about it, the more I believe the coaching staff might actually make a difference this year.
 
It's still a question mark, but at least on paper they have improved it.

Would be nice to see a guy like Hewitt keep on developing and actually have legit depth for once.
 
lb core in Miami this year will only be as good as kiko is...he's the straw that stirs the drink
 
let me know when we have a proven good linebacker

Misi and Jenkins are ok, nobody knows what we get in Alsonso
 
It's not Kiko's athletic ability that is a concern. We saw it his rookie year. It's his knee and if he can stay healthy.


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If Dion Jordan does in fact have his head on straight now the biggest improvement might be him replacing Misi at SOLB. Big jump in athleticism, potential big jump in sacks, coverage, etc. Jordan/Alonso/Hewitt would be an awfully athletic group to back up the DL and give the secondary help in coverage. Misi disappears far too often, been doing it his whole career, remains to be seen how Jenkins fits in this year.
 
I don't think this can be said enough about our LBs...In 2015 the Miami Dolphin LBs combined for zero sacks and 1 INT. I do have faith Kiko will be good, but he is a high risk player, and in the last year of his contract. We have ignored this need for two years in a row, and drafted zero linebackers. In 2014 we drafted 1, who now plays for the Jags. 2013 is the last LB drafted, Jenkins, who is on our roster. This has been a huge hole for a while, and vastly ignored for too long.

I do like Blount the UDFA. This kid has absolute steal written all over him.
 
Dajesus said:
I don't think this can be said enough about our LBs...In 2015 the Miami Dolphin LBs combined for zero sacks and 1 INT. I do have faith Kiko will be good, but he is a high risk player, and in the last year of his contract. We have ignored this need for two years in a row, and drafted zero linebackers. In 2014 we drafted 1, who now plays for the Jags. 2013 is the last LB drafted, Jenkins, who is on our roster. This has been a huge hole for a while, and vastly ignored for too long.

I do like Blount the UDFA. This kid has absolute steal written all over him.
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Misi is a problem when it comes to playmaking, he can set the edge well but makes very few game changing plays. He's just kind of there, which is why I'd like to see Jordan challenge him at SOLB.
 
jim1 said:
Misi is a problem when it comes to playmaking, he can set the edge well but makes very few game changing plays. He's just kind of there, which is why I'd like to see Jordan challenge him at SOLB.
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I'm gonna tweak that for ya.

"which is why I'd like to see ANYBODY challenge him at SOLB"
 
It all depends on Kiko, if he is back to form, and is finally done with the injury bug, he will help make the LB squad much better then last year.
 
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