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Offseason Plan for Defense

Foo27

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Agree with Omar Kelly for once that middle of this defense has to be strengthened first and foremost. Boundary corners have to be upgraded big time as well. Here's how I'd do it:


Re-structure or cut- These players performance has declining because of age or injuries and their salaries must be adjusted to reflect this

Koa Misi- too many injuries
Brent Grimes- play has tailed off and having ONE small corner who doesn't play like Darrell Green is bad enough, we had 3-4 this year
Earl Mitchell- I think Phillips has already taken his spot and he might be a better FB than DT, either way he's making too much money

Cut or do not re-sign
Brice McCain- smallish, injury prone, no impact plays and can be replaced by Bobby McCain
Jamar Taylor- same, it's a shame you have to dump a second rounder this early but he can't play, at least not here
Quentin Coples- never saw any fire in him either here or with NYJ, this should be a no brainer.

Re-sign as a backup at right price
Kelvin Sheppard- productive but usually seven yards downfield good backup but imo his spot is the one that needs the biggest upgrade
Michael Thomas - good on specials, could step in at FS in a pinch but not starter material

Re-sign if you can at right price

Olivier Vernon- I know he commits dumb penalties but he's a real pass rusher who is productive and plays with passion. Can't just give those guys up
Derrick Shelby- Like him too but think if OV comes back DS will not. A really solid player especially for an UDFA, his contract demands might price him out of our plans

Other issues that could help
Restructures of Tanny and Suh can free up money and there appear to be some easy cuts on offense to also free up salary cap- Hello, Greg Jennings and Jordan Cameron.

Now a look at the individual units of the defense

DL
If Vernon comes back and Shelby doesn't, Miami's need for a DE in draft or through free agency isn't as great. If Vernon leaves I think Miami has to look at Oregon's Buckner, Clemson's Shaq Lawson and OSU's Ogbah as a pass rushing replacement because this becomes a key need if OV leaves. Getting a pass rusher is expensive in FA and given our needs at G and FS/CB, I don't see Grier investing heavily in a free agent DE. I lean towards cutting Wake because I'm not sure how much an older player coming off an Achilles injury is going to give you. This also adds pressure on the GM to make sure we have pass rushers.

DT looks OK at this point with Suh and Phillips who showed a lot of flashes as a rookie but you wish Miami had invested more and kept Anthony Johnson and AJ Francis. Depth here is unknown so there may need to be some resources, at least minor ones used towards adding DT depth. Mitchell coming back at a reduced salary would help here.


LB
MLB is position that needs biggest upgrade on our defense and I hope Grier and Tannenbaum have the DE spot secured so we can go this direction with our first pick. Alabama's Reggie Ragland looks like a guy who could man the MLB spot for a decade and give Miami the playmaking and leadership they haven't had there since Zach Thomas. And, no, #8 is not too high for a guy with his resume who has a the ideal size and speed and has played very well under the most pro ready college defense in the game.

OLB is a fairly major need as both Misi and Jenkins seem to always miss a lot of games. I didn't see a lot of production when they were in this year anyway. Liked what i saw in the season finale of Neville Hewitt but other than him, I'm not sure what kind of depth or players with starting potential we have.

Might be going with Misi and Jenkins again at OLB and you hope for better health and production from them but I think the team would be wise to invest some mid round picks on the OLB spot and let them compete with Hewitt and Vigil for playing time. The other option is to bring in some low cost free agents LB's but more often than not you just end up with special teamers.

In any event the entire unit has to play better this year and was a major reason our run defense was again poor in 2015.

Secondary

As bad as our LB unit was in 2015 the collective play of the secondary was worse. Brent Grimes had a down year but the other corner opposite him, often Jamar Taylor or Brice McCain, played miserably and were torched like we haven't seen since the Olividatti defenses in the 80s and 90's. I questioned the wisdom before last season of having so many corners under 6' tall and it proved to be a bad miscalculation by the front office. Taylor, McCain and Grimes were all abused by biggers receivers like Marshall, Decker, Watkins and well, pretty much every receiver they went up against. There were more than a few games where you could see that the opposing OC was going to force the ball to his #1 or #2 WR because he knew we didn't have a prayer in even slowing that player down.

To add to the misery, our FS play was even worse. Michael Thomas is limited athletically but Walt Aikens was an outright disaster who blew coverages and assignments like I've never seen. He made Mean Gene Atkins look like Earl Thomas.

Ideally to fix this problem you'd want to get a free agent CB and FS but I'd have to think we're going to get one of those spots filled if we're lucky. I don't know of any great FS options in free agency but there are some for corners such as Sean Smith. I'd love to see 2 of our top three picks going towards the secondary. Wash out the old and let Vance Joseph bring in and develop what he needs in this secondary.


Here's my ideal lineup for next year

DE- Vernon
DT- J Phillips
DT- Suh
DE- Fede or rookie

OLB- Jenkins
MLB-R Ragland rookie
OLB- Scooby Wright (Arizona)

CB- Sean Smith
SS- R Jones
FS- Vet Fa
CB- Grimes/Kendall Fuller (Va Tech)
 
Keep - Suh, Jones, Jenkins.

Every other position is in dire need of improvement, or a least has question marks.

Phillips, Fede, Bobby McCain could all play significant snaps or at least play a role. Would be fine with keeping Misi or upgrading that spot.

Unless Grimes is willing to take a significant paycut and a role as the number 2 corner ... best of luck with your next team Brent.

The D will take years to properly rebuild imo.


I always liked Sean Smith, I like that idea from the OP. I was one of about 3 people on FH that wanted to keep him, especially when I heard KC got him cheap. Would take Nolan Carroll back aswell.
 
Again you are assuming a 4-3 base and I think that is a mistake, especially after looking at some of the guys we picked up late and some of the guys we signed to futures contracts. It really looks to me like they are looking for 0 and 5 techniques along with 3-4 OLB's. Frankly I think Tannenbaum made up his mind about this during the season when this defense was depressing people who weren't even Dolphin fans.
 
Again you are assuming a 4-3 base and I think that is a mistake, especially after looking at some of the guys we picked up late and some of the guys we signed to futures contracts. It really looks to me like they are looking for 0 and 5 techniques along with 3-4 OLB's. Frankly I think Tannenbaum made up his mind about this during the season when this defense was depressing people who weren't even Dolphin fans.

I think you're correct here. The more I dig around, the more I think we're making the switch.
 
Keep - Suh, Jones, Jenkins.

Every other position is in dire need of improvement, or a least has question marks.

Phillips, Fede, Bobby McCain could all play significant snaps or at least play a role. Would be fine with keeping Misi or upgrading that spot.

Unless Grimes is willing to take a significant paycut and a role as the number 2 corner ... best of luck with your next team Brent.

The D will take years to properly rebuild imo.


I always liked Sean Smith, I like that idea from the OP. I was one of about 3 people on FH that wanted to keep him, especially when I heard KC got him cheap. Would take Nolan Carroll back aswell.

KC does have a lot of FA's this year but I think everyone in the world knows they will prioritize Sean Smith and Eric Berry. I wouldn't be surprised if they sign Smith to a fat contract and franchise Berry. Berry's story is beyond inspiring but at the same time, cancer can return, and the franchise tag on safeties isn't that high.

Hopefully KC spends their time and money on these guys and a few others, and Jaye Howard and Derrick Johnson actually hit the market because these are a couple guys the Dolphins really need. I would go as far as saying that acquiring Derrick Johnson would make us a playoff contender. He is a great LB, but may be an even better leader, which is what our defense is starving for.
 
I agree with you on Reggie Ragland and took him #8 on my mock draft. I think it would be difficult for the front office to pass up potential shutdown corners...Vernon Hargreaves and Mackenzie Alexander, though.

My thinking is Miami could still get a good starting corner in round two, but where can they find another MLB who would have the impact Ragland would for this defense.

All that changes if Olivier Vernon signs elsewhere or if the team decides not to keep Cam Wake. If either of those happen, then to me defensive end is the pick at #8. I'm also not sold on Phillips just yet opposite Suh and it wouldn't surprise me with the DT's in this draft if Miami takes one early (Robinson, Billings).
 
Needs: de, mlb, Fs, corner

Cap savings if cut:

Grimes 6.5 million
Wake 8 million
Jordan 3 million
Mccain 2 million
Coples 7 million
Cameron 7.5 million
Jennings 4 million

Miami has 8 million cap rollover and will be 1 million under the cap going into the season. Miami will likely guarantee more of suhs salary to help bring down the cap usage by upwards to 15 million.

Don't he surprised if Miami goes after some big dogs.

Trevathon, Eric Berry, and Norman are all players to keep an eye on. Miami will be major players
 
I'm not bringing Grimes back at all. He didn't play up to his contract this year and if you want to sign OV you are going to need that $. Restructure Wake and that should be enough to afford OV.

Draft Hargreaves at 8 and a S in the 2nd.

Then use the Jennings and Sheppard $ to sign a competent MLB and the D will be greatly improved.

Use the Coples $ to sign a legit guard as well and then I'll be really happy.
 
Grimes needs to go and take his big mouth wife with him. I don't want him on the team for free.

Ozzy rules
 
I prefer the 34. However, I think it is a huge huge mistake to switch right now. Suh is elite where he was. As a de? Maybe not the same effect on games...
 
Again you are assuming a 4-3 base and I think that is a mistake, especially after looking at some of the guys we picked up late and some of the guys we signed to futures contracts. It really looks to me like they are looking for 0 and 5 techniques along with 3-4 OLB's. Frankly I think Tannenbaum made up his mind about this during the season when this defense was depressing people who weren't even Dolphin fans.

so we're going to change the scheme based on the players we're signing to futures contracts? That doesn't make sense. Most of these guys will struggle to make roster next year. Unfortunately almost all of the good players we will carry over from the front seven Suh, Phillips. hopefully Vernon and Jenkins belong in a 4-3 defense. I can't see using Suh as a 3-4 NT or DE, he was brought in here to be a 4-3 DT.
 
Anyways, I'll share my ideal offseason (copying and pasting an old post mostly)

- - - - - -

-Of current players, I would cut some guys just to cut dead weight, no matter the cost it frees up- that is money that is well spent on incoming rookies. For example: Dallas Thomas, Jamar Taylor, Walt Aikens, Greg Jennings
-Then after the "scrubs" - I agree on restructure or cut Grimes. I'm leaning towards cut and get 2-3 corners in free agency. Cut Brice McCain too. Wake IS willing to restructure his contract we know that much. I'm on the fence on Earl Mitchell... we should definitely draft a late round dt no matter what we do with him. I would cut him honestly, he was very bad at times. I'd keep Misi simply for the fact he isnt god awful when on the field, and with a better overall team defense he won't look AS bad, how much time is left on his contract anyways? I'd cut Coples real quick, doesn't he count for like 7 mil against us? Dion Jordan, I guess we may as well bring to camp. Maybe Gase can get something out of him.


-Of our own guys, I want Miller back the most. ~5/25 ish ideally. Bring Shelby back at a low cost. Let Vernon move on to the highest bidder, unless he wants to come back for a damn reasonable amount, but someone is going to go out and give him like 12+ million watch someone do that lol. I'd welcome Matthews back at ~4/16 or so. Restructure Jordan Cameron

After all of that, I have NO idea what our cap would look like, it would be amazing if someone could give a rough estimate ;) but hopefully it would leave us with enough cash to land Osemele / Brooks, guard HAS to be our top target. Then MLB/CB/FS. Free safety is a real hard one because I bet berry/nelson stay with their current teams.




some names at linebacker: (Our own kelvin shepherd is a free agent too I believe, so we might as well spend some cash to upgrade...)

-Derrick Johnson (best choice, old but still balling. a pricey bandaid for us)
-Danny Trevathan (likely too much $?)
-Rolando McClain (don't see this one happening)
-Jerrell Freeman
-Demario Davis
-Craig Robertson
-Zach Brown
-Keenan Robinson
-Shea McClellin

olb: Tahir Whitehead / Nick Perry, could we cut Misi and replace with one of them? I don't know if its worth it, whitehead more of a wlb, like hewitt.


FS: Eric Berry is my top choice. Reggie Nelson next. Doubt those two guys get away.... So then maybe Reshad Johnson from arizona? Quinten Demps?

CB: (with cutting Grimes, McCain, and all the other moves could we get 2-3 of these guys?)
-Prince Amukamara
-Janoris Jenkins

-Trumaine Johnson
-Patrick Robinson
-Jerraurd Powers
-Josh Robinson
-Nolan Carroll
 
I prefer the 34. However, I think it is a huge huge mistake to switch right now. Suh is elite where he was. As a de? Maybe not the same effect on games...

Assuming Joseph runs the defense he is familiar with, WP's 3-4 calls for a DT, NT, DE. Suh would still lineup in the same spot in a 3-4 Under as he would in a 4-3 Over; 3 tech.

252a76f72c938eed61a8fa2582689207_original.png
 
so we're going to change the scheme based on the players we're signing to futures contracts? That doesn't make sense. Most of these guys will struggle to make roster next year. Unfortunately almost all of the good players we will carry over from the front seven Suh, Phillips. hopefully Vernon and Jenkins belong in a 4-3 defense. I can't see using Suh as a 3-4 NT or DE, he was brought in here to be a 4-3 DT.

Maybe this will help you see Suh as a 3-4 DE

[video]https://www.instagram.com/p/_65NZVBZupFzAnf2zK7VrO4Mi2wRTEWSwPs9M0/[/video]
 
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