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)
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)