Ndamukong Suh has had two solid seasons in Miami, but the defense around him has crumbled.
arch 11, 2015 was a huge day of celebration for the Miami Dolphins. There were smiles aplenty from owner Stephen Ross and the front office, led by vice president Mike Tannenbaum, as the team signed the biggest free agent in franchise history -- Ndamukong Suh -- to a six-year, $114 million contract with $60 million in guarantees. At the time, the contract was an NFL record for a defensive player.
Suh was expected to be the cornerstone of a newly dominant defense in South Florida. Terms such as “greatness” and “dominance” were being thrown around by the Dolphins’ brass on that memorable day. However, Suh was wise to curtail expectations with some of his first comments to the Miami media two years ago.
“This is the ultimate team sport,” Suh said at the time. “There is no way I can do it by myself."
Those words ring very true in retrospect. Despite adding Suh two years ago, Miami’s defense remains near the bottom of the NFL.
The Dolphins were ranked 29th in 2016 and 25th in 2015. Even more baffling is that they were 30th and 28th against the run, respectively, the past two seasons. The Dolphins were 12th in total defense in 2014 before Suh’s arrival, leading optimism that Miami could field a top-five unit and immediately end its lengthy playoff drought. Instead, the Dolphins went 6-10 in Suh's first season before last year's 10-6 record and first playoff berth since 2008.
As we recently passed Suh’s two-year anniversary of signing with Miami, this is an ideal time to reflect what has gone wrong. Should the blame fall on Suh? Or are the Dolphins to blame for not building a better defense around the Pro Bowl defensive tackle?
According to statistical analysis and opinions of personnel executives around the NFL, it is the Dolphins who haven’t held up their end.
Ndamukong Suh's rankings among NFL defensive tackles since 2015.
Stat
Snaps: 1,838(1st)
Batted passes:11(1st)
Tackles: 133(2nd)
Tackles for loss:38(2nd)
Sacks: 11(7th)
Suh, 30, remains a dominant force among defensive tackles. According to ESPN Stats & Information, Suh leads all defensive tackles in total snaps (1,838) and batted passes (11) and is second in tackles (133) and tackles for loss (38) in the past two years. Suh also is durable and has never missed a game in his career due to injury. He missed two games in 2011 via suspension while with the Detroit Lions.
These numbers suggest Suh is still performing at an elite level, especially considering he’s constantly fighting through double-teams and not getting nearly enough help from Miami’s defensive teammates, especially at the linebacker and secondary levels.
Dolphins coach Adam Gase and others within the organization have consistently pointed out that Suh is holding up his end of the bargain and is the least of the team’s worries defensively.
“Suh, I don’t need to talk about him,” Gase said recently at the NFL combine. “Because he’s probably the best in the business.”
