Miami Dolphins spotlight: Terrence Fede

Last year the Miami Dolphins drafted Marist College product Terrence Fede, he played sparingly his rookie season. As a 7th round draft pick that is not surprising. Rarely in the NFL do you find gems that late in the draft. It happens, just not that often.

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That is not to say that Terrence Fede is a gem. All things considered though, he may just be. Last season he registered one sack and ten combined tackles from the edge. That’s nothing to get excited about but when you look at his reps in real games he made good choices and continued his growth.

On Saturday night the Dolphins visited the Carolina Panthers where Fede got his first work with starting unit this season, in real game play. The Dolphins held starter Olivier Vernon out giving Fede the start. If you look on NFL.com and read the stat lines for the game, you will look over the defensive stats and not see his name. No sacks, no tackles, no forced fumbles. Stats don’t always tell you everything.

In other words, Terrence Fede had a good night.

The Dolphins defense, specifically the starters didn’t put a lot of pressure on Cam Newton. They registered no sacks. They also only gave up eight yards in three series and stuffed the Panthers on a goal line stand. Fede played well.

Fede was solid in his outing keeping the edge and working to the pocket. He just didn’t get there. Why is this all important? Olivier Vernon is why.

Fede continues to grow into his position and is making strong strides in practice and in games. He uses his body well and has good technique and while there are still parts of his game that need working on, Fede could be in line, should be in line for a larger role in 2015. That swings us back to Vernon.

Vernon is on the final year of his contract and it’s likely that he has a very good 2015 season which will drive up his cost in 2016. The Dolphins are not looking good with their cap situation next season although they should have some money to spend and the cap is expected to take a big leap. The truth is if Fede can continue to grow and grow well, Vernon may be left to test the free agent market.

This is not an endorsement to keep Fede over Vernon but if things become more equal it’s something that the Dolphins will look at and a move the team may make. Vernon is good, in fact you could say he is very good.  At times. While nowhere near as inconsistent as he was his first season, no surprise, Vernon has developed into a solid defensive end but money is always an issue. Fede is cheap. In fact he is very cheap.

In 2016 Fede is scheduled to make just over $613,000 compared to Vernon who will likely increase his 2015 salary of $1.7 million by about $3 million per season and that is somewhat of a low projection. Fede’s performance this year and his continued maturation on the field could give the Dolphins an out.

Conversely, the Dolphins are beginning to show faith in their draft picks and we have seen Ryan Tannehill and Mike Pouncey get extensions off their rookie deals. The Dolphins will need to look at Vernon and running back Lamar Miller in the coming off-season. Having someone that is strong behind Vernon gives the Dolphins a little leverage in contract talks but at the same time gives the team someone who can fill the void should Vernon leave.

Fede has a long way to go don’t get me wrong and again, I’m not saying that Miami should explore this option but we also must believe that exploring Terrence Fede in 2015 with more playing time and more game film will in fact be a smart move by the team.

A lot can happen and will happen in the next six months but one thing is for certain, the Dolphins may not have a gem in Fede just yet but maybe with a little spit and polish they may reveal just that. Fede is good. Not impressive good but good and he seems to get better each week. Saturday we saw a glimpse of who he might be and what he might bring. Perhaps this week against Tampa Bay we will see more.

The real test however comes in September when the game start to count and we will see just how much faith and trust they have in the former 7th round pick. No matter what, Fede’s growth is giving us all something else to root for and watch on Sunday’s. He could be an interesting storyline to the season ahead.