Training Camp Preview: Safeties
By Brian Miller
As we leave the offensive side of the ball we might as well just jump right into the weakest position on the other side. If there is a question mark on the Miami Dolphins defense, it is back in the secondary where the unit combined for 5 interceptions all season.
Training camp begins one week from tomorrow and the rookies report this Sunday. We start with the Safeties.
The Roster:
Safeties:
"Cameron Worrell – 5 yearsYeremiah Bell – 4 yearsTraveres Tillman – 7 yearsChristopher Vedder – RookRenaldo Hill – 7 yearsChris Harrell – 1Courtney Bryan – RookDavid Lofton – Rook"
The Dolphins Situation:
There are so many problems with this unit, as well as the CBs. To start we have to understand the most important change that this unit is going through this off-season. It is not a player addition or loss, it is play calling.
In the past 2 years, the exceptionally complex secondary scheme was ruled with iron fists belonging to Nick Saban. His defenses were very good, up front, but in the secondary they were bogged down by play calling. Saban used a complex signal system that requires the safeties to call the audible changes for the secondary unit. It was complex. For example, a WR in motion could draw a signal call or coverage scheme change that was verbally a mess. That same verbiage on a separate play or situation would mean something else entirely. Thus, when for example Jason Allen had to call out these plays as a rookie he was often confused, he called out the wrong scheme, the CBs took it to means something different because Allen had the scheme wrong and everyone looked lost. This was very common last year.
With Saban gone, the Dolphins will not dumb down the system, but they will change the verbiage used by the safeties when calling out coverage changes. Now, instead of a 3 word audible having possibly 4 different meanings, it now has 1. Which theoretically should alleviate some of the confusion from last year. Still with me here?
On the other side of last years unimpressive safety play was talent. Simply put, Miami lacked some. Aside from Yeremiah Bell, the Miami Dolphins lack a solid Safety who can change a game, and Bell for all the great hits he can put on WRs is still inconsistent.
Yeremiah Bell: Bell had shown some flashes two years ago which kept him on the roster. Last year he emerged as an every down safety after it was apparent that Jason Allen was not going to cut it. Still, he was wildly inconsistent and out of position many times. Some of that can be attributed to not having help from the other safety or miscommunication in the coverage audibles.
All the excuses aside, Bell needs to step up. Last year he registered 2 sacks and 44 tackles but had zero interceptions. He was resigned to a 1 year deal which shows that the Dolphins are still not convinced that Bell can be a legitimate year in and year out serious safety threat. He will get this year to prove that he is worth a long term deal. If he does not, look for Miami to go shopping in round 1 next year for a Safety. Something they might do anyways.
For now, it is hard to see on paper if anyone can actually beat Bell out, which is not a good thing. It is likely his job to lose. Watch the training camp but not specifically Bell, all the safeties. The changes made since Saban left and Dom Capers took over in full should be the most intriguing.
Cameron Worrell: You would think that if your safeties were a problem, you would try and solve that with someone who had a decent career. Not the case with Worrell. Cameron has played the last 4 years in Chicago and his best year was a 19 tackle season and 1 sack. He has zero interceptions.
That is not the kind of guy that you smile about when you see his name scroll across the ESPN ticker. Especially when you need to make some talent changes at that spot.
However, that being said, Worrell has been pretty decent on special teams and does come from a winning team in Chicago, and has the experience of a Super Bowl. Cam Cameron had this to say following his signing:”Cameron comes from a winning program with the Chicago Bears, a team that has made the playoffs the last two years and was in the Super Bowl this past year. Not only will he give us good depth at the safety position, but he also will be a key performer for us on special teams, where he was one of the Bears’ top players this past season. Along with the addition of Joey Porter yesterday, we have been able to add two players to our roster who have been a key”
Don’t look for Cameron to make a huge impact in TC although given some of talent issues the team has, he could be a surprise. Unfortunately, it will likely be on special teams.
Traveras Tillman: At times he plays as if he knows the game, at others he is getting lost and burned. Too many big plays and too many penalties, for the entire unit.
Tillman has been around awhile and still only shows that he on quite a few other teams, he would be a serviceable backup. In Miami, he gets a more involved role. Tillman is not going to impress anyone and he is not likely to break out of the mold that he has been in for the last 7 years. His best season yet? Two years ago he had almost 40 tackles and 3 interceptions. He followed that up last year with 28 tackles and no INTs’. He did have 4 passes defensed last year.
With the lack of depth at the safety position there is little question that Tillman remains on the team this year. Like the rest of the safeties, the questions in TC will be are they improving?
Renaldo Hill: Here is your number 1 starting free safety. Last year he started all 16 games for the Dolphins. He recorded 83 tackles, 2 INTs’, 9 passes defensed, and a fumble recovery. And he still is only a marginal free safety.
Last year was the first for Hill in Miami coming from Oakland and Arizona prior to that . He had 5 years experience coming to Miami. It has to be assumed that Hill will once again start all 16 games for the Dolphins this year, and we will have to watch to see if he improves. He will be there regardless of whether he does or not. I don’t want to sound down on Hill as he has been productive. But mental mistakes all around in the deep secondary must come to an end if any of these veterans want a future beyond this year, in Miami.
Christopher Vedder, David Lofton, Chris Harrell, and Courtney Bryan: The 4 of them have a combined zero years experience. Harrell saw training camp with the Arizona Cardinals last year but was cut in early September.
All 4 of these players have a plethora of positive and negatives. Ranging from coverage skills to lateral movement to run support to quick reads, to getting handled in the box.
It is unlikely that any of the 4 make a contribution to the team this year and their real hope comes on special team. None are likely to sniff the starting lineup and although we will likely hear the names in the morning paper for having an interception or two in practice, the QB throwing them will likely be Beck or Hamdan.
If you are a “who’s gonna make it junky” then you will of course be watching this closely. However, it is more likely that when names start coming off the roster to meet NFL roster deadlines, these guys have a very good chance of seeing their name on the cut list.
Outlook/Predictions: I believe that sometimes the best change you can make is the simple one. In terms of the Miami Dolphins, the best change they made this off-season was keeping Dom Capers and changing the way the safeties call out coverage schemes and audibles. For guys like Bell and Hill who have shown flashes of solid play, this could and should benefit them in production as they will no longer have to mentally worry about confusion and just let instinct take over. The system remember has not been “dumbed” down, it has only been reworded.
The Dolphins Safeties benefit from one of the best front 7 in the league and that 7 on paper got better this year. The safeties will once again get some help from up there. To be a better unit, they have to cut down on stupid mistakes and costly blown coverages. A little illegal stick-um on their hands may not be a bad thing either.
Of the rookies and Harrell, one maybe at best 2 make the final roster and if it is two I would have to think one of them is practice squad material. If I were a betting man, Harrell and Lofton have the outside shots. In the reality of things, the guy who shows the best skills, the right attitude, and the drive to succeed on special teams will make the roster. The others will help the team get to the final 53 by taking up spots on the cut list.