Miami Dolphins Linebackers 2015 Unit Preview

Entering the 2014 season the Miami Dolphins expected their linebacker corp to be much improved. On paper it was. Dannell Ellerbe was moving back outside and Koa Misi was going to man the inside while Phillip Wheeler was supposed to be acclimated to the Dolphins system. After game one everything started to fall apart.

More from Dolphins News

• 4 offensive tackles Miami Dolphins could draft at 51
• Miami Dolphins don’t need CB help but these 5 could be available at 51
• 4 players that could replace Wilkins if Miami Dolphins don’t re-sign him
• Miami Dolphins have a starting point with Wilkins after Simmons deal
• The Miami Dolphins should not take a running back in the draft

Ellerbe would be lost for the season and Wheeler would miss time and when he was on the field he would struggle to make an impact. Misi did o.k. but he hardly generated the game changing plays that the Dolphins had hoped for. Pressed into play, Jelani Jenkins arose from the depth chart to showcase real ability and suddenly the linebacker group was teetering on being very good.

Here we are in 2015. The Dolphins now are expected to field a young and more inexperienced group compared to the 2014 unit but expectations have yet to wane. In fact, many believe that this years group will be far better than last years. There is no depth chart yet but a better picture of what we can expect is starting to take form after OTA’s.

Jelani Jenkins will return to the outside and Koa Misi will return to the middle but the second outside position has yet to be decided and won’t be until training camp when Chris McCain will go toe-to-toe with Jordan Tripp for the starting job. Indications that an early lead belongs to McCain who has been playing very well and finished strong last season. McCain believes he can be the starter and expects to win the job. The Dolphins did not bring in a ton of competition to the unit.

The Dolphins seem to be o.k. with what they have at linebacker and while three of the players showed promise last season, Jenkins, Misi in the middle, and McCain towards the end, there is not a lot of depth with experience. Miami seems high on un-drafted rookies Jeff Luc and Mike Hull. Kelvin Sheppard has five years of experience but mostly as a back-up and former NY Giant Spencer Paysinger will try and provide some back-up as well.

The Dolphins have a short window should they decide to bring in more competition or depth. Throughout training camp teams will reduce their roster sizes and that could provide Miami with a larger pool of competition but it’s likely, highly likely, that Miami will enter the 2015 season with the names above manning the middle of the field.

The success of this unit will largely rely on players like Jenkins and McCain who will need to show that last year wasn’t a simple flash. Jenkins is poised to have a big year and could really benefit from the Ndamukong Suh/Cameron Wake tandem depending on which side the Dolphins decide to line Suh on.

For now, until training camp arrives we can only speculate but it appears that the Dolphins may have attached their carts to the right trio of horses. We can’t compare stats to last year quite yet but the linebacker group could become a very strong part of the Dolphins defense this year as McCain and Jenkins could become the Dolphins future on the outside.