Miami Dolphins Preview: Spencer Paysinger
By Seth Fisher
Spencer Paysinger 6’2″ 236 lbs
Signed from the New York Giants this off-season, Spencer Paysinger was brought in this off-season to shore up the special teams, to replace the loss of Jason Trusnik, but also push for the third starting linebacker role. It looks like a tough road for Paysinger to gain the starting role as he has several guys to compete with and he has never started a full season before.
Paysinger, though, did fill as a starter for 10 games for the Giants in 2013, he wasn’t much of playmaker, but he was a solid as a fill in. If the Dolphins had an injury at one of their outside linebacker positions, Paysinger would be a nice option to have to fill in for a few weeks or so while the starter recovers from injury. Paysinger’s main role, though, will most likely being a key contributor on special teams with the occasional support on defense.
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While Paysinger most likely won’t win a starting job, he will be absolutely key in shoring up a specials teams that was average at best last year. Paysinger, according to profootballfocus.com, had +4.0 rating on special teams last year, indicating that he will be a very solid addition to that third of the game for the Dolphins. In the past few seasons, special teams have had a significant impact in some of the Dolphins losses, for example, the game against the Bills in Buffalo last year where they allowed CJ Spiller a kickoff return for a touchdown, allowing the game to get a bit out of hand, after the Dolphins drew within two scores.
Hopefully, Paysinger will significantly help the Dolphins with special teams and provide solid depth for the defense, should an injury occur, which more than likely happen considering the nature of football. Also, hopefully Paysinger provides some veteran leadership for a team that was one of the youngest teams in the league last year.