Miami Dolphins Young Linebackers In The Spotlight
Tonight the Miami Dolphins are taking on the Chicago Bears in the first preseason game of the year, finally football is back! No more training camp, now it’s about seeing some live action, players getting tackled to the ground, touchdowns actually putting points on the board, let the fun begin!
The Miami Dolphins have a ton of open jobs both in the starting line-up and reserve roles. While many will focus on the offensive line and the running back positions, and rightfully so, the linebacker positions will be spots on the field where the spotlight will shine tonight. While Miami needs to find out who’s who at offensive guard and who will spell Lamar Miller in the backfield; the Miami Dolphins have a host of young guys looking to stake claims for themselves on this roster.
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While the starting defense probably won’t log too many snaps tonight, two of the starting linebackers will get a long look. With Koa Misi sitting out tonight, Kelvin Sheppard will fill in for him and compete directly with the second year player starting at strong-side line backer, Chris McCain. Those two figure to get reps side by side against real competition, so coaches can evaluate them against one another and figure out where they plan to keep Misi this year. My eyes will be on McCain to see if he’s truly ready to handle the responsibility of being a starter on this defense. I’m certain he has the talent, but it’s time to see if he has a grasp on the defense enough to diagnose plays correctly.
Since starting weak-side linebacker Jelani Jenkins is a proven commodity, he’ll get to rest on the sideline after a series or two; that’s when second year player Jordan Tripp will get his opportunity to continue his strong play at camp and keep building trust with the coaches to get more reps with the first team. I feel if Tripp can show the coaches some consistency this pre season, then he could earn a starting nickel role.
It’s the first preseason game though, so don’t expect too many core players to get burn tonight; this is a game for the fringe players and the linebacking core has 4 undrafted free agents vying for one maybe two available spots. And that’s depending on if the Miami Dolphins keep 6 or 7 linebackers and if one of them can beat out veteran Spencer Paysinger.
Mike Hull, Zach Vigil, Jeff Luc, and Neville Hewitt have their work cut out for them and have had their individual moments of flashes in camp. They’ll need to make some splash plays tonight against the Chicago reserves to buy themselves more time on the roster. Plus they’d be wise to take special teams seriously, because a missed assignment in that phase of the game could do more harm to their status than one on base defense where they can be afforded time to develop.
To make this team as a fringe young player, one thing is certain and they can count on this, they better be ready to play special teams and play it well early if they plan to have any early success in the NFL.
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