Dolphins 2015 grades: Brice McCain

When the Miami Dolphins added Brice McCain to their roster as a free agent in 2015 they envisioned him as a slot/nickel corner on their defense. That didn’t happen and the Dolphins and McCain paid for it.

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Brice McCain – cornerback

2016 salary – $3.5 million

Brice McCain is a very good slot corner but the Dolphins in 2015 opted to move him to the edge opposite Brent Grimes. That didn’t work. McCain didn’t handle the edge well but the Dolphins didn’t seem to have a lot of options and Kevin Coyle’s defense was atrocious to start the season.

ProFootballFocus slotted McCain as the third best corner on the Dolphins roster but overall Brice McCain was ranked much lower at a league grade of 71. Consider that rookie Bobby McCain was ranked 67. Much of Brice McCain’s 2015 problems can be traced directly to playing out of position. It simply wasn’t what was planned but poor play by Zach Bowman and especially Jamar Taylor gave the Dolphins little other options and by the time they realized they could play rookie Bobby McCain, it was too late.

McCain had 39 tackles on the season. 31 solo and 8 assists. He was credited with 10 passes defended which is pretty good considering he was out of position much of the season. McCain also had one of the best interceptions of the season.

2015 grade – C

Why a “C”?

While McClain played better in the slot coverage position he simply couldn’t hold the outside edge and the Dolphins coaches left him out there far too many times. While his forte may be inside, a good corner needs to be able to play the outside as well.

Stay or go?

McCain is not an impending free agent but he is scheduled to make $3.5 million and that’s a lot of money for a slot corner who can’t play outside consistently. If the Dolphins release him they would eat $1 million and save 2.5. A lot of this is going to be dependant on whether the Dolphins believe one of their 2015 rookies can assume a role in the nickel package which would make McCain expendable. If the Dolphins keep him it’s not a bad thing either provided they put him back where he plays the best and not out of position.