5 Dolphins defenders who disappointed in 2015

Jordan Phillips

Like Vernon, putting Phillips on this list is a difficult decision. I honestly thought I would put Brent Grimes on here instead (so I used him for the featured image). Most of the problems for Phillips wasn’t of his own doing. When a rookie, a 2nd round rookie isn’t given the time on the field it’s hard to watch them grow or expect them to grow.

Phillips played almost 450 snaps this season and at times he looked good, mostly early in the season. Yet he was not able to get on the field and perform consistently when given the opportunity. Phillips has a lot of potential but there were concerns about his effort prior to the 2015 draft and it was reported that Suh had decided to personally work with him through the off-season. That did not translate into a lot of success on the field.

In part, again, this can be blamed on the Dolphins previous coaching staff who typically choose to let rookie sit rather than play. Yet as the season moved on, Phillips production wasn’t what many expected. He finished the season with two sacks, both early in the season and had 19 tackles total on the year.

Overall the entire defense could have made this list but for various reasons these are the five players that I felt could have and should have done more than what they did. Taylor by far was the most disappointing player on the Dolphins defense but on a personal level I was far more disappointed in Michael Thomas whom I believed would not only play very well but solidify the other safety position.