Miami Dolphins open camp to kick-off 2017 season

In 2016 defensive coordinator Vance Joseph did a decent job with a defensive unit that had a lot of holes and lacked talent at almost every position. Couple the lack of depth with injury issues like that of Reshad Jones and Xavien Howard and Joseph managed to keep the defense from completely imploding.

Part of that reason was Matt Burke. Burke coached the linebackers and while the linebackers were not good last year, Burke did a good job at keeping the band-aid fix on the unit as he continually dealt with injuries and a severe lack of experienced depth.

This year Burke takes over the DC role for Joseph who is now the head coach in Denver. Burke is a very respected coach and the players praise his work ethic and preparation. The transition from linebacker coach to DC shouldn’t be problematic for Burke and the Dolphins defense, now with better talent and less injuries should improve quickly with Burke calling that side of the ball.

Miami should be more aggressive than they were in 2016. Partly due to the personnel changes and partly due to Burke’s style of coaching. As Miami tries to improve against the run, Burke will also try to utilize a deep defensive end position to put pressure on opposing quarterbacks.

Burke takes over a unit that is healthy at all positions but still lacks quality experienced depth at defensive tackle and linebacker. It should be interesting this training camp to see what Burke introduces into the defense.