Diving into the Miami Dolphins pre camp defensive front

The Miami Dolphins allowed Davon Godchaux to leave in free agency but does that leave them thin on the defensive front? Not at all.

Under Brian Flores, versatility is a must and that even means along the defensive front where a DE could be in a four-point stance as a tackle or a tackle could be in a three on the edge. It’s how Flores uses his players that makes his defense so good.

Having players that can move around gives the Dolphins options even if a slide left, right, or middle is for one play only. It makes opposing offenses have to game plan or think in a matter of seconds when a look changes across the trench.

Miami has five players listed as defensive ends and rookie Jaelan Phillips is listed as a linebacker but plays as a true edge rusher as well. One player is listed as a defensive lineman and six others are listed as defensive tackles.

Miami didn’t invest much in the position this off-season and aside from Phillips didn’t draft a defensive lineman. Starting inside, we can take a look at where the D’Line stands as of now.

Christian Wilkins is the spirit and emotion of the front trench. His energy is through the roof and he is the first one on the field with the offense to celebrate a touchdown. His energy and leadership spill from him but as a player, he still has room to grow.

Wilkins needs to become more consistent and more dominant at the point of attack but he continues to get better and 2021 could be his big year.

The Dolphins need him to be but they also need Raekwon Davis to make a major jump this year as well. Davis looked really good most of the year in 2020 and he should be much more improved in ’21 with a full off-season. The duo of Davis and Wilkins should be the primary interior lineup all season.

The Dolphins will rotate and when they do, 9-year veteran John Jenkins should get plenty of reps. Jenkins has 165 tackles in 93 games that have seen him on five different teams. In 2019, Jenkins was with the Dolphins for a single season where he posted 30 tackles good enough for his second-most in a given season. He played for the Bears in 2020 but has rejoined Miami for the ’21 campaign.

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Miami will also see Zach Sieler rotate in and out and Sieler will probably see more playing time than Jenkins. Sieler had a fantastic season in 2020 notching 45 tackles. This will be his third season in Miami and his fourth in the NFL.

Finally, Adam Butler will also provide competition and depth. Butler joins Miami after four seasons with the Patriots.

At defensive end, Emmanuel Ogbah returns in pursuit of another good season. He will be a free agent after the ’21 season so he will be looking to make an impression on both the Dolphins and the rest of the league he may look for his services next March.

We discussed Phillips earlier and he is listed as a linebacker but he is going to be the Dolphins edge guy opposite Ogbah.

Miami doesn’t have a lot of true depth at DE. Jason Strowbridge has some growing to do as does Tyshun Render but at this point, they are more or less developing. The Dolphins use their linebackers off the edge a lot so Miami doesn’t need to have the true to form DE.

Ogbah is entering his 6th season with Miami and the combined experience of every other “DE” on the roster equals six years.