Miami Dolphins depth at corner depth is all about inexperience and youth
By Brian Miller
The Miami Dolphins secondary is a mess right now but the depth issue that Miami has is one that should be expected if we are being honest.
Xavien Howard missed last weekend and struggled in the Bengals game dealing a groin injury. Byron Jones has been out all year recovering from an Achilles surgery. Trill Williams will miss the entire year with a knee injury.
Miami finds themselves struggling with coverage on a defense that needs its corners be very good in coverage considering how often they blitz. You would think the problem lies with the talent but in reality, it’s the youth and inexperience.
Nik Needham has been around long enough but he is playing out on the edge instead of inside. Kader Kohou is an undrafted rookie and has played well all year. Still, the Dolphins, without their top corner, is going to struggle.
Miami can’t, as much as we would love, go out and trade for a capable starting caliber cornerback. Eventually, Howard and Jones will be on the field. So what do you do then? Miami’s failure is not addressing the position in the draft.
By now, the Dolphins should have drafted a corner high enough to replace Jones at some point and fill in for Howard. Howard has had injuries in the past.
When was the last time Miami drafted a cornerback? Can you remember off the top of your head?
Sadly, you would be right if you were thinking Noah Igbinoghene in 2020. The first round draft pick has been a monumental bust that the team needs to move on from but sadly, they have the belief he will get better. Don’t listen to the local media who tell you how much he is working on improving or how great a guy he is. In a game, he is a liability and there is a reason he is inactive.
You need to go back further to find the next one and that was Cornell Armstrong in 2018. The 6th round pick lasted two seasons in the NFL. Cordrea Tankersley was taken one year earlier in round three. He lasted three seasons in the league.
Miami’s went all in on Byron Jones and when he is healthy, he has an impact because his coverage skills are good but the Dolphins addressed the position with relatively inexperienced players.
You can argue that Miami does well finding talent on the undrafted market but they don’t do well at times with evaluating free agents.
Miami signed Justin Bethel, an 11 year veteran who is 32 years old. He has not made an impact in a needy secondary. Against the Jets he played 86% of the defensive snaps and 82% of the snaps against the Bengals, the problem? They were special teams snaps. Bethel wasn’t signed to be a corner for the Dolphins. His forte is on special teams and he is good at it.
The rest of the Dolphins corners? Elijah Campbell has three years experience and Keion Crossen has five. Of the two, Crossen is seeing plenty of playing time but again, against the Jets, his time was on special teams taking no defensive snaps. Campbell? Minimal defensive snaps according to ProFootballReference.com.
Players like Kohou are the building blocks for the future. They will be the reliable depth players that all teams need, like Nik Needham but any team is going to struggle when these players are either not quite ready or thrust into a situation like Miami where both starting corners are out.
Miami’s defense is built to rely on the cornerbacks doing their job well and they invested a lot of money into Jones and Howard but that doesn’t leave an allocation for other pricey veterans who could help. Miami gambled on Jones being ready. They gambled that they wouldn’t need another quality corner just in case and the lost.
The depth Miami has isn’t bad and they are perfect if you need them for a series, maybe two. They are fine if you need them to replace one of your starters for a short time but inexperience catches up and right now, it’s catching up.