Dolphins Free Agency Grades: Kendall Fuller
The Dolphins have signed free agent CB Kendall Fuller to a 2-year deal worth $16.5 million. Fuller is coming off a season with the Washington Commanders where he tallied 79 tackles and 2 interceptions.
By Daulton Drew
Kendall Fuller was once considered a first-round talent before injuries saw him drop to the 3rd round of the 2016 NFL Draft. He spent most of his career in Washington with a two-year stint, and Super Bowl victory, with the Kansas City Chiefs.
Fuller is coming off of a season where he made 79 tackles with 2 interceptions. He was targeted 73 times with 49 receptions allowed. Depending on how much stock you place in certain areas, this signing could be amazing, or a huge question mark.
For example, per Pro Football Reference, Fuller allowed 55 completions on 80 targets. A completion percentage of 68.8% and a passer rating of 120.4, the worst for him since 2019. He also allowed 9 touchdowns. Compare that to Xavien Howard who had a completion percentage of 62.9% and QBR of 81.3 with 1 touchdown allowed, and you may scratch your head.
Pro Football Focus, on the other hand, had Fuller graded as an 83.1, his highest grade since 2017. Keep in mind the monster contract Xavien Howard had, and his 55.1 PFF grade last season, the worst of his career, and it should make a bit more sense.
Additionally, compared to Kader Kohou who gave up a whopping 81.9% completion percentage and 131 QBR, it stands to reason that Fuller may have been brought in to compete with, or simply start over, Kohou. He has been a great underdog story after a terrific 2022 campaign, but last year showed that he may not be a starting caliber corner for a team with Super Bowl aspirations.
Since Fuller began his career in the slot, and new DC Anthony Weaver has mentioned moving guys around a lot in his scheme, it would not surprise me to see a starting lineup of Ramsey and Cam Smith outside with Fuller in the slot.
I believe this signing will take Miami out of the running, if they were there, to begin with, for Chiefs corner L'Jarius Sneed. I can see the Dolphins taking a shot at another safety in free agency, but other than that, the secondary seems set.
To summarize, Fuller feels like a really good signing. His stats from this season don't look amazing, but we have to remember he was playing on a historically bad defense. Integrating him into a good system, with better players around him, should see his numbers drastically improve. For the price, this is a home run signing and, if this is the season this team finally makes a deep playoff run, we may look back on this signing as a huge reason why.
Kendall Fuller Grade: A