Three high safety looks are very unique in today's NFL game. It’s a formation that removes a defensive front and places those assets in the backfield. Think of it this way, take out a Defensive End or Nose Tackle and replace him with another safety playing center field.
In a normal formation, we have two safeties, free and strong. There are multiple ways these two can line up or play coverage. When Mike Nolan was the Miami Dolphins defensive coordinator, Nolan ran a Robber Technique. Dropping the strong safety (Rashed Jones) into the box and allowing the free safety (Chris Clemons) to play center field; aka the Robber. Allowing Clemons to cover the fields by utilizing his best asset - speed. This type of backfield is an attack schema. You need an aggressive front and hard press man coverage from the cornerbacks. If done properly, this leads to turnovers high utilization from your defensive ends, and strong safety.
When Kevin Coyle led the Dolphins' defense he flipped the script and implemented the zebra technique. Not based on the animal, but rather the letter Z. Basically, these two high-level safety allow for both safeties to be identical twins. Cloning each other on opposite sides of the field. It’s a seamless coverage and build for both sides of the field. This is a bait-and-see approach. Allowing the safeties to play interchangeably by not exposing any weak side of the field. It works great with a cover 3 and Sky zone responsibilities and fortifies as a 4 - 3 presence (4 defensive linemen and 3 linebackers)
I have no idea what type of formation or concept the Miami Dolphins news defensive coordinator will deploy. If he does want to go to a three-high safety do the Dolphins even have the right personnel? There could be some challenges to this unique formation, and the key to all of this would be Jalen Ramsey.
Before we understand the personnel, let’s first breakdown the formation the Dolphins could use.
There are three levels for deployment:
Level 1 - Safety backfield - FS - Free Safety, JS - Joker Safety, and B- Boundary Safety.
Level 2 - Linebackers - Strong, Middle and Weak side
Level 3 - Defensive tackles, and a nose tackle
and of course, you have your cornerbacks on each respective boundary.
For this formation to work rather well, you need the following:
Defensive Ends and a Nose Tackle that can control the line of scrimmage. The Dolphins two starting defensive ends are on the injured reserve. Right now, I’m not sure who will be lining up opposite Shaq Barrett. In this case, it could be Zach Sieler.
For Nose Tackle think of Vince Wilfork type of player, a person that eats space. Unfortunately, the Dolphins don’t have such an asset on their current roster. Zach Sieler could be an option or Benito Jones, but then there is a gap at Defensive End.
For your reference the Raven last year used Justin Madubiuke (LE), Michael Pierce (NT) Brent Urban (RE).
How the linebackers could be used by the Dolphins to make it work.
At Linebacker - speed, speed, and more speed. Linebackers that can attack and tackle are key in covering all aspects of the field.
Jordyn Brooks signing makes sense for this type of formation. He’s a fast and fluid linebacker who attacks at the point of contact. David Long and Anthony Walker are solid plug-ins for Safe and Weak Side. Keep an eye on Channing Tindall, as he has the speed for this type of formation.
For reference the Ravens used, Patrick Queen, Roquan Smith, and David Ojabo.
Safeties - Currently the Dolphins have Jevon Holland as their Free Safety, and Jordan Poyer as their Strong-side Safety. For the Joker, I would recommend Jalen Ramsey. The two cornerbacks could be Kendall Fuller and either Kader Kohou, Cam Smith, or Nick Needham.
Allowing Ramsey to play the Joker, is a position that he excels in. Roaming the line of scrimmage he’s the wild card that plays freely based on the pace and read of the game. Attacking the line of scrimmage for an RPO or even playing a spy on QBs with elite speed (Josh Allen, Lamar, etc). Ramsey could be used the same way the Ravens Deployed Kyle Hamilton.
There are pitfalls for the Dolphins to use this formation.
Let’s not believe there are no concerns with this formation. We are removing our best player from shadowing an elite wide receiver and putting him into the box. Secondly, the Dolphins are thin up front, unless they make some drastic changes in the draft or what’s left on the free agency market.
Taking that into account, and if this formation is deemed important to Anthony Weaver, he would be wise to bring in these veteran free agents:
- Justin Simmons - would take over Ramsey in the Joker role and allow Ramsey to move back to Cornerback. Fluid Free Safety, on the wrong side of the 30, but can still play meaningful games
- Kyle Van Noy - bring him back? Why not! Van Noy played well last year under the Ravens' schema and is aware of Anthony Weaver's mentality. He could be used as a linebacker or even DE.
- Calais Campbell - Long-time NFL veteran who can hold the line of scrimmage as DE or NT. From Miami, and who wouldn’t want to end their career in South Florida? Campbell can play in a situation where this schema is deployed and rotates in and out.
With that being said, the Miami Dolphins would be wise to look at interior help, especially if they want to use this formation. With Christian Wilkins moving to Las Vegas, the Dolphins haven’t made a free agent splash to replace him, which presents an opportunity to find his replacement in the draft, these two prospects could be available for them in the 1st or 2nd round ironically both from the same university:
- 1st round Byron Murphy II - Texas
- 2nd round T’Vondre Sweat - Texas
My preference would be Sweat. I like this kid. He’s a beast in the middle and reminds me a lot of Wilkins. He gets dirty in his technique, meaning a bull in a china shop. I like his relentless motor and his passion for the game. Pairing him with Sieler I think would be a perfect fit not only for this scheme but for depth overall.
The Three Safety look can be deployed for our Miami Dolphins. It could be a schema that worked as well as cover 0, but there are concerns with the personnel and adopting a new schema that has never been implemented for this squad. The coaches have some work to do, let’s see what happens with what’s left in free agency and the draft.