New Responsibilities, New Roles in Dolphins Defense
In their biggest move of the offseason so far, the Miami Dolphins made highly respected coach Vic Fangio their new defensive coordinator for the next three seasons.
But the hiring of a new coordinator means the implementation of a new system and the inheriting of players who weren’t originally meant to fit said system.
Remember, before Mike McDaniel’s arrival as head coach, Brian Flores was the man in charge, and his area of expertise was defense.
Players like Christian Wilkins, Raekwon Davis, Xavien Howard, Byron Jones, Brandon Jones, Jaelan Phillips, Nik Needham, Elandon Roberts, Emmanuel Ogbah and Jevon Holland all were brought in by Flores and retained by Josh Boyer after the front office decided to keep the strong-performing defense together for one more run in 2022.
But how will they fit in Fangio’s system? Will their roles remain the same? Will they have as much success? Are there players on the bench or via free agency who can better suit the new philosophy?
Many questions will be asked, speculation will arise, but clear answers may not come until training camp or until season’s end.
But to get a clearer understanding of what’s to come, we must understand the general aspects of Fangio’s defensive philosophy.
Bye Bye Blitz
Unlike predecessors Flores and Boyer, Fangio’s defense doesn’t blitz much, and that’s proven by his own play-calling as well as the play-calling of the notable apples that have fallen from his tree — Chargers head coach Brandon Staley, and new Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator Sean Desai.
This means Miami’s former blitzing standouts — Brandon Jones, Jerome Baker, Jevon Holland — may have to use their athleticism in other ways.
Fangio sees the traditional blitz as more of a gamble than a high-percentage play: You risk big in order to win big. Fangio found a different way — confusing the quarterback post-snap with disguised fronts, alignments, drop-backs, and moving parts in the secondary. In this way of thinking, the quarterback not only has to read where his receivers are going on a play, but also read where the defensive backs are headed. Throwing lanes may shrink, open areas on field may close, what looks open may not be open.
The way Fangio lines up his defenders may look the same the majority of the time, but in his base alignment the intentions throughout the game may differ. The defense can switch from playing zone to man to robber coverage while all giving the quarterback the same look each time.
As a result, it is a lot to process as the play is developing for a quarterback in less than a handful of seconds, and allows the pass rush more time to get home or increases the chance of the passer to make a mistake.
Front seven starters like Bradley Chubb, Phillips, Wilkins and Zach Sieler should have ample opportunities to feast when isolated in one-on-one situations, especially in third-and-long situations.
Safeties must be Athletic
In order to ensure the pass rush can get to the quarterback, the secondary must do its job. And this involves everyone on the back end.
The defense relies on a 2-safety shell, which uses that template to roll into different coverages, and disguise what the defense is doings in the secondary in order to confuse quarterbacks. By playing two safeties on the back end, one defender is taken away from the run-support box. However, these safeties still are close enough to support the run defense as they do not line up as deep as safeties usually do in other schemes. This allows the safeties to immediately contribute if there is a handoff, but the safeties must also be athletic enough to recover from run reads, if there is a passing play.
While foreseeing Holland blitzing less, he should see a return to a more versatile role in the secondary— robbing open spaces, being used as a spy on quarterbacks, or dropping deep.
Brandon Jones could see less work on the field. Outside from being a talented blitzer and run supporter, Jones has not demonstrated that he is a trustworthy cover safety. In Fangio’s scheme, shading and sticking with your man is essential to not having to rely on the blitz in order to stop the pass. “Covering” is the name of the game.
Elijah Campbell, who is primarily a special teams player, could see an increased work load. Toward the end of 2022, the Dolphins valued Campbell’s athleticism and ability to cover to where they considered putting him at safety, free safety or nickel. Campbell had success playing at safety in Miami’s regular season finale versus the Jets. He also was used to spy on Buffalo Bill’s Josh Allen in the wild-card playoff game in Orchard Park. Campbell said his explosion could be used best at the safety position and he is determined to prove to the Dolphins that he is not just a special teams player.
Chemistry between DBs
Fangio’s defense uses a lot of Cover-4 coverage and zone reads, which means every player in the secondary has to train their eyes on their responsibilities when it comes to the receivers and their routes.
By extension, each player must keep their eyes open to not just one receiver but sometimes to multiple receivers in order to ensure no receiver is running into their zone of responsibility. A receiver may start in a particular defender’s zone of coverage, but may cut their route into another’s. This can create confusion of responsibility by defenders during a play.
In order to combat this, each defender must know when to make or break responsibility of their zone. If there are multiple receivers moving through a single defender’s zone, then the defender must understand what area of the field the coverage is leaning toward, and who to cling to and who to release. During the release of a wide receiver into another defender’s zone, the next nearby defender has to be aware of the oncoming responsibility.
It takes practice, it takes the defense playing together repeatedly, and it takes communication. Sometimes verbally, but mostly silently.
The trick is to get the defensive backs so familiar with each other and their duties to where they can accept and release players without having to call out to each other, and they can almost read each other’s thoughts just by looking at each other on the field when they feel they are in trouble with their zone.
Cornerbacks Xavien Howard, Nik Needham, and Kader Kohou all have proven to thrive in man coverage in the past, but this new system will be a different challenge for them as well as Byron Jones if he ends up sticking with the Dolphins. They will have to keep their eyes open and head on a swivel.
Linebackers & Defensive Line
In Fangio’s system, linebackers typically set up closely behind the defensive linemen in a 4-3 under front (where the defensive tackle is lined up on the weak-side B-gap) in order to quickly combat inside handoffs and outside runs. This type of front uses 3-4 personnel, but slides the linemen to the weak side of the formation, while the strong-side linebacker drops down on the line of scrimmage.
Combined with defensive line’s new “gap & a half” responsibilities, instead of the old two-gap duties, this should allow for the front seven to fly to the ball quicker to combat the opposing rushing attack. The Dolphins already were stout against the run last season with defensive tackles Christian Wilkins & Zach Sieler occupying the middle of the line.
As mentioned earlier, when it comes to the pass rush, the disguises in the secondary, and base coverage underneath and over the top should help with that.
This defense calls for athletic outside linebackers. And it’s a good thing for the Dolphins that they already have some — Jaelan Phillips and Bradley Chubb. Chubb has experience dropping back in coverage, but Phillips has primarily played with his hand in the dirt.
Since Phillips was drafted in 2021, the Dolphins have experimented with him as an outside linebacker, but it’s a transition that still needs work. His pass rush and pursuit are still his best gifts.
Chubb’s experience should lead him to be the strong-side LB while taking on tight ends, while Phillips can still use his gifts at getting to the quarterback on the weak side. In theory, Phillips and his adjacent DT (whether it be Wilkins or Sieler) should have plenty of one-on-one opportunities.
During passing situations, linebackers will give a similar look initially, but will drop into the open space behind them once the ball is snapped. The middle of the field that once looked open to the quarterback is now closed, and could make him hesitate or double-clutch if he initially planned to throw across the middle of the field. If the quarterback hesitates, that gives extra time to the pass rush. If the quarterback throws, it’s a slimmer chance of success, especially if a wide receiver needs to make an adjustment on where to cut over the middle. Depth and timing between the quarterback and receiver could be altered, which always gives a small edge to the defense.
