Can New Dolphins CB Eli Apple Push For Starting Role?
The Miami Dolphins moved swiftly to address the loss of Jalen Ramsey, who suffered a meniscus injury that will keep him sidelined till December, signing a veteran cornerback with just as much starting experience as Xavien Howard.
The Dolphins signed former first-round pick Eli Apple, who has started 78 of the 88 games he's played in his seven-year NFL career, which has been spent with the New York Giants, New Orleans Saints, Carolina Panthers and Cincinnati Bengals. The news was first reported by the NFL Network, but has been confirmed by a league source.
Interesting enough, Apple and Dolphins receiver Tyreek Hill have a colorful history with one another.
"Monday's practice gone be fun," Hill tweeted out on a link of Apple signing with the Dolphins.
The rivalry goes back a couple of seasons, stemming from when Apple's Bengals bounced Hill's Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game in 2021, a 27-24 overtime thriller.
After the game, Apple did some celebrating on Twitter, tweeting out "Oh yea that chiefs cheetah pack finna hit way crazier the 2nd time."
Hill responded with an "I owe you" tirade last season, before the Dolphins played the Bengals.
In that Dolphins loss, which happened to feature Tua Tagovailoa suffering a scary concussion that got him sent to the hospital, Hill caught 10 passes for 160 yards. But the majority of those receptions weren't caught on Apple.
How did Apple perform last season?
Apple, a former Ohio State standout who was drafted by the New York Giants with the 10th pick in the first round of the 2016 NFL draft, started 15 games for the Bengals last season, contributing 49 tackles and eight pass deflections.
Last season opposing quarterbacks had a 96.9 passer rating when throwing at players Apple was covering, and opposing quarterbacks converted 57 percent of the passes thrown at a player he was defending.
Apple, who turns 28 on Aug. 9, went all offseason without finding a new team. But that's sometimes common for aged, vested veterans looking to cherrypick the right situation.
In Miami he's joining a franchise in need of depth to fortify a unit that lost Ramsey, has Nik Needham on the PUP list because of the Achilles injury he suffered last October, and spent most of last week without Keion Crossen, who is getting a second opinion on an undisclosed injury.
What are some of Apple's biggest shortcomings?
One of the biggest knocks on Apple is his lack of ball awareness, which happens to be a concern he shares with Noah Igbinoghene, the Dolphins' 2020 first-round pick, who along with rookie Cam Smith and others will compete with Apple to replace Ramsey.
Apple has pulled down five interceptions and deflected more than 10 passes twice in his career. But on the positive side he's proven to be a relatively durable player.
Apple hasn't played more than 100 special teams snaps in a season at any point of his career, so the odds of him making it onto Miami's 53-man roster if he's not among the team's top five cornerbacks are slim.
