How Defensive Coordinator Took Stock of the Dolphins Linebacker Room

Miami Dolphins defensive coordinator Sean Duggan is no stranger to linebacker play. He was the linebackers coach with Jeff Hafley when he was the head coach at Boston college. He kept that title when Hafley took him from Boston College to Green Bay.

The Green Bay Packers gave him plenty to work with in Quay Walker and Edgerrin Cooper, both of whom are very talented.

This past offseason, Hafley was hired as the head coach and brought Duggan with him to be his defensive coordinator, and he likely feels right at home.

The Dolphins have gone a similar route that the Packers did at linebacker. They recently gave Jordyn Brooks a contract extension as one of the leaders of the defense, and drafted three guys in the middle rounds of April's draft.

The Dolphins have had a lot of turnover in a lot of places within the roster. In the midst of a rebuild, it could be hard to find strengths in some spots. Linebacker is not one of them; the Dolphins’ linebacker room led by Brooks might be the best position group on the team.

It’s Duggan’s first season at the helm, so there is a lot to learn for his new pupils, but they are picking up the defense and trying to run with it.

“They're all doing a great job, we've thrown a lot at the linebackers,” Duggan said to Dolphins reporters Thursday.

“We've put a lot on their plate. To handle the amount of information and install we've done is pretty impressive from those three, and they're just getting better. I mean we've had only a couple of days in pads, but you can tell the game is starting to slow down a little bit with each practice, which is really what you want to see. For the guys calling the huddle, their command in the huddle is good. They're starting to get a feel for the calls. When you get a feel for the calls, you can start looking across the ball and be like, okay, well, what am I getting? Is there a cut split here? You know, is this tight end a little deeper? Is the guard sitting back in his stance? So when you start to get more and more comfortable with the calls, you can start to pick up on what the offense is doing.”

Playing fast is what every coach hopes his defense can do, so the faster they can pick things up within the defense, the better they will be early in the season.

In the early portions of training camp, however, Duggan is impressed with what his rookie linebackers are doing to pick the defense up as quickly as possible.

“But I think just those three have done a great job,” Duggan said. “Just their attitude every day, right? Their willingness to learn. And what I love is they just go out there and play, man. Just go play fast. We'll correct the mistakes. We'll correct everything that we need to schematically, but just go cut it loose out there.”

Young, but With Guys to Lean On

The investment the Dolphins made in the defense this offseason was arguably the largest at linebacker. Brooks got his extension. They drafted Jacob Rodriguez in the second round as a potential anchor for their defense. They drafted Kyle Louis in the fourth round as a do-it-all type of player, and Trey Moore for a more traditional role.

The Dolphins are rolling with a youth movement throughout the roster, and linebacker is not an exception to that.

They do, however, have some veterans in Brooks and Tyrel Dodson that the rookies in the room can lean on, especially with teaching each player how to adjust to the pro game.

“I think the veteran leadership's got to push the message of the head coach and then teach them things that have worked for them,” Duggan said. “Whether it's routine, whether it's recovery, whether it's how to learn the playbook, how to study film. Everybody's different, but I think just if they can teach like, hey, this has been my process because they've earned the right to teach that, right? They’re vets and they've had a lot of success in this league, but just teaching them how to go about being a pro because those guys are still learning that.”

Fading Camp Star?

One of the biggest things to watch at linebacker was the progress of Willie Gay Jr.

Gay was one of the stars of training camp last year, but that did not translate to playing time or a starring role in the regular season.

He has a fresh start under Hafley and Duggan, but it’s still a work in progress

“I think the last three practices for Willie have probably been his best ones,” Duggan said. “I think you can tell he's starting to slow down. I think Willie's got one speed, you know what I mean? He's all gas, no brakes which I love, but you got to do it within the framework of the call, right? I think it's starting to slow down for him. He's starting to see a little more and it's resulting in plays.”

Working within the framework of the defense while keeping the same play speed will be key to whether the Dolphins keep the veteran on the roster or how much playing time he gets.

Where From Here?

In an ideal world, the Dolphins’ defense should be able to lean on its linebackers early in the season as they go through some of the growing pains that are likely to come with a fairly new roster.

Brooks and Dodson are going to be key figures in that, but also in getting their younger teammates ready to play.

Rodriguez is a player the Dolphins think highly of after drafting him in the second round. Louis’ skill set is intriguing, especially in Jeff Hafley’s defense where he can move to two different levels. They drafted Moore before they drafted Louis, so they clearly value him as well.

Linebacker is already a strength of the team. If the young guys can come along quickly to help push the veterans, they can only grow from there.

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