How Dodson Has Embraced the Rookie LBs (Though Still Not Ready to Step Aside)

Some veterans get sour and post cryptic Instagram reels when the team spends a high pick at their position. But thus far in camp, Tyrel Dodson chose the sweet route of interaction with his new teammate. Rather than make it messy, Dodson has responded to the Miami Dolphins drafting two linebackers by inviting them over for a Bible study and a game of pickup basketball.

Then, he reminded everyone that he's still the starter.

Asked last week after a minicamp practice whether the rookies put him at a disadvantage, the eighth-year vet didn't flinch in his playing time predictions, even with the influx of new talent in the meeting room.

"I'm still here, why would it be a disadvantage?" Dodson said. "It'd be a disadvantage if I were shipped off somewhere and not willing to compete. I'm here another year in the league, undrafted, man. Leader of men, that's who I am."

It takes a certain kind of grown-up dude to feel that confident and unbothered amid replacement reinforcements being brought in by your new bosses, but Dodson's play on the field certainly warrants such an attitude. He racked up 129 tackles and five sacks in 2025, and while not putting up a stink, it's also clear he's not handing the job to a draft pick out of politeness.

Seat at the Big Boy Table

Miami used a second-round pick on Jacob Rodriguez, while later adding Kyle Louis, a player some feel could be the steal of the draft class.

Those kind of moves usually puts a veteran on edge. But Dodson is of the old school line of thinking – game recognize game. And for Rodriguez specifically, there is plenty of game to like.

"Me and JB [Jordyn Brooks] watched him last year going crazy, seven forced fumbles," Dodson said of Rodriguez. "If you're a linebacker anywhere, I support you. The table is big enough. You got seven mics here, you got seven linebackers. Table is big enough to sit right here."

Read the tea leaves carefully, though. The welcoming-committee routine is genuine, but it's also the posture of a man secure enough in his own spot to be magnanimous about it. You don't hand someone a chair at the table you're sitting at the head of.

The Green Dot Question

When asked by a reporter whether wearing the defensive green dot –— the radio helmet, the signal-caller's badge — matters to him, Dodson continued to come off confident in what happens next, but this time, for a different reason.

"It's written, whatever God wants," Dodson said. "As the Bible says, it's written already. So if it's me, it's me. If it's not me, it's still me."

Translation: He'd love the green dot, he thinks he's earned the green dot, and he's not going to lobby for it on the record.

Off the Field, On the Court

Dodson kept circling back to the word "fellowship," and he meant it literally. The linebacker room has apparently turned into a basketball league with a prayer group attached.

"Me and Jackson Woodard, we've been beating up on JB and J-Rod in basketball," Dodson said. "We fellowship, read the Bible together. Football is good, but we're trying to reach the higher level of our spiritual."

Asked who's the best hooper in the group, Dodson, as you may have expected at this point, wasn't about to put himself second to someone now.

"I'm the best."

Best on the team or best among the linebackers?

"I'll show you better than I can tell you."

The Buffalo Blueprint

Dodson's calm about the rookies makes more sense once you understand where he came from. In Buffalo, he sat in a linebacker room stacked with talent and watched veterans show him the ropes.

"I had Jordan Poyer, Micah Hyde, Tre'Davious White, Tremaine Edmunds, Matt Milano, A.J. Klein," Dodson said. "I had so many guys – that's why we won so many games."

Now he's trying to be that guy for Rodriguez and Louis. "Just trying to lay out the red carpet for them so it makes it easier," he said. "That's what someone did for me."

It's a genuinely mature, easier-said-than-done take. Though it's worth noting that mentoring the rookies and outplaying the rookies are not mutually exclusive.

Dodson clearly seems intent on doing both.

Same Person, Different Beast

As for the schematic transition under Jeff Hafley, Dodson seems genuinely unbothered by the change, acting as if the swapping of coaches is more or less akin to changing which model of Uber picks you up and gets you from Point A to Point B.

"Mike backer is Mike backer," he said. "You got to close the front, make the communication calls, make plays when they come to you. You all run Cover 3, Cover 2, Cover 4. Same person, different beast."

Same Dodson, different season. The men at the table may be different, but the number of chairs stays the same. Just don't expect Tyrel Dodson to give up his seat.

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