Dolphins 2025 Linebacker Report Card: Miami's Depth Could Use Some Work

The Miami Dolphins’ season did not go as planned, largely because their roster didn’t meet expectations.

Now that the team is turning the page with GM Jon-Eric Sullivan and HC Jeff Hafley, we’re taking one last look back at the 2025 roster and mostly grading players who played meaningful snaps.

We’re going position by position to grade every player based on the film study we did during the season and their expectations.

We’ve already done the quarterbacks, running backs, receivers, tight ends, offensive line, and interior defensive line, and edge rushers, so it's time to do the linebackers.

Jordyn Brooks

Are there really any compliments we could give Jordyn Brooks that he didn’t already get this past season? The Dolphins’ standout linebacker received an All-Pro selection and led the league in tackles with 183.

Those things are impressive, but Brooks' most impressive achievement might be playing as well as he did when Miami’s defense was struggling. The Dolphins’ defense got off to a horrid start against the run in 2025.

Despite that, Brooks was solid all season, racking up 13 tackles for loss and a missed tackle percentage of just 4.3, according to Pro Football Focus. It’s impossible to imagine a linebacker having as many tackles as Brooks did and only missing 4.3% of the time.

He was the anchor to Miami’s defense and clearly stepped up as a leader throughout a tough season. Eventually, the Dolphins’ defense showed some improvement (against bad teams at least), and Brooks’ play started to shine even more.

There’s an argument that he was the Dolphins’ best player last season, so his grade should come as no surprise.

Grade: A+

Tyrel Dodson

Dodson started in 16 games this past season and was an incredibly productive player next to Brooks. He recorded 129 tackles and 10 tackles for loss, giving the Dolphins adequate linebacker play.

That’s really all it was, though: adequate. Dodson has some limitations that can make him a liability against the run and pass. Against the run, he’s got a bad tendency to get swallowed up by blockers climbing to the second level.

The Dolphins can live with that since Jordyn Brooks can cover for some of those reps. However, Dodson is a total negative in coverage. He doesn’t have the instincts and athletic profile to be effective in zones.

Opposing teams abused Dodson’s limitations this season, as he got pulled all over the field by motions and play-action. That put him in a lot of tough spots, which is why his passer rating allowed of 108.7 is so high.

New coach Jeff Hafley asks a lot of his linebackers, so it wouldn’t be surprising if the team moved on from Dodson this season.

Grade: C-

KJ Britt

Britt played just 142 defensive snaps this past season, as he was mostly a core special teams player for the Dolphins. He logged 329 snaps on special teams and had 11 total tackles on those units.

On defense, Britt started in place of Dodson against the Los Angeles Chargers. He had a solid game, recording 13 total tackles. On tape, it was clear that Britt was a solid run defender who didn’t shy away from contact.

However, his lack of movement skills makes him a tough sell because it’s easy to pick on him in coverage. Teams did that to Dodson anyway, but Britt wasn’t the answer to that problem.

Grade: B-

Willie Gay Jr.

Gay had an impressive preseason and training camp. He was constantly making plays in practice and had some good moments in the preseason games as well.

However, when it came time to play regular season football, it was clear that the coaching staff had no plan to carve out significant snaps for Gay. He got 124 defense snaps, most of which came in the final two weeks of the season.

Like Britt, he also contributed on special teams. He took 124 reps on teams but only had two total tackles.

Miami likely didn’t play Gay on defense because of the team’s struggles against the run. The Dolphins had one of the run defenses in the sport for the first half of the season, and that’s probably Gay’s biggest weakness.

Could the team have used his speed and pass-rush ability at certain points? Probably, but the risk of putting an even worse run defender on the field wasn’t worth the payoff.

Grade: D

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