Camp Countdown: Who Will Lead the Pass Rush?

Among the many issues the Miami Dolphins had to address in the offseason was the alarming lack of a pass rush, and they made several moves to that end.

The Dolphins signed edge defenders Shaq Lawson and Emmanuel Ogbah, along with former New England starter Kyle Van Noy, and then selected Boise State pass-rushing specialist Curtis Weaver in the fifth round of the 2020 NFL Draft.

But will that be enough?

And, more importantly, who will step up as the guy who can put some bit in the Dolphins pass rush?

Let's remember that the team's sack leader in 2019 was Taco Charlton, who had a modest five sacks, a total actually skewed by a couple of coverage sacks and two more when initial pressure from a teammate brought the quarterback to him.

The Dolphins were dead last in the NFL in sack percentage per pass attempt while they finished with a team total of 23. That was their lowest total ever in a 16-game season.

2019 MIAMI DOLPHINS SACK LEADERS

DE Taco Charlton — 5.0

LB Sam Eguavoen — 3.5

LB Vince Biegel — 2.5

DT Davon Godchaux — 2.0

DT Christian Wilkins — 2.0

LB Jerome Baker — 1.5

LB Trent Harris — 1.5

CB Nik Needham — 1.0

DT John Jenkins — 1.0

LB Andrew Van Ginkel — 1.0

DE Zach Sieler — 1.0

DE Charles Harris — 0.5

DE Jonathan Ledbetter — 0.5

When he was asked about the lack of a proven pass rusher last training camp, then-defensive coordinator Patrick Graham said the scheme would help the Dolphins generate some pressure.

It didn't work out that way.

No scheme, no matter how great it might be, can work if there's no players good enough to make it work.

The Dolphins need to have players produce in the pass-rushing department in 2020, plain and simple.

But who?

Based on the numbers last year, it would have to be a newcomer, right?

Van Noy had a career-high 6.5 sacks for the Patriots last season, this after getting a modest 3.5 in 2018. He's more of a well-rounded linebacker than a pure pass rusher.

Lawson had 16.5 sacks in four seasons with Buffalo, including a career-high 6 last season when he played 47 percent of the Bills' defensive snaps.

Ogbah, meanwhile, had 5.5 sacks in 10 games for the Chiefs last season before landing on injured reserve. In his three final full games, he played 65, 90 and 83 percent of Kansas City's defensive snaps.

Then there's Weaver, who was a sack machine at Boise State, setting the Mountain West Conference all-time record despite playing only three college seasons. But there's obviously a question as to whether he can have that kind of pass-rushing success in the NFL — otherwise he wouldn't have lasted until the fifth round of the 2020 draft.

Among other players on the roster, linebacker Sam Eguavoen is the returning leader in sacks, though he had only 3.5 in 16 games.

This means one of the newcomers likely has to emerge or the Dolphins pass rush could be an issue again in 2020.