What Dolphins' Latest Move Tells Us About Slot Corner Plan

The Miami Dolphins were forced to shake up their secondary Wednesday after yet another injury to a contributing player.

The Dolphins placed slot cornerback Cornell Armstrong on injured reserve with a hamstring injury, signed safety Jordan Colbert to the active roster, and re-signed Kendall Sheffield to the practice squad.

This continues the trend of the Dolphins leaning on players they’re mostly familiar with as opposed to bringing in new names to fill these spots.

Miami’s slot cornerback position has gone through some rough breaks this season. Remember, the team’s original starting slot was supposed to be Kader Kohou, but he tore his ACL in the summer.

Then the team signed veteran Mike Hilton, a player with extensive experience in the nickel who wasn't an option now for the Dolphins after the Indianapolis Colts placed him on their practice squad injured list..

Hilton was beaten out by rookie fifth-round pick Jason Marshall Jr. The rookie had a stellar camp and mostly operated as the team’s nickel in Weeks 1 and 2.

However, he suffered a hamstring injury that landed him on injured reserve following the Dolphins’ Week 3 loss to the Buffalo Bills.

That left Armstrong, who was signed this summer, after bouncing around the league a bit. This was Armstrong’s second run with the Dolphins, and by far his best chance to make an impact.

He logged 60 defensive snaps the past three weeks, the most he’s played since the 2022 season.

Dolphins’ Slot Options vs. Chargers

Miami’s other moves give us some strong indications about how the team will handle the slot position against Los Angeles in Week 6.

Both Minkah Fitzpatrick and Ifeatu Melifonwu could man the slot position moving forward. Both players have extensive cornerback experience, and their skill sets complement each other well.

However, that would leave the safety room without an extra member, hence the signing of Colbert to the active roster. He might play more on special teams, with the team bumping someone like Elijah Campbell up the depth chart.

The other option is to give Sheffield a shot at playing in the slot. He got off to a hot start during the summer and was taking first-team reps for a considerable amount of time.

He’s played 462 career snaps in the slot, according to Pro Football Focus. Most of those reps came in the back half of the 2019 season when he was with the Atlanta Falcons.

Still, he did log 43 reps in the slot during the 2024 season when he was a member of the Jets.

Whatever the Dolphins decide to do with the slot cornerback spot is especially important this week. Los Angeles has Ladd McConkey, a talented second-year receiver who can rack up yards from the slot.

He’s not limited to playing inside by any stretch, but if the Chargers wanted to, they could hunt that matchup against Miami in Week 5.

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