By the end of the season, the Miami Dolphins’ once-vaunted rush defense fell apart and was allowing teams to run up and down the field against them as if it were a track meet. Miami was getting gashed on the ground even when they knew that the other team was going to run. If the Dolphins want to reach the playoffs next season, then they will have to find a way to stop the run, especially late in the season.
Randy Starks has played in this league for 11 seasons, and it was painfully obvious last season that his age was starting to show its ugly head. He is going to count $6 million against the cap, and based on the Dolphins need to sure up some cap space, and Starks’ age and declining level of play, the wise move would be to either drastically restructure his contract or cut him.
The other player in the middle is Jared Odrick, whose rookie contract has now expired and is looking for a big payday. He has been very good, but it appears that the Dolphins are willing to let Odrick test the waters. If the Dolphins do not want to re-sign Odrick, then they will need to have some type of backup plan. Regardless if they re-sign Odrick or not, the Dolphins need to either draft or go out and sign a pure Defensive tackle in free agency.
With this being Senior Bowl week, most sports fans would go to their free bookie software and if they could, bet that Hickey and the Dolphins will be keeping a close eye on DT Danny Shelton. A lot of scouts are comparing him to this year’s defensive rookie of the year, Aaron Donald from the Rams, but with even more size. Shelton was the nation’s leader in sacks for a defensive tackle with 9, however, 6 of those sacks need to be taken with a grain of salt, because they occurred in the beginning of the season against two inferior teams, Hawaii (2) and Eastern Washington (4). But still, 9 sacks for a DT is not something to overlook. In addition, Shelton did a great job stuffing the run, which is clearly something Miami needs help with. He finished last season with 88 tackles with 16.5 tackles for a loss and 2 fumble recoveries. He is projected as a first or second rounder and many mock drafts are already predicting that Miami will draft him at the number 14th spot in the first round.
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Regardless if Miami keeps Odrick and Starks, or if they do decide to draft a DT in the first round, such as Shelton, the result needs to be that the Dolphins get better in the trenches. The best way to get better in the trenches against the run is having a big-bodied individual that demands two players to block him. Paul Soliai was that type of player, but Miami decided not to pay him, the result is that after a season without Soliai they are still looking for a player to replace him.
