Does Phillips have what it takes to be Suh’s Robin?

Jimmy Bourbon

9 years ago

The Dolphins were able to get the big prize in free-agency by signing Ndamukong Suh to a record contract, and he is already excited to prove that he is worth every penny of it. In Detroit Suh was dominant, but he did have a very good sidekick lined up next to him, in Nick Fairley. Fairley was extremely good in 2012 and 2013, registering a combined 69 tackles, 11.5 sacks, and 3 forced fumbles in those two seasons. (I did not include last year’s numbers, because Fairley was injured and only played in 8 games) This compares very closely to what Suh did in 2012 and 2013, where he had a combined 84 tackles, 13.5 sacks, and 1 forced fumble. As great as Suh is, he did benefit from being paired with a very good sidekick in Fairley.

Miami lost Jared Odrick to free-agency this off-season because they could not afford both him and Suh, so now Miami at the moment has a less lethal combination of Suh and Earl Mitchell. Mitchell has been solid in his 5-year career, however, he is not as good as Fairley or Odrick. In addition, Mitchell has spent most of his career as a situational player. In his 5 year career, the most playing time he ever received in a season was in 2013 when he played 553 snaps. Miami also has Anthony Johnson and A.J. Francis slated as back up Defensive Tackles, whom they like very much. Miami also likes to rotate their defensive linemen in and out of the game frequently, so there is the possibility that this group as a whole can be very good, but only as long as the other 3 players not named Suh improve over this off-season.

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In this year’s draft in the second round, the Dolphins have picked up Oklahoma defensive tackle Jordan Phillips. There are a lot of mixed reviews out there about Phillips, but it seems to me that he is a high-risk high reward player. He has all the tools to be a dominant player alongside Suh, but what happens with overly talented players is they never develop the work ethic to push themselves to the next level because they have always naturally been the best. This is the problem with Phillips, his play can be erratic at times, and his motor seems to not be running for a full game at a time, but if Philbin and the boys can get him going, we will have a dominant front for sure, and possibly the best front in the AFC East, which will say a lot. Phillips’s possible success purely hinges on Philbin and his coaches’ ability to motivate this young man, and personally I believe that they can do it. I also think that he can be the second DT that we need, Earl Mitchell and the rest of the backups are decent but they are not the dominant type of players that we need if we want to take down the Patriots and get back to the playoffs.

In comparison, Mitchell and the backups are a safe bet as reliable fill-ins that will give us decent production, but Phillips is the wild card that I like. He is not the safe bet but he could turn out to be someone who changes the landscape of the defensive line. If Philbin and the boys can get his motor running, he has the potential to take over a game by himself, and if you add that on to Suh’s already game-changing abilities and Wake’s, this could turn out to be a lethal combination. What do the rest of the Miami Dolphin news gurus or the best pay per head reviews experts think about the Dolphins picking Phillips in the second round and his chances for the future?

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