Even Sans Help, Phins Edge Group Is Good

The Phins ‘edge players’ showed a lot in 2020

In 2019, the Miami Dolphins struggled to bring pressure and contain the edges in the run game. After a few key signings in the offseason and some young players’ development, the script was flipped this season, despite the heavy loss of Vince Biegel, who was one of the Phins’ best defenders the year before. After one offseason, Chris Grier and Brian Flores took a terrible defense at the bottom of the league in sacks and run defense to 10th and 16th best in the NFL, respectively. While not elite yet, this big step forward on defense was huge for a franchise looking to return to prominence.

So what will a second offseason bring to Miami’s edge defense?

Phins current ‘edge players’

With Miami’s diverse scheme the edge players have a variety of looks. The ‘ends’ can be anywhere from a 240lbs Andrew Van Ginkel to a 315lbs Zach Seiler. This scheme allows for a large variety of looks that also allows a large variety of options in talent acquisition.

Below are the edges minus Seiler, who mostly has an interior assignment.

Kyle Van Noy was paid a ton, but he provided leadership and some big plays. Considering his statistical history, Van Noy did have one of his best in both pressures and pass coverage with 6 deflections and 6 sacks. Those six deflections double his career-best and the six sacks were his second best. While not super flashy, Van Noy did make a big difference. He did lack a bit of consistency though and his PFF grade fell to 61.6, which was a big drop off from the prior two seasons. Still, fans or the Phins shouldn’t have any regret all things considered.
Andrew Van Ginkel played only about 60% of the snaps of the other edge starters, but WOW!, he played outstanding in those plays. His 79.3 PFF grade had him ranked as the 12 best edge player in the NFL. For those not big on PFF, check out this stat line: 5.5 sacks, 3 forced fumbles with a fumble recovery, 4 passes defended, and 4 tackles for loss on only 479 plays. Can you say the future!
Emmanuel Ogbah had an excellent year after a slow start. His production was impactful with 9 sacks, 3 forced fumbles, 5 pass deflections, and 3 tackles for loss on 792 snaps. His PFF grade was a decent 64.4 though. You could argue that some of the lack of consistency was because he was in his 1st season of a new scheme. Given his youth and very affordable price at 7.5$ million per season, Ogbah was a very good Free Agent addition, who could take his game to another level in 2021.
Shaq Lawson was a little more expensive of a Free Agent than Ogbah at 10$ million per. Despite a less flashy stat line, Lawson was nearly effective given his slightly greater consistency… when in. Lawson tallied up 4 sacks, 1 forced fumble with 1 recovery, 1 pass defended, and 3 tackles for loss. His PFF grade of 70.9 was a notch better than Ogbah’s, but he only played 579 snaps on the season. The one big knock is Lawson has never played a full season due to injury. Still, he was a good signing that gives Miami an out at the end of 2022.
Jason Strowbridge saw only 55 snaps on the season with decent results. This year will be a telling one in his career.
Tyshun Render saw only 8 snaps with below-average results. He is another young question mark.
Nick Coe didn’t see any action, so it’s anyone’s guess what he’ll bring this year.
Jonathan Ledbetter is still on the team folks. Miami has stuck by him through thick and thin… and in my opinion, for good reason. Ledbetter made the active roster in 2019 after an excellent preseason and was a force in his first game… until he was injured. Ledbetter is a real wildcard in my opinion. I was so high on him through that 2019 camp. He was a mystery after his injury. At times it was reported he was off the roster and on the roster. It seems Ledbetter is on the teams as both over the cap and the Miami Dolphins rosters agree he is. Ledbetter is a player to keep your eye on because he showed real power to hold the point of attack as a 3-4 end. This would go a long way towards improving the Phins run defense. I’m very excited to see if he has recovered… and can stay healthy.

Miami doesn’t need to add much

Yes, the edge of the Dolphins defense could use some help… And it doesn’t take a bookmaker software to know if the Phins get a chance to add elite talent they should jump at it for the right price. But, Van Noy, Van Ginkel, Ogbah, and Lawson are a good core. With Ledbetter and Strowbridge offering some potential relief, and maybe if Vince Biegel has healed, he’ll resign for a cheap ‘prove-it contract’, there is some ‘cavalry’ in-house.

With these possible options of relief and the core group already in place, the Phins won’t be forced to address this with blue chips in the draft or big contracts. That’s good news because they have far more pressing positions to tackle with their big moves. Go Phins!!!

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