Phins Building their Defense for the NFL’s New Reality
Phins Building their Defense for the NFL’s New Reality
The draft & offseason focused on building the linebacker group
The NFL continues to evolve, but one trend has become increasingly clear: bigger personnel packages are back. More teams are leaning into 12 personnel (one running back, two tight ends) and even 13 personnel (one running back, three tight ends) to establish the run, force defenses into difficult matchups, and create explosive play-action opportunities.
The Miami Dolphins appear to have recognized that shift.
Looking across the 2026 schedule, several of Miami’s toughest opponents—including the Colts, Chargers, Packers, and Bears—have the personnel to consistently threaten defenses with multiple tight ends and physical rushing attacks. Rather than building a defense strictly to stop spread offenses, the Dolphins spent the offseason constructing a unit capable of matching today’s more physical brand of football.
That philosophy helps explain why Miami retained Jordyn Brooks and invested heavily in its linebacker room.
You can bet with the best pay per head that this approach could prove critical in several tough games on the Dolphins’ schedule.
Week 10 against Indianapolis presents an immediate challenge with Jonathan Taylor and a physical tight end group capable of stressing defenses through both the run and play action.This new Dolphins team and regime will have a chance to prove they are more than last year’s team that was destroyed by the Colts Week 1.
In Week 15 the Dolphins heading to Green Bay and it will be cold–maybe colder than their 2024 30-17 defeat in Lambeau. The Packers have an excellent tight end group led by Tucker Kraft, who should be fully healed by then from his 2025 Season Ending injury. This time though Miami will have some inside information on their side with former Packers GM Jon Eric Sullivan and Jeff Hafley and they are expected to have a run game to help, which they didn’t have in their last meeting.
Mike McDaniel Returning Home WILL Be Interesting
Later in the season, the Chargers may offer perhaps the league’s most complete blend of offensive line talent, multiple tight ends and a downhill rushing attack, making them one of Miami’s biggest defensive tests. The Dolphins have beaten the Chargers at homes for a couple of years now. This Week 16 matchup will give Hafley a chance to prove he can continue where the last regime left off by beating the Dolphins former head coach, Mike McDaniel.
The Dolphins don’t need to become an elite defense overnight. They simply need to consistently limit rushing success, force opponents into predictable passing situations and reduce the effectiveness of play action. If Miami’s revamped linebacker corps can accomplish that, the defense may become the foundation that allows the Dolphins to outperform expectations in 2026. As the league grows more physical, Miami appears to be building a roster designed for exactly that challenge.
What a difference one offseason can make.
We’ll see soon enough if that difference extends into the Regular Season or not!
I must disagree with the premise that any team can win consistently by simply need to limiting rushing success to force opponents into predictable passing situations. It isn’t that simple. In today’s NFL the offense has the edge. It’s designed that way so there is more scoring. Kickers can hit from the 50-yard line now days and every close infraction call goes to the wide receiver. The first play of the defense in the punt and its coverage. We must keep them deep. These are special teams plays. We must have a team depth that puts talented specialists on the field all year. As the injuries mount that talent pool gets thin. There isn’t much difference between third down domination and first down domination. The depth of the talent pool must go to the defensive roster!
I’ll disagree back 🙂 The old cycle was high points through the passing game. Now it’s largest asset is PA passing…on 2nd Down. Actually, 1st down run stop is primary by the broad based info. A 1st down run of 4-6 yards has a middle field closed defensive call 58.8% of the time. Now, Seattle and Baltimore were the most predictable on 2nd Downs with 70% rush rate, but they were also 1 and 2 in PA EPA. 3rd down is obviously key… but if you only get 3 yards or less then the middle field closed drops to like 20%…so that’s usually a cover 2 or 3… this either demands you throw into a defense set to stop the pass or run the ball on 2nd and Long… which is usually frowned up as it’s a lower % move. It’s getting a 2 way go on 2nd down that is driving most O’s…not all…but most. So a defense that limits that 1st Down run sets themselves up very nicely. There are many factors…but the defenses are now geared up to stop the pass…excepted on 2 way go downs and when they pick middle field closed formation/ play and get roped into a PA pass. PA pass generated more yards and a larger % of big plays in RAC than standard drop back passing…also, if a D is confident they can stop the run, then they are more patient on PA bits… look at us the last few years: LB almost never stepped up on runs or PA…they read and/ or dropped. This was a major reason why our passing game died. So, it’s a whole soup… but the 11 teams that stopped the run, ran the ball, and won 2nd down PA all won 8 games or more… there is a whole host of other data to that supports this. Seahawks and Eagles before them showed off the new model of sweet spot offense… but this is just my take and eval. I do feel confient that this is core in the new cycle. It’s all three… not one alone. But also notice the rise of DTs salaries and IOL salaries…usually salaries also point to the cycle trajectory. Special teams are a major factor though, esp. with the starting on the 31 instead of the 22 on avg. with the new rules. Kickers are a potent weapon. It’s one reason the new cardinal sin is 3 and outs… I think it’s somewhere between 70-80% scoring drive on a single chunk play on your 3-6 plays… more feildgoals as the high scores are dropping, but the floor is rising on points. Best. Thanks for the take… and I mostly agree, sir.
I must disagree with the premise that any team can win consistently by simply need to limiting rushing success to force opponents into predictable passing situations. It isn’t that simple. In today’s NFL the offense has the edge. It’s designed that way so there is more scoring. Kickers can hit from the 50-yard line now days and every close infraction call goes to the wide receiver. The first play of the defense in the punt and its coverage. We must keep them deep. These are special teams plays. We must have a team depth that puts talented specialists on the field all year. As the injuries mount that talent pool gets thin. There isn’t much difference between third down domination and first down domination. The depth of the talent pool must go to the defensive roster!
I’ll disagree back 🙂 The old cycle was high points through the passing game. Now it’s largest asset is PA passing…on 2nd Down. Actually, 1st down run stop is primary by the broad based info. A 1st down run of 4-6 yards has a middle field closed defensive call 58.8% of the time. Now, Seattle and Baltimore were the most predictable on 2nd Downs with 70% rush rate, but they were also 1 and 2 in PA EPA. 3rd down is obviously key… but if you only get 3 yards or less then the middle field closed drops to like 20%…so that’s usually a cover 2 or 3… this either demands you throw into a defense set to stop the pass or run the ball on 2nd and Long… which is usually frowned up as it’s a lower % move. It’s getting a 2 way go on 2nd down that is driving most O’s…not all…but most. So a defense that limits that 1st Down run sets themselves up very nicely. There are many factors…but the defenses are now geared up to stop the pass…excepted on 2 way go downs and when they pick middle field closed formation/ play and get roped into a PA pass. PA pass generated more yards and a larger % of big plays in RAC than standard drop back passing…also, if a D is confident they can stop the run, then they are more patient on PA bits… look at us the last few years: LB almost never stepped up on runs or PA…they read and/ or dropped. This was a major reason why our passing game died. So, it’s a whole soup… but the 11 teams that stopped the run, ran the ball, and won 2nd down PA all won 8 games or more… there is a whole host of other data to that supports this. Seahawks and Eagles before them showed off the new model of sweet spot offense… but this is just my take and eval. I do feel confient that this is core in the new cycle. It’s all three… not one alone. But also notice the rise of DTs salaries and IOL salaries…usually salaries also point to the cycle trajectory. Special teams are a major factor though, esp. with the starting on the 31 instead of the 22 on avg. with the new rules. Kickers are a potent weapon. It’s one reason the new cardinal sin is 3 and outs… I think it’s somewhere between 70-80% scoring drive on a single chunk play on your 3-6 plays… more feildgoals as the high scores are dropping, but the floor is rising on points. Best. Thanks for the take… and I mostly agree, sir.