Phins moved on from three of last year’s D-Ends
While the Miami Dolphins added a bunch of players in Free Agency and the 2020 Draft, they are also moving on from players nearly as fast. The Phins have now parted ways with Jonathan Ledbetter, Taco Charlton, and former 1st Round pick Charles Harris. These moves both clear the log jam of edge defenders and shows Brian Flores won’t linger too long on players who don’t perform.
This ‘cut bait quickly’ philosophy is good news for Phins fans. It’s a much better style of coaching than clinging to ‘dead wood’ until the bitter end like previous regimes. Leonte Carroo, Jermon Bushrod, Julius Thomas were prime examples of staying too long forcing a square peg in a round hole.
The player with the least acquisition cost was the most valuable
The loss of Jonathan Ledbetter is the only one that bothers me.
Yeah, Harris was a 1st Round pick for Miami, but the writing was on the wall for a long time. Harris couldn’t set the edge and his ‘amazing’ spin move was nothing more than preseason hype. He was a project that never developed and might have been better as an outside linebacker than defensive end. I hope he finds success in Atlanta.
The failure of Charles Harris in South Florida is mostly about the GM who drafted him.
Chris Grier on drafting Harris: ‘Miami knew they liked Harris, with Grier admitting they had two players they really wanted at 22, and Harris was one of them’.
Everyone makes mistakes. Hopefully, Grier didn’t make too many in this draft. Part of the problem was that Grier was pigeon-holed with a terrible scheme in the Wide-9 and Mike Tannenbaum. Brian Flores and Marvin Allen bring tons more to the table.
At least that’s how I’ll spin it.
Charlton and Harris were poorly evaluated by Grier and Graham
Charlton was picked up on the waiver wire from the Cowboy. Despite the showering of love from former Dolphins defensive coach, Patrick Graham, Taco was too gangly too set the edge or bull rush pass blockers. He was way more of a liability than an asset. I wonder if this poor evaluation is a piece of the puzzle about Flores moving on from Graham?
Flores gave both players (and Graham for that matter) a one-year tryout and said bye-bye.
I can’t fault either Harris or Charlton. They tried their best and didn’t cause any problems. The ‘not for long’ motto of the NFL is there for a reason. At least Miami picked up a 7th Round Pick for Harris with Atlanta. Something is better than nothing.
Ledbetter was a nice evaluation by the Phins
Ledbetter was big, mobile, excellent against the run, and had a great preseason and Week 1 performance. He appeared to be a young player who could be much more than his draft status. But, Ledbetter was injured in Week 1, and given his release over a medical, he never recovered from it. Football is such a hard sport!
That whole ‘not for long’ thing can be both because of performance and injury.
Ledbetter was an undrafted rookie who played much effectively than Harris or Charlton, who were both 1st Round Picks. Harris and Taco were drafted high based on ‘their potential’… potential that was never realized. Ledbetter was an underdog who was winning the uphill battle until his body quit on him. What a shame. The Phins did a good job finding him in the pile of UDFAs. That’s comforting.
Phins current edge defenders
- Vince Biegel
- Shaq Lawson
- Tyshun Render
- Emmanuel Ogbah
- Avery Moss
- Andrew Van Ginkel
- Jason Strowbridge
- Curtis Weaver
- Trent Harris
You can bet with the best bookie software sites that not all these players will be on the roster come Week 1. The good news from the trimming of defensive ends is that Brian Flores won’t suffer failure for too long. On the other side of this equation is potential doesn’t always develop.
As I said before, I think Flores, Allen, and a coherent scheme will keep Grier from repeating history! Go Phins!!!