Sheppard is right in the middle of things
During last years training camp the coaches decided to experiment and move Koa Misi to middle linebacker, and as a result he was the starting middle linebacker for 11 games, and was injured and unable to play the other 5 games. Misi played defensive end at Utah, and was the Dolphins starting outside linebacker for his first 4 years in Miami, so its fair to say middle linebacker is not Misi’s natural position. Misi is once again battling an injury, so he has not been able to practice. As a result Kelvin Sheppard has been taking all the starting middle Linebacker snaps in practice.
Sheppard has plenty of experience playing middle linebacker, having started 31 games in his first three seasons in the league with the Bills and the Colts. Not only does he have a lot of experience in the middle, put he has terrific communication skills, which is very important at that position. Defensive coordinator Kevin Coyle, has nothing but good things to say about Sheppard, and even went as far as saying “Kelvin Sheppard has been one of the most impressive guys in training camp as far as I’m concerned in his ability to communicate, to take charge. I think the group looks as Kelvin as a leader, as a veteran. He is as hungry as any player out here on the field, wanting to play, wanting to perform.”
Most of the best sportsbooks online would say that when Misi gets healthy it would still be more beneficial to have Sheppard man the middle, and then move Misi back to his more natural outside linebacker position. As long as Sheppard plays well in these next 3 preseason games he should be able to retain the starting middle linebacker position. The key is to always get one’s best players on the field as much as possible, and at the moment our top three linebackers are Jenkins, Misi, and Sheppard. Chris McCain is a honorable mention, however those three players have a lot more game time experience compared to McCain and have looked just a bit more fundamentally sound then McCain. McCain will still be able to carve a nice niche for himself on certain defensive packages, especially in pass rush heavy packages, since that is what he does best. How does the rest of the Miami Dolphins news fans feel about having Sheppard as the starting middle linebacker and moving Misi back to the outside?
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