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Miami Dolphins’ Secondary Must Improve For Team To Find Success

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Louis Delmas and Reshad Jones

Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports

The Miami Dolphins have done a lot to bolster their defense against the run this offseason. The free agent signing of defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh alone should strengthen that facet of the defense. Miami has also made moves in free agency and the draft to strengthen its secondary for 2015. The need for improvement in that area was just as glaring. Were those signings of players to stop the pass enough to get the Dolphins a ticket into the playoffs, though?

Miami started its maneuvering in the secondary by re-signing safeties Michael Thomas and Louis Delmas. The ball-hawking Delmas is coming off a season-ending injury suffered in the middle of last season, but all signs indicate he should be healed enough to start at safety next to veteran returnee Reshad Jones in Week 1. Thomas and second-year pro Walt Aikens will provide some much-needed depth. It seems, barring any injuries, that the safety spot should be solid this season. The Dolphins will need to count on those safeties to stay strong, because cornerback is a huge question mark.

Returning to one corner position in 2015 will be superstar Brent Grimes. Grimes has made gorgeous plays almost every game since joining the Dolphins before the 2013 season. He may not have an island named after him like another cornerback in the AFC East, but Grimes is as close to a lockdown corner as you can find. The knocks on Grimes are his diminutive size (he barely stands 5-foot-10) and the fact that he is on the wrong side of 30 years old. There are plenty of teams that would line up to bring him into the fold if he somehow ended up unemployed, however.

The player who will start opposite Grimes is a large mystery at this point of the late spring. Gone from last year’s starting rotation are Cortland Finnegan and Jimmy Wilson. While Finnegan’s departure was deemed a necessity, losing Wilson may sting because he was adept at playing starting corner, nickel corner and some safety. The plan at this time is to have third-year player Jamar Taylor step in as the second starter, but the former Boise State star has been too prone to injury ever since arriving in South Beach. Another selection from the same 2013 draft that produced Taylor is Will Davis. Just like his draft mate, the injury bug has bitten Davis more than once, and it isn’t even a sure thing that he will be at full speed by training camp.

Two free agent cornerback acquisitions by the Dolphins were Brice McCain and Zack Bowman. Bowman has been a starter for both the Chicago Bears and New York Giants, so he may supply the Dolphins some relief should Taylor falter. McCain, an ex-Pittsburgh Steeler, is more suited for the spot Wilson has vacated. It would be a stretch to count on either of these two journeymen to do enough to jolt the Miami pass defense.

On the third day of this year’s NFL Draft, Miami added cornerback Bobby McCain (no relation to Brice), safety Cedric Thompson and cornerback Tony Lippett. Lippett was actually a wide receiver who played a minimum amount of snaps at corner at Michigan State, so you can see how desperate the Dolphins are to shore up the secondary. It would be amazing and an enormous stroke of luck if any of this trio contributes to more than special teams in 2015.

As things stand now, all signs point to Taylor being the player who has to step up and secure a starting spot. A quartet of Taylor, Grimes, Jones and Delmas may at least be enough to spark a little fear in rival quarterbacks. Dominating play by Suh and his mates up front should make it easier for the defensive backs to make plays on receivers, so it’s not like Miami’s coaches are asking those defenders to be extraordinary. On the other hand, it would be awesome if this secondary unit could play well enough to help Miami finish first in the division.

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