Dolphins eager to see Phillips, Davis take next step on defense
Coaches naturally look for all of their young players to take jumps, but in the Dolphins’ front seven, it’s particularly applicable in the case of defensive tackle Raekwon Davis and linebacker Jaelan Phillips.
The Dolphins consider both to be good players, and they were helpful on a defense that ranked among the league’s best during the final two months of the season.
But coaches are looking for growth from both, with Davis set to enter his third season and Phillips his second.
When the Dolphins drafted Davis, they naturally hoped he could become a Pro Bowl-caliber nose tackle. Another big leap is needed for that to become a reality.
“For Raekwon, consistency is what separates a good to a great player,” defensive line coach Austin Clark said last week. “Being consistently good over and over and over and being able to dominate a guy regardless of alignment. And that might mean taking on doubleteams at his position.
“He has all the tools, his length, his size, his wantto, his work ethic, his physical presence. He has all those tools. What he needs to work on, a lot of it is rooted in his footwork and pad level. Those are two of the big things we’re constantly going to be on him about. He’s doing a hell of a job right now. I’m really fired up about where he’s going.”
Pro Football Focus, surprisingly, rated Davis the second-worst interior defensive lineman among 121 qualifiers last season.
That’s partly a result of poor pass rush metrics; he produced just five pressures and a sack in 204 pass rush chances.
It’s also a result of not making many plays behind the line of scrimmage; he has only two tackles for loss and half a sack in 30 NFL games.
In Davis’ defense, he consistently took on double-teams and the defense was better when he returned from an early season injury.
But the step from decent to dominant is a big one, and Year 3 would be a good time for Davis to get there.
As for Phillips, he had 8.5 sacks last season, which ranked second among rookie linebackers and 28th in the league.
But Pro Football Focus rated him just 102nd as a run defender, and he will need to improve in that area to be an every-down player. He played 54 percent of Miami’s defensive snaps last season, appearing in 17 games and starting five.
Proving that he can play every down “is a mindset thing,” he said recently. “That’s a chip on my shoulder. People said I couldn’t play early downs. Just watch me, every single snap it’s me and [the player I’m] against. Who’s going to win? It’s not going to be him.”
Tyrone McKenzie, the Dolphins’ new outside linebackers coach, has evaluated Phillips’ tape and said “he has all the abilities you would like for a guy that can be a runstopper. We had to clean up a lot of technique, from footwork to hand placement to hand strike. It gradually got better.
“One of the reasons I took the job was because of a guy like Jaelan. First thing I did was study his tape, [Andrew] Van Ginkel’s, Darius Hodge’s, to make sure I developed a plan for those guys. What we did from Day 1 is watching tape, things I thought he could improve on and be more consistent with. He’s done a great job and guys in the room have
done a great job taking in the new coaching.”
McKenzie replaced Rob Leonard, who left for a job on John Harbaugh’s Baltimore Ravens staff.
INGRAM CONTRACT
The Dolphins gave Melvin Ingram a one-year, $4 million contract, but the only guaranteed money is a $1.65 million signing bonus.
If he makes the team, he will make $1.67 million in base salary. He also will make a $40,000 roster bonus for every game for which he’s available.
His cap hit is $3.96 million if he’s on the team and $1.6 million if he’s cut.