Will switch to wide-9 scheme improve rush?
[ Editor’s note: With the start of Dolphins’ training camp one day away, the Sun Sentinel ends its look at some of the team’s top storylines on the eve of the 2016 season. Today, Dolphins writer Omar Kelly tackles whether Miami’s move to a new defensive scheme will improve the unit.]
The Dolphins’ defensive line was supposed to be the strength of last year’s team, but that unit struggled.
The Dolphins’ defense rarely put pressure on opposing quarterbacks (31 sacks in 2015; 1.9 per contest) despite the addition of Pro Bowl defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, and only four teams allowed more rushing yards (2,019) than Miami last season.
To try to rectify the problem, the Dolphins let Olivier Vernon and Derrick Shelby leave as free agents and added defensive end Mario Williams, a four-time Pro Bowl selection, Andre Branch, Chris Jones and Jason Jones via free agency.
Miami also added respected defensive line coach Jim Washburn to the staff as a pass-rush specialist. Washburn is credited with helping Suh become a perennial All-Pro performer in Detroit, and he’s one of the architects of the aggressive wide-nine defensive front that’s become popular in the NFL.
The Dolphins plan to use the wide-nine scheme, which spreads the defensive front more along the line of scrimmage, putting them a full gap away from where the tight end would line up before the snap to create better pass-rushing angles.
“There are a lot of things that go into certain defenses and certain schemes, but this one, it fits into the strengths of the players that we have,” Branch said this offseason. “We have a lot of [players] that can rush the passer, and that’s what they want us to do.”
Miami’s defensive line features three Pro Bowl talents in Williams, Suh and Wake, who tore his Achilles tendon last season, so the hope is that the defense will redeem itself in 2016. Based on last season’s performance, there’s nowhere to go but up.
The Dolphins’ public training camp schedule: Friday, 9 a.m.; Saturday, 8:35 a.m.; Sunday, 8:35 a.m.; Monday, 8:35 a.m.; Aug. 4, 9 a.m.; Aug. 5, 8:35 a.m.; Aug. 8, 9 a.m.; Aug. 9, 8:35 a.m.; Aug. 10, 8:35 a.m.; Aug. 15, 8:35 a.m.; Aug. 16, 8:35 a.m.; Aug. 17, 8:35 a.m.