Miami plan for McDonald to stay as safety
DAVIE — Safety T.J. McDonald is going to remain safety T.J. McDonald.
Dolphins coach Adam Gase swatted down speculation Thursday that McDonald could be turned into a linebacker, a move that had been speculated to make way for first-round draft pick Minkah Fitzpatrick to team with Reshad Jones at safety.
Such a move, in theory, would have not only enabled the Dolphins to get three of their best defensive players on the field, it also could have plugged a hole at linebacker.
“T.J. is playing safety,” Gase said in his first comments since the draft. “If we have to make adjustments somewhere. … He’s not moving to linebacker. He’s going to be a safety and then we’re going to figure out a way to get our best 11 players on the field.”
How?
One way would be to go with three safeties, which some teams (including the Patriots) have done.
Another might be more subtle. McDonald and Jones are aggressive tacklers who thrive assisting in run support, so even potential hybrid duties for either likely wouldn’t produce glaring differences compared to the way they played last season. And the harder it is to figure out what McDonald, Jones and Fitzpatrick are up to before any given snap, the more likely they are to cause hesitation or confusion for quarterbacks.
In such a pass-happy league, the Dolphins often line up with only two linebackers anyway. If things go according to plan, those two would be Kiko Alonso and Raekwon McMillan.
“How it all plays out, I can’t tell you right now, because what you think right now and what it ends up being in the first week of the season can change quickly,” Gase said. “We learned that last year on both sides of the ball. You keep working guys at the positions that you think fit them best and then when things start sorting themselves out and you have to make an adjustment, you make it then.”
Lot to like in rookie RB: The Dolphins used a fourthround draft choice obtained in the Jay Ajayi deal to obtain another running back capable of eye-opening plays.
Rookie Kalen Ballage of Arizona State begins his pro career at rookie minicamp this week. And Gase saw the same things you probably saw when watching college film of the running back.
“He’s a big man that runs fast and can catch the ball well,” the head coach said Thursday. “He really has all of the things that you’re looking for in an all-around back. It’ll be fun to see how he progresses and how things go … how quick he learns everything and how he fits in with the group.”
Ballage will be needed to contribute on special teams immediately, with Damien Williams gone to Kansas City. Veteran Frank Gore does not play special teams and Ballage may be able to help on kick returns.
But Ballage seems to have all the physical tools to one day compete to start in the league. After the draft, Miami general manage Chris Grier seemed to feel Ballage was a great value in the fourth.
“He’s big, he’s fast and he’s (got) upside,” Grier said. “Some guys come out with a lot of wear and tear on them. He hasn’t had a lot of wear and tear. I think, Senior Bowl week, he went there determined to show people that he was undervalued in his mind. That’s the first thing he said when we called him to tell him he was going to be a Dolphin, he said, ‘I don’t think there’s 11 running backs better than me that went in front of me.’ He’s confident. He understands that he’s going to have to work and improve and earn a spot; but he’s very excited to be here with Kenyan (Drake) and Frank (Gore). For us, the value was important.”