Miami Dolphins coaches Mike McDaniel and Anthony Weaver express confidence in an inexperienced secondary that has onlookers antsy.
MIAMI GARDENS — This is either the most inexperienced secondary the Miami Dolphins have ever fielded or the most misunderstood.
We look at Kendall Sheffield and Ifeatu Melifonwu and Ethan Bonner and see players who, if they nail down a starting job in 2025, it would be a switch.
We look at Cam Smith wondering if he’ll start and if he’ll make the team — as broad a spectrum as it gets.
We look at Asante Samuel — unsigned Asante Samuel — and ask if perhaps the Dolphins are playing a cat-and-mouse game with the unsigned South Floridian despite their inexperience in the secondary.
Or are they? Coach Mike McDaniel kisses this off to a fear of the unknown. He says it’s too easy to say that “when you don’t have a long resume of NFL production, you assume that that’s because they’re not good.” Defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver reports no sleepless nights, either, citing one reason you would expect and one reason you can’t see coming.
The given: “We’ve got guys up front who are going to do the work and going to create problems for the quarterbacks. Going to make it hard to get balls to those receivers.”
The not-so-obvious: “You see my wife? She’s gorgeous. So that helps, right? That helps me sleep easy.”
Who's going to cover Ja'Marr Chase, Jerry Jeudy in 2025?
Maybe, come January, the rest of us will be as comfy as Weaver. But in the home stretch of training camp, the question of who’s going to cover Ja’Marr Chase and Jerry Jeudy this fall lingers over this team.
Just this week, another available veteran came off the board when the Indianapolis Colts signed former Dolphins cornerback Xavien Howard. He’s 32 now. Was out of football all last year. Didn’t look himself the year before that, either. Maybe he could have helped here, maybe not. Recognizing the need for experience, the Dolphins are now adding cornerback Cameron Dantzler Sr., who has 26 starts for Minnesota and New Orleans over four seasons.
For now, the Dolphins’ hopes are all about Minkah Fitzpatrick. He’s a Pro Bowl safety and coach on the field, though seeing him in Dolphins colors again will take some getting used to. Fitzpatrick knew folks would be watching to see if his heart is in a return to Miami. His actions say it is.
Last year we learned that while cornerback Storm Duck has a unique name, he also had game. Now in his second season at age 24, he qualifies as an elder statesman of sorts.
This is what happens when two cornerbacks you were counting on, Kader Kohou and Artie Burns, already have gone down for the season with knee injuries. Some might say those injuries put a strain on depth, but you can’t whine about depth before addressing your starting five.
The fact is, many of the newer faces have had their moments. There’s Jack Jones, ball hawk. Rookie Ethan Robinson, who made that what-just-happened, game-sealing play against the Lions. Mike Hilton.
“All of them are guys that are chippy, blue-collar guys that want to make plays,” Fitzpatrick said. “That play hard. Play physical. And they’re willing to do whatever we ask them to do.”
Cam Smith running low on chances
The enigma is Smith, the second-round draft pick in 2023 who is running low on chances.
“Man,” Weaver said of Smith.
This is where “Weav” throws another curveball, citing a stop Smith made on a third-and-1 play against the Lions. “You gotta love that, right?”
Weaver didn’t stop there.
“His movement skills are elite,” Weaver said. “The thing you worry about is just his physicality when tackling and when he’s been challenged with that, he showed up.”
It’s Weaver’s job to coach up players, whether it’s on the field or on the podium in front of reporters. You’re going to hear infinitely more praise than criticism there (and you should), which is why McDaniel can get away with telling everyone not to give into their fears.
“There are so many surprises each and every football year,” he said. “How many times has everyone predicted the correct order of each division winner and who is second, third or fourth? How many times are there surprise players?”
If 2025 is one such time, McDaniel will take it.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Dolphins secondary inexperienced or misunderstood but remain question mark
Category: Football
