The Miami Dolphins have absorbed their first significant loss to the roster during training camp practices — 2019 breakout defender Vince Biegel is presumed to be lost for the year with what is reported to be a torn left Achilles tendon. Make no mistake, the loss of Biegel hurts for the Dolphins. He served as one of the team’s spark plugs in the front seven and served as one of Miami’s best pass rushers on the roster.
All of that coming in a player swap with the New Orleans Saints to ship away LB Kiko Alonso has the makings of a good deal for Miami. But without Biegel in the fray this year, Miami is going to have to alter their script for what the base defense looks like this season.
As Miami looks to reshuffle the pecking order, we can be thankful that Biegel’s play didn’t lull the Dolphins into a sense of security with their personnel on the edge; the team brought in several prominent bodies to man the perimeter of the line of scrimmage for Brian Flores’ defense.
Who are the best candidates to step in and fill the void left with the loss of Biegel? Here are three Dolphins defenders who could get a look.
OLB Andrew Van Ginkel
A fellow former Wisconsin Badger, Van Ginkel has two years of experience and exposure playing in the same college defense as Biegel did. The trade off between the two is simple — Van Ginkel is more athletic, Biegel is more stout at the line of scrimmage. At least that was the case at Wisconsin and was the case last year. We got a limited look at Van Ginkel in 2019 after an early season injury, but Brian Flores did offer some encouraging words of Van Ginkel this morning.
“I think he’s had a good offseason. He really works hard. His strength is up. I think the first to second year leap, as some would call it, is an important one,” said Flores.
“I think he’s kind of taken that seriously and made a lot of improvements, and you can kind of see it in his game right now. Whether or not that translates into on-field production, that remains to be seen; but I’m happy with where he is.”
Rookie EDGE Curtis Weaver
Curtis Weaver has excellent college tape, but the former Boise State defender experienced a tumble into the 5th-round of the 2020 NFL Draft. That was a bit of a surprise and there hasn’t really been a lot of clarity as to why. Was it character or maturity issues? Was his body type a concern?
Either way, he’s now a Miami Dolphin and his college tape shows that he clearly has some gifts to get after the passer. The challenge for Weaver is that he’s a rookie in a trying time to be one — can he absorb the playbook and stack up blockers at the point of attack with consistency?
If he can’t, odds are he won’t see much of the field this season other than maybe as a rotational pass rusher.
DE Emmanuel Ogbah
Consider Ogbah a dark-horse for filling this role — but his ability to do so is going to come down to how Miami decides to play base defense. If the Dolphins want to go with more even fronts (4-3 defensive looks), you could see Ogbah defend the edge as the second defensive end, opposite Shaq Lawson. A four man front of Ogbah, Godchaux, Wilkins and Lawson gives Miami plenty of heavy hitters — and then the team can blitz at will behind them with Kyle Van Noy and Jerome Baker as needed if they want to dial up the heat.
At 275 pounds, it isn’t likely we’ll see Ogbah playing in a 2-point stance and using a lot of reps at outside linebacker, he’ll be better served with his hand in the dirt. But the decision is up to the coaching staff to determine whether or not that’s the move or not.
