Canton, Ohio added several busts to their collection earlier this month as they inducted a new group of Hall of Famers into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The Miami Dolphins have added a new bust of their own to a totally different kind of collection.
The Dolphins announced this morning that they’ve come to terms and signed former first-round draft pick Robert Nkemdiche. Nkemdiche was cut recently by the Arizona Cardinals, just three years after the organization used a top-30 pick (29th overall) on the athletic defensive lineman.
And while it wasn’t necessarily the biggest surprise when Nkemdiche got his pro career off to a slow start, he never materialized in the way the Cardinals had hoped. Instead, it took Nkemdiche two and a half years to find any traction at all. And while his run in 2018 was promising — he had 4.5 sacks and 22 run stuffs in 10 games (6 starts) and 426 snaps — it wasn’t enough to keep the Cardinals invested after an ACL tear cost Nkemdiche the end of his 2018 season and put him behind for 2019.
Nkemdiche comes to the Dolphins as an athletic marvel whose resume is littered with red flags. He entered camp out of shape this summer, which could be understanding considering his rehab — but he’s had several brushes with the law too, including an arrest on June 6 of this year after being pulled over with an active traffic warrant against his name.
Consider this Nkemdiche’s second chance. The Dolphins have willingly handed out several of them in hopes that their team culture and locker room environment can keep players on the straight and narrow while the staff adds to their technique and performance on the field.
Nkemdiche will start the preseason on the active Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list, meaning the Dolphins can activate him at any time.
