In just over three weeks, the Miami Dolphins will open training camp for the 2020 season ahead — and with it face the prospect of building upon a promising “foundation” year. The Dolphins surprised everyone last season with a 5-4 stretch to finish the year and promptly followed suit by nailing down one of the most prolific college quarterbacks in recent history, plus a slew of new faces to add to the team.
The Dolphins will hold camp this year with fan enthusiasm as high as it has been in quite some time. But amid the restrictions of this offseason due to the ongoing health crisis, can the Dolphins rise to the challenge? We’ll be taking a look at each position group for the Dolphins ahead of the start of training camp and exploring which storylines are most pressing to monitor as Miami looks to improve in Year 2 under Brian Flores.
Here are the Dolphins’ key storylines in training camp amid the outside linebacker group.
Will Kyle Van Noy live up to his monster contract under Brian Flores’ watch?
This is the 51 million dollar question. The Dolphins paid handsomely for Van Noy’s services — which are expected to help mold the Dolphins defense into a scheme diverse, flexible unit. Van Noy, who is 29-years old, is the de facto leader of the Dolphins defense thanks to his experience and championship pedigree as a former New England Patriot. But can he elevate his play to where it was in New England in 2018 under Brian Flores’ watch? That 2018 season was a career best for Van Noy (at the time, he was strong again in 2019) and he’ll need to play at that level to live up to his price point in free agency for the Dolphins.
How high is the ceiling for Vince Biegel?
Biegel has been reported to be in the running for a starting outside linebacker job in Miami’s base odd-front defensive looks — a bit of a surprise after the team brought in Shaq Lawson, Emmanuel Ogbah, Curtis Weaver, Elandon Roberts and Van Noy this offseason. But it was undeniable last season that Biegel was a source of energy for the entire team. His blue collar approach undoubtedly endeared him to the coaching staff and when it was announced that he would return to the Dolphins for another year in 2020, it was assumed that he’d have just as big a role to play.
So now the question falls on how high his ceiling is. He’ll probably never log 10+ sacks in a season, but if he can win in the early downs and continue to play with a high effort level, we may see a bit more production from Biegel in the long-run. This is the perfect player to see “graduate” into a rotational role as the talent on the roster continues to improve throughout Miami’s rebuild. But he’s very much going to be a player you want on your team regardless — even if you’re ideally trying to whittle away at his role for more dynamic defenders.
Which youngster will command rotational reps?
Many NFL Draft pundits were fans of Dolphins’ 5th-round pick Curtis Weaver. So much so that it was considered a huge steal when Miami secured his services that late in the draft.
But regardless of why he fell, the Dolphins will be eager to see if he can be the one to step up and command rotational reps as a pass rusher. He’ll face competition from 2019 rookie Andrew Van Ginkel and potentially Sam Eguavoen. But if the Dolphins are going to be as ferocious as possible against opposing quarterbacks, they’re going to need someone with a higher rush ceiling to rotate in on obvious passing downs.
Will Weaver be the man for the job off the edge?
