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 safety group.
Is Bobby McCain a long-term option at free safety?
McCain was the team’s surprise solution to their free safety dilemma last offseason — transitioning from nickel cornerback to safety for the first time in his career. The results were mixed. Before an injury sent McCain to injured reserve for the second half of the season, his coverage was inconsistent and his tackling was troublesome. How bad was the tackling? McCain was credited with missing 10 tackles last season — equivalent to nearly 30% of his total attempts.
For a player who serves as the “last line of defense”, such a high rate of poor challenges can’t become normalized or accepted. McCain will need to shine better as a tackler and be more instinctive in free coverage if he’s going to be Miami’s long-term solution.
Will Eric Rowe repeat his strong finish to 2019?
Eric Rowe was Miami’s successful reclamation project from the 2019 season. The team pooled together a slew of former high draft selections that had yet to live up to their expectations in the NFL. Among the likes of Josh Rosen, Robert Nkemdiche and Nate Orchard, Rowe was the former high pick who actually shined with Miami last season.
All it took was a transition from cornerback to safety — where Rowe was charged primarily with covering tight ends and playing physical in coverage. Rowe yielded a passer rating of just over 80.0 on the season in coverage and his ability to bump heads with tight ends allowed him to thrive. It also helped that Rowe was able to stay healthy, playing a full season for the first time since his rookie season in 2015 with the Eagles.
Can he do it again?
What will rookie Brandon Jones’ role look like?
Jones would have maybe been less of a surprise pick for the Dolphins if the team hadn’t already selected Noah Igbinoghene in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft. But, none the less, 40 picks later, the Dolphins locked in Jones to become yet another member of the team’s secondary.
What will his role look like? Will he be groomed to fill a “Patrick Chung” role in this defense? Is he going to be the team’s third safety in heavy looks against more run-heavy teams that look to space the field?
One thing we do know is that Jones has the smarts to tackle his responsibilities in any kind of role — but getting some clarity on what that looks like this season will be telling for the Dolphins’ defense as a whole.
