In watching the second half of Miami’s Monday Night Football contest against the Pittsburgh Steelers, one of the more apparent flaws with the Miami Dolphins’ defense is just how little experience the secondary has. Once the Dolphins shelved Xavien Howard for the second half of the context, Miami’s cornerbacks isolated in coverage were names like Needham, Lammons, Lewis and Wiltz.
With Miami’s latest waiver wire addition, the Dolphins are adding some experience to their cornerback room courtesy of former New Orleans Saints corner Ken Crawley. Crawley comes to the Dolphins after spending his first three and a half NFL seasons in New Orleans with the Saints. An undrafted free agent in 2016, Crawley has done well to beat the odds and forge a longer than average career for himself for a player of any status, let along an undrafted rookie free agent.
But Crawley isn’t just a feel good story — he’s been an intermittent starter for the Saints over the last three and a half years, starting 23 games for New Orleans and logging some significant ball production (31 passes defensed) in 39 career appearances. That automatically makes Crawley Miami’s most experienced and productive cornerback on the roster in the absence of Howard — including former Patriots defender Eric Rowe, who is currently mingling in playing some safety for the Dolphins. Expect Crawley to net significant playing time once he’s brought up to speed with the Dolphins’ playbook. And, with a little luck, he may just stick around for 2020 and beyond as a capable depth player in the secondary.
