Six things becoming clear about the Dolphins’ defensive personnel at the bye

Miami Dolphins admin October 22, 2026 0 Comments

Six things becoming clear about the Dolphins’ defensive personnel at the bye

Part 2 of a two-part series

Six realities that are starting to become clear about the Dolphins’ defensive personnel exiting the bye week:

▪ If the Dolphins want to allow Jaylin Simpson or Darrell Baker Jr. (when he returns from the PUP list) or anyone else to compete for a significant role at cornerback, the view here is they should be competing primarily with Jason Marshall Jr. — and not JuJu Brents or Chris Johnson — for snaps.

The two advantages that Marshall has in a direct comparison with Brents are: 1). Marshall has been the better run stopper this season. and 2). Marshall is under contract for 2 ½ more years, while Brents will be a free agent after this season.

Marshall has played more snaps than Brents (265 to 202) and has started all five games, while Brents has started twice. But it’s becoming clear that Brents — if he can stay healthy — is the better player to pair with Johnson this season and potentially beyond.

Among all NFL cornerbacks who have been targeted at least 10 times, Marshall is the worst in the league in passer rating against. Quarterbacks have completed 14 of 16 passes for 181 yards and three touchdowns when targeting him, equal to a 153.4 rating, per Pro Football Focus.

Brents, conversely, has allowed an 81.5 rating (10 for 14 for 67 yards) and no touchdowns, after permitting a 70.4 rating last season, per profootballreference.com.

But Brents, a former second-round pick of the Colts, must display durability to earn another contract here. Though he has played in all five games this season, he has appeared in just 23 of 56 possible games in his career.

▪ Among players who entered the season on the building-block bubble, Jordan Phillips has established himself as a foundational player more than perhaps anyone else.

Coach Jeff Hafley continues to praise Phillips effusively, calling him an unsung hero in the Week 4 loss to the Vikings.

Pro Football Focus ranks Phillips 36th overall — and 27th as a run stopper — among 134 defensive tackles. Regardless of whether he ends up a long-term starter here (or simply a rotation piece), Phillips has exceeded what’s reasonable to expect from a fifth-round pick.

“He’s one of the strongest guys I’ve coached,” defensive line coach Austin Clark said. “He’s built like a brick. He’s selfless, anchors on double-teams. He takes pride in keeping linebackers clean. Those are things you appreciate in a guy.”

▪ Though Chop Robinson has just one sack in four games, he’s a clearly improved player.

Entering the bye, ESPN ranked him tied for first (with the Giants’ Abdul Carter) in pass rush win rate, at 36%, crediting him with 20 wins on 55 pass rushes.

PFF credits him with 14 quarterback pressures in 98 attempts, a 14.3% success rate that ranks in the top quarter of edge players who have a significant snap count.

On the flip side, PFF is grading him even worse as a run defender this season than last season (when he was 78th of 115th in that category). But with his added weight and strength, there remains hope that the Dolphins will see the type of setting-the-edge improvement that was on display during training camp and preseason.

▪ This defense has more building blocks than it might have appeared in August.

Jacob Rodriguez, Jordyn Brooks, Chris Johnson and Phillips look like definite foundational players, and Robinson is trending in the right direction. Brents (if he’s re-signed) and safeties Michael Taaffee and Dante Trader Jr. certainly have a chance.

It’s impressive enough that Rodriguez entered the bye week with a league-leading 57 tackles. Perhaps more impressive is that he has 16 “stops” on running plays; PFF defines a stop as a positive play for the defense, based on down, distance, yards gained and other factors. Those 16 ranked second in the league entering the Dolphins’ bye week.

Johnson has permitted just 29 yards in pass coverage during the past three games, and PFF ranks him as Miami’s third-best run defender (behind Brooks and Marshall) among Dolphins defenders who have played at least 80 snaps on running plays. (Johnson has played 136.)

▪ The Dolphins still haven’t solved their years-long pass coverage problem at inside linebacker.

While Rodriguez and Brooks are in some ways the strength of the defense, they both remain a step late in coverage.

Pro Football Focus claims that Rodriguez has permitted 22 of 24 passes in his coverage area to be caught for 185 yards (8.4 per catch) and two touchdowns, though a couple of Dolphins bloggers have disputed those numbers. Pro Football Reference asserts that he hasn’t been quite that bad, asserting that the numbers are 20 of 30 for 161 yards.

PFF has Brooks yielding 26 receptions in 29 targets for 269 yards (10.3 per catch) and a touchdown. Pro Football Reference paints a more positive picture (15 of 21 for 136).

Regardless, Jon-Eric Sullivan and coach Jeff Hafley must figure out a more effective way to defend the league’s big-bodied tight ends. Safeties Trader and Taaffe aren’t the answer to that problem. The solution likely isn’t on the current roster.

▪ But Trader and Taaffe, or one of them, might become nucleus guys.

Through five games, neither has definitively proven he can be a good starter on a contender. But the possibility can by no means be ruled out.

Both players are diligent with preparation and exude a toughness that coaches love. Per Pro Football Reference, Taaffe has a solid 89.1 passer rating in his coverage area and Trader has an exceptional 41.7 passer rating in his coverage area.

Trader was one of the NFL’s better run-defending safeties last season (per PFF), and both he and Taaffe have had some good moments against the run this season.

Here’s Part 1 of the series about what is starting to become clear about the Dolphins’ offensive personnel.

This story was originally published October 22, 2026 at 11:12 AM.