2025 Training Camp Preview: Can the Edge Defenders Save the Day?

2025 Training Camp Preview: Can the Edge Defenders Save the Day?

Hey again, welcome back to another segment of the Miami Dolphins 2025 training camp preview. Um, full disclosure because we we don’t want to be caught by a situation. This is going to run this is these are pre-taped. We are not responsible as the DME Dolphins make some moves um after we record and before it airs. So, we’re not anticipating today. We’re going to talk about the edge defenders and we’re not anticipating Dolphins making moves such as signing Von Miller uh just because he’s available and he’s a big name and all that because the Dolphins guess what already have their share of talented yet injury concerns at the position in the form of Bradley Chub and J Phillips. But where are my manners? Allow me to introduce Dante Kelli, deputy editor of Miami Dolphins NSI, joining me once again for a series of positional previews. Dante, how are we feeling about the edge defenders when it comes to the Miami Dolphins? O, it’s a really interesting conversation. I don’t know if you feel the same way, but I feel like if the Dolphins are going to exceed expectations this year, like this is the group that I think is going to have to carry a lot of that load. Yep. Right. I think the Dolphins are making a really big bet on pass rush over pass coverage uh in the sense that they haven’t added a ton to the secondary. You know, the secondary is what it is. The pass rush room though has a ton of talent as you mentioned. Bradley Chub returns from injury. Jaylen Phillips returns from injury. Chop Robinson was one of the most effective pass rushers in the entire league during the back eight weeks, nine, 10 weeks of the season last year. So, a lot of talent in that room. If those three guys can put it together and produce like they are capable of producing given their talent and their ability, like they could carry this defense decently far, you know, and I think obviously, you know, Zack Cer is an interior player, so I don’t want to get too deep on that, but he’s also a very good pass rusher. So in reality, you have the four players that I would tell you are somewhere between above average to elite pass rushers and three of them play on the edge for you. So um if this group can stay healthy, if they can reach their potential, man, there’s a lot of upside. There’s a lot of production to be had. Um but as with the theme with a lot of these uh positional previews, a lot of ifs. It’s a big if. Bradley Chub’s had a lot of injuries. Jaylen Phillips had a lot of injuries. It’s a big if. But talent-wise, they’re there. They got it. They’re This is not like some of the other positions on the roster where you’re like, I don’t know how good these players are. These guys are good. Can they stay on the field? I don’t know. That should be the motto for the 2025 Dolphins. A season of if. Yes. Because No, absolutely. Uh beyond those three we should mention uh are some other young players including 2024 fifth round pick Muhammad Camaro including um including we got Quinton Bell as well on the edge Cameron Good uh returning Grayson Murphy and Derek McClendon. Okay, out of those, the one who intrigues me the most, Quinton Bell, I think, is is a good serviceable player. You’re going to get what you’re going to get out of him. Can help on special teams, can make some plays here and there. I don’t know what the upside is. I’m going to be honest. If the among the guys, the young players, the one who is has intrigued me, caught my eye in practice, even this off seasonason, and then I understand it’s the offseason, doesn’t mean anything, is Grayson Murphy. is a guy who who looked apart last year in training camp before he went down with a knee injury in a preseason game and was done for the year. But the three guys who can be difference makers are the three we you mentioned Chop Bradley jail. Now Dolphin fans know Bradley Chub tore an ACL and other uh knee damage as well in 2023 against the Baltimore Ravens on Christmas Eve and sorry on New Year’s Eve. And what the hell was he doing on the field at the end of a 56 and 19 blowout loss? I don’t know. If I if I am going to criticize critique Mike McDaniel’s tenure so far as head coach, that would be number one on the top of my list. And his explanation was the players wanted to be out there. They wanted to get something to feel good at the end of that game. to to me to me I say because I’m sorry you get a sack at the end of a 16 to9 blowout and at that time maybe it was 40 4919 if you feel good because you got a sack at the end of that kind of score sorry not I’m not then I’m not sure you’re my kind of player anyway so no bad bad and bad um and then spent all of last year rehabbing the injury was uh taken off PUP, started practicing, but the Dolphins didn’t activate him potentially because he had injury guarantees in his contract and if he gotten hurt, they put him on the hook. As it turned out, they re restructured his contract in the off season, as in he took a pay cut because he wanted to stay and finish the job. And Bradley Chub is a really good dude. He’s one of those guys who can be a leader if you were a team captain in 2025. would not surprise me. Um, question now becomes, this is not his first ACL, by the way. What’s a fair expectation for Bradley Chub? Obviously, we don’t know exactly what’s he going to look like, but what’s a fair expectation? Yeah, it’s a really good question. I I struggle with that because I think this is a player who has the ability to get you 10 plus sacks, right, just on natural ability, right? like he has been a pretty when he plays he’s been good going back to his time in Denver his his time with Miami like whenever he can play you know 14 15 16 17 games like he produces 10 plus sacks roughly right and so that’s that’s the ability that he has um I just worry about how much spring in his step he’s going to have now obviously I think he’s a you know he’s a warrior I’m sure he’s he’s working to fight his way back and and all that stuff I don’t doubt his work ethic or the fact that he can’t get back to where he was at I’m not doubting that. It’s just it’s hard to see a player suffer this many injuries in the lower body at the posi at edge specifically a position that is so much about your explosiveness, your ability to quickly snap your hips and change directions and corner to the quarterback. So, I would hesitate to say that I’m going to expect Bradley Chub to put up 10 plus sacks this year. I don’t really know that that’s fair to him. He hasn’t played football in a long time. I I think seven seven eight sacks I think is a good target number for production, but like ultimately I think more pressures is is what I’m more interested in in the first place, frankly. Um and so I I think for me if if his pressure rate is his average for his career, that’s fine. I I don’t need him to be super above average. I don’t need him to be a superstar, assuming, you know, Chop continues to develop and you get something out of Jaylen Phillips who could ask the same question about him. what are the expectations like for him? So, that’s where I’m at with Chub. I I just think that he needs to be solid. I don’t think he needs to be great. I don’t think he needs to go way over above and beyond. He just needs to be productive, a good solid player, work his way back. I’m imagining, you know, it might take him a few games just to get back into the swing of things, his timing, you know, feeling confident, pushing off of his knee and stuff like that. And I would think probably the second half of the year looks better than the first half of the year just because of that in general. And I don’t think that that’s unfair. But I I don’t want to sit here and say that I think Bradley Chub’s going to get you 10 12 sacks this year. I just I’m not saying it couldn’t happen. I’m just saying I don’t know that that’s a fair expectation given how much time he’s missed. No, it’s not fair. And if we mention lower body injuries and pass rushers, we got to talk about Jon Phillips. Torn Achilles on Black Friday in 2023. torn ACL against the Jets, sorry, against the Tennessee Titans last year in the Monday night game in September. Um, and this is a guy, there are certain players you look at and and you look at their frame and it’s like that guy’s an injury waiting to happen. You look at Jon Phillips who is put together uh and it’s like freakish injuries. He had some issues as well in college and it’s like um and again we he’s in the same boat as Chub as to what’s a fair expectation and the other issue with Jaylen Phillips is a Dolphins got Bradley Chub to accept to take a pay cut with Jaylen Phillips he’s playing on his fifth year option at 13 million. Um, at some point the Dolphins are going to have to decide what kind of long-term commitment do they make to him. And to me, it very well could depend on what he shows early in the season. If he shows early in the season that he can be back to the guy he was. And my did you realize Jill Fel’s been in the NFL? No, it’s four years now. Um, doesn’t seem like that long. I mean, he was a 2021 first round pick. Um, but he’s a one, he’s another one. He’s just it’s a great mystery where the hope the high end is he balls out, gets a long-term contract and really makes a difference for the def for the defense and the low end is either he can’t regain his old form or he gets hurt again and again we have that big gap. Yeah, it’s a huge gap and it’s um it’s going to be really interesting to see where the Dolphins draw the line on, hey, this is good enough for us to give him a long-term contract. I don’t really know what the answer is because Chub is an older player. Like he whether he’s injured or not, he’s he’s in the twilight years of his he’s still a good player, don’t get me wrong, but he’s coming to the end here. Like he’s probably got two, three, four years left max, right? Jaylen Phillips, I mean, you might be able to get another eight years out of that guy if he’s healthy, right? And everything goes well and it’s perfect, blah, blah, blah. So, like, if you’re the Dolphins, you really want that player to stick around. Like you you want you want to buy in. you I I want to I I would almost use the phrasing you kind of need him to be sticking around a little bit here like you made a really big investment in that player and he’s clearly very talented. Now obviously you have Chop Robinson to fall back on and that’s nice but um you know you need more than one pass rusher. One guy is not going to get it done even if Chop continues his ascension. Uh, and and the thought of pairing young Chop Robinson with a young, healthy Jaylen Phillips, that that’s a really nice pass rush for the next four to five years, that’s that’s incredibly appealing. Those are two really good dynamic young players. Um, but you make a really good point and like Phillips is arguably like has the biggest injury history of any player on the team. It’s either him or Tua. I I mean, Phillips Phillips medically retired in college. Like, he medically retired from football at UCLA and had to make a comeback to Miami and like you said, he’s put together. He looks like a, you know, like he could go compete in a bodybuilding competition. Dude, stacked. Um, but he just has terrible luck. Like, like all of his injuries have mostly been freak injuries. Like he just pushed off on the ACL and the Achilles and they just went on him. And it’s like like that’s really hard to account for. But look, he’s a hard worker. He’s rehabbed his butt off to be ready. You know, he was participating in stuff at mandatory mini camp if I’m not mistaken. And you know, he’s getting back into the swing of things. But I think if you’re the Dolphins, he’s got to play what, at least 15 games this year and and put up decent numbers. Like I I think that’s the bar for me. Now, obviously it depends on the money. If he wants a four or fiveyear deal, it’s got to be 15 games, high-end production, no major injuries. If he misses action, it’s a small tweak or something like that. Um, if it’s another year where he misses a significant portion of the season or he has another major injury, I unless you’re giving him a a one-year deal, you know, I I don’t really have What you might not want. I mean, you might not want that. And I wouldn’t blame him, frankly. like I I would get it if he didn’t want that. So, it’s going to be really tricky. The Dolphins are going to have to draw a really hard line in the sand with Phillips. I I don’t know that there’s going to be a ton of because he if he produces, he’s going to want a big deal. And so, the Dolphins have to plan for that, right? Like, he’s going to get want to get paid like a top 15, top 10 edge rusher. And we can argue all day long whether or not he’ll be worth that. It depends. We’ll see. Um, but I could see the Dolphins, even if he plays well, not giving him that contract because they’re not confident in his health. So, it’s going to be really interesting to see how many games he played plays and how long it takes him to hit the ground running. Yeah. And this is where you we could be faced with a dilemma of do you pull the trigger early on a contract extension and watch him get hurt or do you wait and he decides, you know what, no, I don’t want a new deal. I’m gonna hit the market and then he leaves and we have another Christian Wilkins, Robert Hunt situation. Yeah. And the other part of the equation that needs to be considered is the Dolphins have been a lot more fiscally responsible or stingy with handing out big contracts in 2025 than they were in 2024 where you you know they it’s like you get a big deal. You get a big deal. You get a big deal. Right. Next thing I want to talk about is Chop Robinson was really really good in the second half of last season. Chop Robinson is not Cameron Wake. They both played at Penn State after starting off at Maryland or being from Maryland. They’re not the same player. First of all, Cameron Wake, speaking of like bodybuilder types, Cameron Wake was, but this is a guy who basically idea of a snack or dessert was grapes and he talked about it all the time and he was like a freak with his conditioning and all that. Zero of body fat. um lot stronger physically than Chop Robinson is, but Chop was a really good player for the Dolphins, particularly in the second half of last se last season. And very, very intriguing to see where he picks it up from now. Not that he wouldn’t that he wouldn’t have last year, but he’s certainly going to get a whole lot of attention from opposing offensive coordinators in making sure he doesn’t wreck the game plan. Yeah, for sure. I mean, I think the the number one thing that you look at with Chop, right, is just the speed, the burst off the line, the the short area quickness. I mean, some of his reps at the end of last season are just like hilarious. Like, he’s in the back field and the tackle’s like barely out of his stance. Like, he’s just blowing by guys. I mean, that he had 10 pressures against the Patriots, which I mean, that offensive line abject disaster. But I don’t really care who you’re playing against. the Patriots. I I I agree to a certain degree, but also 10 pressures in an NFL game against anybody is like that’s impressive. But he beat he beat other players, too. It wasn’t just the Patriots game, but like it’s um the thing with Chop, right, is how much can you get him to diversify, right? Like he’s he’s an all-world athlete. Like speed, he’s got it. Burst, he’s got it. I mean, he he had one of the best 10 yard splits at the combine when he came out. It translated to the NFL field. The question with chop is, okay, can I get you to use your hands a little bit better? Can you can you do a little bit more than just rely on your speed as a run defender? Can I get you to stack blocks better? Can I get you to set the edge a little bit better? Um, I thought you saw some growth in both of those areas last year, but I I would describe those as as works in progress. He still has a long way to go with those. But ultimately, I think that the nice thing about a player like Chop and why a lot of teams will draft edge rushers like this in the first round is because if you can run by offensive tackles consistently, you are going to run into production. whether or not you can use your hands or whether or not you’re the best edge defender on the planet, you’re going to run into six sacks a year and a bunch of pressures and you’re going to be generally disruptive because you’re just more athletic than the other guys. Now, obviously, I think Chop has a higher ceiling, he can do a lot more with just I mean, God, if he just learns like one pass rush counter, just 100%, he’s got a spin move, an inside spin, something I mean, he’s going to he’ll explode. He doesn’t need a lot. I don’t need him to be this, you know, I don’t need him to be Bradley Chub technically sound with four different pass rush moves that he can get to at a certain point. I just need him to get like one counter, one pass rush move, be a average run defender, and he’s going to be I I think one of the more productive edge defenders. He can be one of the more productive edge defenders in the sport if he keeps growing. He has that ability and the natural ability is there. So with Chop, it’s going to be really interesting. Like you said, he’s going to get more attention this year. I think obviously the hope will be Bradley Chub and Jaylen Phillips and Zack Cer pose enough of a threat that teams can’t really double team anywhere. If they go to double team somewhere, they’re going to get beat on a one-on-one on the other side. That’s the hope. That’s the plan. Big if though. Is Bradley Ch going to be healthy? How good is he going to be? Jaylen Phillips, same thing. I I think teams will probably start by paying more attention to Chop Robinson and then if Jaylen Phillips and Bradley Chubs start to come on, I think we’ll start to see that kind of disperse a little bit. But um it’s going to be a really interesting challenge for Chop because I think at the end of the day, no matter what happens, he is going to have to lead the charge in the edge room, at least initially during the first six to eight weeks of the season as the guys get acclimated and back from injuries. Um, and if those guys don’t come back, it it’s all gonna fall on Chop and then the whole thing falls apart on the defense, frankly. So, yeah. Yeah. Because as we mentioned, I mean, the title of this this previous episodes, can the edge defender save the day? Because one of the problems on defense, defense was very good in terms of yards allowed in 2024. They did not produce takeaways. And part of the reason was there weren’t a whole lot of quarterback throws under duress where a lot of your picks comes when the quarterback has got somebody in his grill tries to force a ball and then you get a pick. Dolphins didn’t have that last year because the pass rush rush for lack of a better term for most of the season. Oh, I don’t know sucked. Um chop sec good second half notwithstanding. Zack Sears doubledigit sacks notwithstanding. But and it’s not just about sacks. It’s when you’re not getting sacks affecting the passer. Yeah, like you can have three sacks in a game and if the quarterbacks got five seconds on every other drop back, that doesn’t work. And there were a lot of occasions last year when the pass rush just wasn’t getting there at all. And if the Dolphin defense can’t get that done, defense going to have issues because there are question marks up to Wazu in the secondary. Uh, as we do in every position preview, better or worse. at this time last year. It’s got to be better because yeah, again, Phillips the the torn Achilles was November 2023, so he was closer removed. And he’s already also said recovering from the the ACL was a lot easier. And then Chub is now a more another full year removed from his knee injury. And then the personnel is the same. Actually, it’s interesting. Ryan Crow, the outside linebacker’s coach, pointed that out that we got the same room. Dolphins did not make any additions. They didn’t lose anybody um that I can think of top of my head. Uh we mentioned didn’t mention Cameron Good is another guy who’s got some potential I think as a good backup piece. Yeah. Play some snaps and technically lost Tyus Bowser and Emanuel Agba, right? But they were they were late ads, right? Bowser was during the season and Agba was like during camp if I’m not mistaken. It was right before camp after Shaq Barrett bailed on the Dolphins. That’s what it was. Yeah, that’s what it was. Yeah. No Shaq Barrett. So that I think at this time at this time from last year, Dolphins at this time last year had Shaq Barrett and we didn’t know what he was going to be able to provide and as it turned out it wasn’t much and even with Tampa Bay once he did play at the end of the year. And then as compared to the rest of the AFC East, uh, thinking about the Jets here having a good group with Mil will McDonald four had like eight and a half sacks last year. Jermaine Johnson, former first round pick coming back from an injury. Uh, I believe it’s also an Achilles. That’s a question mark for them. But if he comes back and can produce, that’s a good tandem as well. The Bills use a a 43 alignment more often than most most teams in the division. But they say where again is Joey Bosa defensive end. Is he an edge defender? Yes. Um AJ Panessa, Greg Russo. That’s not a bad not a bad group. They drafted Landon Jackson from Arkansas, I want to say, in round three or four. That’s a good group. But this is again the great unknown. If if Chub and Phillips get back to being Chub and Phillips, this Dolphin group is as good as any in the FC East. I agree. I I think if we’re if we’re setting injury history aside here for a second, right? And we’re just going off talent. I think the Dolphins have the best edge group in the division. I It’s close. I I don’t think it’s a runaway. I like the Jets group. I think the Bills group is is fine and competent. They have some good players. Um, but I I think if you’re just looking at talent and even I would say production for the most part, I mean obviously Joey Bosa historically probably the most productive edge in the division, but I think when you combine Phillips, you combine Chub, you add what Chop did at the end of last year, like I think the Dolphins have it on talent alone. If you want to factor injuries in, I mean, Joey Bosa gets hurt all the time, too. He hasn’t been on the field consistently recently. Um, you mentioned the Jets were were missing Germaine Johnson due to injury at a certain point. Will McDonald came on really nicely last year. Like I I don’t think the Patriots factor into this. I’m not a Harold Landry guy. I think that’s a fine signing for where they’re at, but I I think he’s a player whose production is very misleading for what his play on the field actually is. I do really like Kon White as a young player, but um I don’t think he Commander roughness penalty. I’m sorry. Go ahead. Yeah. So, I it might be the Dolphins regardless of injury if we’re being honest. Like I I I might I might have talked myself into it. I wasn’t sure I was going to get there when I started talking about this, but I I might have talked myself into it. I think because you can argue injuries for Buffalo and the Jets, and I think the Dolphins have a little more injury questions for sure, but I don’t know. It’s a good room. It’s close. I agree. Um, yeah, it’s a to me it’s a toss up between the Dolphins and of course the Bills. Um, but again, this is a key to the season and you hate to be dependent on guys who are coming off severe injuries, but that’s where we are unfortunately. As always, that’s going to wrap it up for this particular episode. As always, please like, subscribe, share, all that good stuff. He is Dante Kalinelli. I am poop. Catch our fine written work at my dolphins onsi.com and all the episodes of the All Dolphins podcast right here. Thanks for watching.

Miami Dolphins On SI Publisher Alain Poupart and Deputy Editor Dante Collinelli break down the Dolphins edge defender group with its massive potential but big question marks, assess whether it’s better or worse than last year and where it ranks among the AFC East teams. Check out the written content of both Alain and Dante on miamidolphinsonsi.com.