We will know when Tyrel Dodson and Jordyn Brooks are where they need to be in their union when all it takes is a look.
When words aren’t required, and the two Miami Dolphins’ inside linebackers can glance at each other after the opposition’s offense sets its formation and they’re able to communicate with a look, their bond as players has been forged.
“The great defenses communicate without speaking,” Dodson explained.
As the core, the middle, if not the brains of the Dolphins’ defense, that’s the goal heading into the 2025 season opener against the Indianapolis Colts. And if Dodson and Brooks can reach it Miami will have a chance to repeat as one of the NFL’s top-five defenses.
But plenty of work has to be done to get that symbiotic relationship right.
Even though Dodson and Brooks were teammates for a half a season last year, and shared the field in small spurts late in 2024, this is their first full season forging a partnership that many (my hand is raised) wondered whether it could work.
Why?
Because both are viewed as coverage specialists as linebackers, and the Dolphins need someone who’s a thumper, a run-play hunter, a shepherd of the defense.
Dodson is being asked to fill that role this season, replacing Anthony Walker as Miami’s “green-dot” player, serving as the quarterback of the defense.
The role is called the “green-dot” because that player (a quarterback on offense, and one chosen defender on defense) has a communication system that allows their coordinators, or in some cases the head coach, to speak directly into their helmets, providing instruction before the snap.
It’s called the “green dot” because their helmets have a green dot, and teams are only allowed one on the field at a time.
Much like the quarterback communication system, the playcaller calls the play in from the sideline, and sometimes provides keys the green dot should look for before the play. The communication system shuts off 15 seconds before the play clock expires.
According to Dolphins defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver, he keeps things simple to avoid murkying up the water in his time allotment given to communicate with the green-dot player.
“He has his own presnap inventory and process that he has to go through. If he’s listening to me say all these things, and God forbid I’m wrong, I just screwed everybody up,” Weaver said, explaining his “too many chefs in the kitchen” mind-set to working with the green-dot player. “I try to tell him situational thoughts like, ‘What we’re thinking here [from the offense in this down-and-distance] based on what we’ve seen [on film].”
From there, it’s on Dodson to orchestrate the defensive call.
This will be Dodson’s third season serving as the lead green-dot player for an NFL defense. He was the backup green-dot his entire career in Buffalo, and became the lead in his fourth season.
Last year Dodson began the season as Seattle’s green-dot before being waived at midseason, despite leading the Seahawks in tackles up to that point.
When Walker was sidelined by a hamstring injury Dodson filled in as the green-dot player late last season, and he delivered some of his best performances of 2024, ultimately leading Miami with three interceptions.
“It’s been fun to do throughout my career. I love it,” said Dodson, who collectively combined for 107 tackles, three interceptions, two sacks and one forced fumble in the 17 games he played for the Seahawks and Dolphins. “It’s a certain type of leadership you have to have. It requires a certain type of communication skills. You have to be on your A game all the time communication wise. When you’re not, it messes up the defense.”
The key to a good defense is keeping things simple for the players because that allows them to play fast.
Get an assignment, own it, and trust the man next to you to do their assignment.
That typically leads to success on defense. And that trust fall begins with the green dot, who relays the calls, and the keys to everyone on the field.
If someone’s out of position, or unfamiliar with their assignment, it’s the green dot’s job to straighten things out.
And usually, if they fail to do so it will lead to a busted assignment, and those busts often produce big offensive plays, if not touchdowns.
So it’s safe to assume that a bad green-dot player typically leads to a mediocre defense?
According to linebacker coach Joe Barry, who served as Green Bay’s defensive coordinator for three seasons before coming to Miami, players at linebacker typically fall into two categories.
They are either “talkers or listeners,” according to Barry.
“To play linebacker in the National Football League you need to have instincts, awareness. You have to have physical traits,” Barry said. “To be the quarterback of the defense, to be the green-dot, there are some guys who can go out and play at an elite level just by listening.”
When those players don’t have to make calls, and instruct others on checks (corrections based on formation or personnel changes), they perform better.
“They don’t want to have to stand in front of the huddle and verbalize [things]. They just want to listen, get the line, get their key and go play,” Bell said. “Jordyn Brooks is elite at that.
“When you are forced to make a guy that’s a listener, the talker, you can take away an aspect of his playmaking ability in the game.”
That’s part of the reason Brooks openly admits he’s thankful that Dodson, who is called T-Dot by his teammates and coaches, is a talker.
“It’s not easy. It’s not easy. I much rather play the will [weakside linebacker] position because of the constant communication you have to have with the entire defense,” said Brooks, who served as the green-dot player in 2023, his last in Seattle. “You’re trying to diagnose the play in front of you. It’s a lot. You [have] to be smart to play that [role]. I tell T-Dot every day ‘I’m with you. I’m going to help you as best as I can. But that’s your job!’”
And one Dodson is appreciative he’s been entrusted to do it by the Dolphins.
“He is a guy that processes things very well. He’s a student of the game. He’s one of those guys who is very in-tune,” Bell said. “Thank God we have him.”