The Miami Dolphins have turned a corner after allowing over 26 points in six of seven games to begin the year. The interior of Miami’s defense was a liability early in the season, but the Dolphins have held opponents to 17 or fewer points in five of the last six games.

While rookie defensive tackles Kenneth Grant and Jordan Phillips have combined for just 48 tackles and three tackles for a loss, their growth over the last 14 weeks hasn’t gone unnoticed.

“I don’t measure their success in terms of tackle for losses,” defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver said. “I think, particularly as it pertains to defensive linemen, interior defensive linemen, so much of what they do kind of goes unheralded and it’s not on the stat sheet. A lot of the positive plays they have create positive plays for the guys around them, whether that’s interior pocket push where edges can eat and get sacks, whether that’s holding up guards and double-teams to keep our linebackers clean, there’s a lot of people that benefit from a lot of the selfless acts that they do.”

“Are they capable of creating more negative plays? Absolutely, that comes with football intelligence, gathering pre-snap information and then taking those shots.”

One of the beneficiaries of the work of the defensive tackles has been linebacker Jordyn Brooks, who has become a tackling machine and put together a Pro Bowl type of season in his second year with the Dolphins.

Splash Play Potential 

Grant and Phillips were a large part of the defensive tackle rotation early in their rookie season, combining for 16 tackles while each played at least 45 percent of Miami’s defensive snaps in each of the first three games. During that stretch, the unit averaged fewer than four tackles for a loss.

The rookie duo has combined for 12 tackles over Miami’s current four-game winning streak, but the defense is averaging nearly six tackles for a loss during that stretch. On top of that, Brooks, who typically lines up right behind Miami’s defensive tackles, leads the league with 142 tackles, nine more than any other player. 

“[Grant and Phillips], to their credit, if you think about where they were in Week 1 and where we were a week ago, there’s times on tape where you actively see them calling out plays and that’s just a credit to all the work and the study that they do in that room,” Weaver said. “The negative plays, the splash plays, those are all going to come. 

“They have that ability to make that happen, but there’s so many things that they do, particularly that they’re already doing right now at a young age that just goes unnoticed to the untrained eye, but football coaches who are studying it day in and day out, they know what they’re doing.”

Along with Grant and Phillips, seventh-round pick Zeek Biggers is becoming a larger part of Miami’s plans up front. After playing just six defensive snaps over the first nine games, he’s played at least 19 snaps in each of the last four, including more than 40 percent of Miami’s defensive snaps each of the last two weeks.

While the trio has combined for 22 tackles over Miami’s current four-game winning streak, the defense is averaging nearly six tackles for a loss during that stretch. On top of that, linebacker Jordyn Brooks, who typically lines up right behind Miami’s defensive tackles, leads the league with 142 tackles, nine more than any other player. 

“To their credit, if you think about where they were in Week 1 and where we were a week ago, there’s times on tape where you actively see them calling out plays and that’s just a credit to all the work and the study that they do in that room,” Weaver said. “The negative plays, the splash plays, those are all going to come. 

“I think Jordan Phillips, to his credit, has been pretty solid for a bulk of the year,” Weaver said. “I think early on he was kind of hanging on blocks too long when there were opportunities there for him to make plays, but he has remedied that.” 

Even Biggers, the 253rd player taken in the 2025 NFL Draft, has shown game-changing potential. Seven of his 10 tackles this year came in Madrid against the Washington Commanders, when he also had three stops in the 16-13 overtime win.

More Miami Dolphins Coverage: