{"id":936848,"date":"2026-07-04T23:39:31","date_gmt":"2026-07-04T23:39:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/936848\/"},"modified":"2026-07-04T23:39:31","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T23:39:31","slug":"no-room-for-lb-ronnie-harrison-in-miami","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/936848\/","title":{"rendered":"No Room For LB Ronnie Harrison In Miami?"},"content":{"rendered":"

With a couple teams set to report for training camp in just two weeks, we can start to look at each team\u2019s roster makeup and determine how things might play out. In Miami, a recent influx of talent at linebacker could make veteran offseason addition Ronnie Harrison<\/a> a free agent again before the start of the season.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Harrison signed to join<\/a> a Dolphins team transitioning between defensive schemes and returning a decent group from last year. When they ran mostly in a 3-4 base defense under former defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver, Jordyn Brooks<\/a> and Tyrel Dodson<\/a> dominated playing time for Miami\u2019s off-ball linebackers. After Brooks and Dodson, three safeties played more snaps in the box than the Dolphins\u2019 backup linebackers.<\/p>\n

While new defensive coordinator Sean Duggan runs a variety defensive looks, the base defense is 4-3, introducing an additional spot for an off-ball linebacker. On its surface, that seems like a positive development for Harrison, an experienced veteran with starting time under his belt, but Miami clearly knew it needed bodies to compete for that third spot as it worked efficiently to add talent in the offseason.<\/p>\n

Brooks and Dodson are joined in their return by veteran Willie Gay Jr.<\/a>, a former full-time starter for the Chiefs who started two games in his first year with the Dolphins last year. With Brooks and Dodson dominating the playing time, Gay put up some career lows with fewer snaps, but he\u2019s got experience as a starter and experience playing among his fellow Dolphins, and the team opted not to let him walk when they re-signed him<\/a> in free agency.<\/p>\n

Harrison\u2019s other competition all comes from this past year\u2019s draft. Ohio State\u2019s Sonny Styles<\/a> got recognition throughout the pre-draft process as the class\u2019s best linebacker, but Texas Tech\u2019s Jacob Rodriguez<\/a> stole all the headlines throughout the college football season. The unanimous All-American got Heisman votes and won two awards for the best defensive player in the country (Bronko Nagurski Trophy & Chuck Bednarik Award) as well as the Butkus Award for the nation\u2019s top linebacker. Over the past two seasons, he combined for 255 total tackles, 22.5 tackles for loss, six sacks, six interceptions, 10 passes defensed, four fumble recoveries, and 10 forced fumbles, including an NCAA-leading seven last year.<\/p>\n

Rodriguez is joined by two others in the rookie class, though they weren\u2019t strictly known as linebackers at the collegiate level. Both of the team\u2019s fourth-round picks, Trey Moore<\/a> and Kyle Louis<\/a>, have been getting time at linebacker<\/a> in the offseason, according to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. Moore split his time evenly in Austin, playing off-ball and on the edge for the Longhorns. The Texas-product is expected to continue working at both spots in the NFL, per Jackson. Louis was regarded as a safety coming out of Pitt, where he played mostly in the box while covering a good amount in the slot, as well.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Brooks and Dodson are locks for roster spots, as are the three rookies, most likely, and it\u2019s not often that a team is looking to carry for than five players at linebacker. So, if any spots are available, it may be just one Harrison must compete for with Gay and Jackson Woodard<\/a>, an undrafted rookie last year. Gay might be a tough matchup for Harrison, too, as he holds a bit more consistent past starting experience and familiarity with the team.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not all doom for Harrison, though, and his saving grace may come as a result of returning to his hybrid safety role. For much of his early career in Jacksonville and Cleveland, Harrison played a hybrid safety-linebacker position weighing a bit more towards safety. The Dolphins saw three players \u2014 Minkah Fitzpatrick<\/a>, Ashtyn Davis<\/a>, and Ifeatu Melifonwu<\/a> \u2014 play similar roles last year, and all three defenders now play for other teams. Per Jackson, the team seems to like fifth-round Texas rookie Michael Taaffe<\/a> and last year\u2019s fifth-rounder Dante Trader Jr.<\/a>\u00a0to fill those roles this year with veteran Lonnie Johnson Jr.<\/a>\u00a0and special teams ace Zayne Anderson<\/a> backing them up.<\/p>\n

With so many new additions at the linebacker position, Harrison\u2019s recent transition to a more consistent linebacker role seems to have bitten him. If the Dolphins decide they\u2019d like a bit more experience with so much turnover in the secondary, though, Harrison might be able to secure a role by tapping into his old position. Additionally, a rebuilding Dolphins team with lots of young talent may be looking to trade Brooks or Dodson if the season gets off to a cold start, though they\u2019ve expressed interest in extending<\/a> Brooks. If either player is dealt, a bit more room on the roster may become available for a hybrid-type of player.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With a couple teams set to report for training camp in just two weeks, we can start to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":936849,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2049],"tags":[124446,217,7,10269,35794,23817,19652,6561,216,251,2087,28817,6,35943,38679,28737,1734],"class_list":["post-936848","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami-dolphins","tag-dante-trader","tag-dolphins","tag-football","tag-jackson-woodard","tag-jacob-rodriguez","tag-jordyn-brooks","tag-kyle-louis","tag-lonnie-johnson","tag-miami","tag-miami-dolphins","tag-miamidolphins","tag-michael-taaffe","tag-nfl","tag-ronnie-harrison","tag-trey-moore","tag-tyrel-dodson","tag-zayne-anderson"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116864349897714921","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/936848","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=936848"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/936848\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/936849"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=936848"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=936848"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=936848"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}