Why Dolphins Can Be NFL's Most Dangerous Team Behind Vastly Improved Defense

Dreams of a healthy Tua Tagovailoa connecting downfield with Tyreek Hill or Jaylen Waddle creating a chunk play after a perfectly placed underneath pass already dominate expectations for this year's Miami Dolphins. In truth, the biggest improvement should come from the defensive side of the ball and help elevate Mike McDaniel's squad from playoff hopeful to AFC elite.

Last year's Dolphins finished 9-8 overall and earned a Wild Card berth, with the NFL's sixth-ranked offense. Miami achieved the ranking despite Tagovailoa missing four regular-season contests. Conversely, the defense ranked 18th overall.

Realistically, the Dolphins should easily crack the league's top-five offenses this fall with Tagovailoa in the lineup for most, if not all, of the season. Whereas, a significant leap on defense can occur thanks to a few changes and one specific individual ready to assert himself among the league's best.

After last year's effort, the organization parted ways with previous defensive coordinator Josh Boyer. Vic Fangio's hire as Boyer's replacement may be the offseason's biggest coup. Fangio has been at the forefront of the league's latest defensive trends, while his groups have been consistently found among the best.

"I knew Vic was so different, and there wasn't really anybody like Vic," former Fangio assistant and current Los Angeles Chargers head coach Brandon Staley told The Athletic's Robert Mays in 2020. "It's because of the depth that we play with. And it's not like Tampa Bay 2, which is way different because there's too much air in the coverage. We just play with more depth. When you start with that premise, you can really open your thinking to play the way you need to play to stop people."

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Essentially, the NFL trended away from the once-influential Legion of Boom-style Cover 3 approach, with Fangio's open safety looks (two split safeties playing deep instead of a single-high defender). At its core, the NFL is a copycat league. Coordinators have taken Fangio's schemes and added their own twists. To illustrate this point, the NFL saw an increase of two-high safety looks by more than 2,300 pass attempts from 2016 compared to last season, according to Doug Farrar of the USA Today's Touchdown Wire.

Meanwhile, the master continues to tweak and adapt his own play-call sheet.

The basic philosophy is to disguise looks better, drop more defenders deeper into coverage and force the quarterback into being patient, with the potential to force him into mistakes.

Since becoming the San Francisco 49ers' defensive coordinator through his failed tenure as the Denver Broncos head coach, Fangio's defenses have never been the problem. During that span, his units finished among the top-five overall five times, in the top 10 seven times and only once among the bottom half of the league.

"This defense does two things: It creates turnovers and it stops explosives," Dolphins safeties coach Joe Kasper told reporters. "And the No. 1 way to win games in the NFL is create turnovers—or protect the ball—and stop explosives."

While the system and communication play a vital part in any unit's success, the position in which individuals are placed is equally important.

From a roster standpoint, two acquisitions should help elevate the entire Dolphins D.

Jalen Ramsey steps in as Xavien Howard's bookend after Byron Jones missed all of last season with injuries and chose to retire this offseason. Ramsey is a six-time Pro Bowl honoree, and NFL evaluators recently ranked the 28-year-old veteran as the league's third-best cornerback.

"For me, it's more an effort issue than ability," a veteran AFC scout told ESPN's Jeremy Fowler. "I don't think he's declined physically. He can still do all the things that make him great. I'm just not sure he always plays hard."

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Ramsey has always been a better player when he's challenged. Last year's Los Angeles Rams squad held a 3-8 record by the start of December and faced multiple issues throughout the roster due to injuries and turnover.

An opportunity to play in Fangio's scheme for something meaningful again should have Ramsey operating as a premium defender.

"He'll be locked in in Miami—that defense is corner friendly," an anonymous scout told Fowler. "[Fangio] has made corners who can't play have good seasons, so imagine what he can do with a star player like Jalen?"

Ramsey is a superstar, with the size (6'1", 208 lbs), length, physicality and play-making skills to thrive in a scheme that will allow him to take advantage of those traits.

Meanwhile, David Long Jr. signed a two-year, $11 million free-agent contract to join the Dolphins and replace last year's leading tackler, Elandon Roberts. The latter is an excellent downfield plugger. But he's always struggled working in space. Long won't be a hinderance in the passing game, with the ability to cover significant ground—while still filling well in the run game.

McDaniel previously discussed with reporters what he liked about Long's game:

"And because of that he's found so many different tools in his game to be successful that make him such a cool player how he defeats blocks with his hands and his feet. How he's always finding the ball, how he beats other players on his unit to the ball in pursuit. These are all things that his coverage abilities, his ability to eliminate the space between him and the ball carrier and his ability to really be a quality tackler. Great fit for us and really excited to have him and he was always one of those guys that stood out on crossover for me. So that was another cool part is I've been watching him for a while so it's exciting for our unit."

Upgrades at cornerback and inside linebacker help along the backend. A breakthrough season could be forthcoming from 2021 first-round pick Jaelan Phillips.

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Phillips is a natural edge-rusher with 15.5 sacks through his first two seasons. His fluidity, length and upside have him on the verge of entering top-tier territory by securing 10-plus sacks per season.

"Huge upside," an AFC executive told Fowler. "He was raw coming in but a big athlete and he plays his ass off. Expecting huge year from him."

The Dolphins feature an excellent front. Both Christian Wilkins and Zach Sieler are counted among the league's best run defenders. Raekwon Davis can continue in his limited nose tackle role. Healthy versions of Bradley Chubb and Emmanuel Ogbah provide the Miami with a strong rotation working off the edge.

"I'll say we can be as good as we want to be, I'm excited about this defense," Ogbah told KPRC 2's Aaron Wilson. "We've got Vic coaching us up. I can't wait. It's been a long time coming. This year, I feel like this is the year. We can be as good as we want to be. I'm ready to go out there and dominate."

The Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs are the two teams the Dolphins must overcome—first in Miami's own division then to claim an AFC crown.

Defense may not be as sexy as slinging the ball all over the yard, but it's absolutely vital for the Dolphins to counter the likes of Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes. As it's currently comprised, Miami's D under Fangio's supervision should be a top-five unit to create excellent complementary football.

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Brent Sobleski covers the NFL for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter, @brentsobleski.