Who Will Win Miami Dolphins' 2nd Cornerback Battle?

Between former Miami Dolphins general manager Jeff Ireland and current GM Dennis Hickey, you'd figure someone could find a pair of competent cornerbacks to man the perimeter. Unfortunately, that's not been the case, and the Dolphins have been 50 percent of the way there for the past several years. 

Last year, Bleacher Report's Thomas Galicia covered the Dolphins' battle at the No. 2 cornerback spot. The fact that we're back here is a testament to the Dolphins' inability to fill that spot. Brent Grimes can only cover one side of the field, and on the opposite side, the Dolphins have fielded a revolving door including veteran Cortland Finnegan (2014) and Nolan Carroll (2013). 

This year's battle consists of a mish-mash of veterans and young guns, and with six men competing for one job, the battle is sure to heat up in a hurry. That being said, there are already a few front-runners for the job. 

Jamar Taylor

As a rookie, Jamar Taylor was hampered by a groin injury. He had an inconsistent 2014 season, his second in the league, and finished out the year on injured reserve with a shoulder injury. It would be a good start if he could stay healthy in his third year, but it would be even better if he could play at a high level when he is on the field. 

According to Pro Football Focus, Taylor has yielded 37 completions on 53 throws in his direction (69.8 percent) for 436 yards with two touchdowns, no interceptions and no passes defensed. He has allowed a passer rating of 107.1 on throws into his coverage. 

Based on those numbers, it would be difficult to justify giving him a starting job, and according to Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald, the Dolphins were "looking very closely" at potential upgrades over Taylor in the draft. Do they think of fifth-round pick Bobby McCain as an upgrade? Only time will tell.

Either way, the 5'10", 200-pound corner should be looking over his shoulder. There are simply too many other options the Dolphins could explore.

Brice McCain

It may seem unlikely for Brice McCain to start on the perimeter opposite Brent Grimes; after all, McCain is a career slot cornerback and at 5'9" and 187 pounds, he would be horribly mismatched against some of the bigger, more physical receivers that play on the outside. 

Oh, wait, Grimes is only one inch taller and only three pounds heavier? Well, then. That changes everything.

It wouldn't be out of the question for McCain to win the starting job opposite Grimes and "kick inside" to the slot when the Dolphins go to their nickel defense. McCain was in the slot for 284 of his 442 coverage snaps in 2014, and ranked in the top 10 (out of 61 qualifying cornerbacks) in yards per coverage snap, snaps in coverage per reception and snaps in coverage per target.  

So, clearly, the slot is one of his strengths, but it should not be the only way McCain gets onto the field. 

Zackary Bowman

At 30-going-on-31 years old, Zackary Bowman probably isn't the future of the Dolphins secondary, but there's no reason he can't be the present. At 6'1" and 197 pounds, he is more physically suited to play on the perimeter than any other cornerback on the Dolphins roster. 

Over the past few years, he has spent a majority of his time covering kicks on special teams rather than playing a legitimate role on defense. He participated in only 48.4 percent of the New York Giants' defensive snaps last year. 

When he was on the field, though, he was effective. He yielded 13 completions on 36 targets (36.1 percent) for 251 yards, four touchdowns, two interceptions, two passes defensed and a 75.1 passer rating.

The Dolphins haven't had a big, physical cornerback in their secondary since 2012, when Sean Smith was manning the perimeter, but his size won't always help.

If Bowman wins this competition, he could provide a presence that could actually match up with some of the more imposing boundary receivers in the game. Whether his skill level would match up is another question; he started 12 games in the past two years, but he hasn't been a fully-fledged starting cornerback since 2009. 

Unless otherwise noted, all advanced statistics obtained via Pro Football Focus.