Kelly: Speed centric Dolphins build the 2025 defense around quick edge rushers

Miami Herald

8 hours ago

Hard Rock Stadium already hosts one of Formula 1's hottest races every spring when the Miami Grand Prix comes to town, and this fall the football team that calls the stadium home intends on putting together a showcase of speed as well.
And we're not talking about the big-play capability that speedsters Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle and De'Von Achane bring to the offense.
This season it's actually the Dolphins' pass rushers we can nickname F1 because they have been bending corners to get around offensive tackles at breakneck speeds, consistently hunting down quarterbacks in training camp.
Miami's coaches and players are crossing their fingers, hoping the effectiveness of the Dolphins' pass rush will set the tone for the entire team.
'We set the table,' pass rusher Bradley Chubb said, referring to Miami's front seven, which features four returning starters.
The Dolphins potentially have a third-down package that if designed and executed properly could eclipse the franchise sack record (56), which was set in 2023 when a defensive front that featured holdovers Zach Sieler, Chubb and Jealan Phillips set the tone for that Vic Fangio-led defense.
What's interesting is that all the holdovers believe this year's defenders could be better than that 2023 team if everyone can stay healthy, and if Miami's unproven secondary is respectable, the should contain receivers for a couple of seconds per snap.
Sieler, who excels at twists and stunts, and possesses an effective swim move as a interior pass rusher, has produced 10 sacks a season for the past two years.
Phillips and Chubb have each proven they have the talent to deliver double-digit sack seasons. But that's if they can stay healthy, which has been each edge rusher's greatest challenge during their NFL careers.
Chop Robinson, the Dolphins' 2024 first-round pick, heated up in the second half of his rookie season, becoming one the NFL's most impactful pressure generators during the final eight games of the season.
With linebackers Jordyn Brooks (9.5 career sacks), Tyrel Dodson (6.5 career sacks), and Willie Gay Jr. (seven career sacks) behind the four frontline rushers the Dolphins can potentially put seven defenders in the box, lining them up close to the line of scrimmage, maybe even having each moving around before the snap, or standing up.
Six of them could be rushing, or those same six could be dropping back into coverage.
'Just being able to have the offense thinking, the things we could do out of that package,' said Chubb, who has recorded 39.5 sacks in the 73 games he's played. 'We haven't even put everything that we have in, so just seeing the possibilities that we could go to [is exciting]. You know those guys are going to get after that pass. It's a race out there.'
Phillips has produced 23 sacks in the 46 games he's played the past four seasons, which features him logging less than 2,000 defensive snaps.
Robinson had a slow start, generating only 11 pressures and no sacks in his first eight NFL games last season.
In the final seven weeks of the 2024 season he became a dominant force, racking up 45 pressures and six sacks, according to Pro Football Focus.
That 45 pressures number is quite subjective, but it's safe to conclude he was bringing the heat.
Former Dolphins' offensive tackle Terron Armstead, who mentored Robinson last season, compared the former Penn State standout's get off - his first step — to future Hall of Famer Von Miller, and warned that he'll be a force as a pressure player in time.
Everyone associated with the Dolphins have openly praised Robinson, including the player he backs up, Phillips, who claimed Robinson has the talent to become a Defensive Player of the Year.
But to get there it would mean he's taking snaps away from Phillips, who is playing on a fifth-year option, and is expected to become a free agent next offseason, and Chubb, who already took a massive pay reduction in this offseason's shakedown.
Chubb will likely be released after this season unless the eight-year veteran takes another massive pay reduction, reducing his salary from the $20.2 million he's slated to make in 2026.
That means both Phillips and Chubb have money, and their futures at stake this season.
'I'm real excited to get on the field, all three of us,' Phillips said, referring to himself, Chubb and Robinson all playing together in a pressure package. 'It's going to be great.'