by: Chris Kouffman from Twitter @ckparrot Some thoughts on Miami's depth chart: - It's nice to see them acknowledge the two separate RB positions. I've talked about this a lot. Last year, De'Von Achane occupied a RB role that saw him taking about a third of his snaps NOT from the backfield. His role is more involved in the passing game. He also revealed that he'd been training with the WRs as a position group at points this off season. Salvon Ahmed plays a similar position. Jaylen Wright appears to training on in the same position, which is a little surprising because he didn't do any of that work in college. But with his speed, and with reliable ball carriers like Raheem Mostert and Jeff Wilson on roster, it seems like a "why not?" thing. Chris Brooks almost has an entire role to himself. He also gets split out to the slot or perimeter, but when he does it's often as a blocker. - Interesting the Dolphins did not give split the WR positions into three roles. They are likely going to lean toward having Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle, Odell Beckham Jr., and River Cracraft be multi-position wide receivers rather than having any of them be slot specialists. But here is where things get interesting. Braxton Berrios has been a slot specialist in Miami's system and Malik Washington had been used almost exclusively in the slot by Virginia. Naturally, I had expected them to compete for that role. But between the depth chart having only two WR roles, and the way Miami used Malik in Friday's game, it appears they're asking Washington to learn more than just the slot game. This could just be part of the rookie's education, but they typically don't like having too much on a rookie's plate, so this is a risky decision. Perhaps that is why Washington hasn't necessarily been off to the races in terms of being an immediate standout. They could be playing the long game with him. - I don't see any surprises on the offensive line. The real backup C is Liam Eichenberg, who moves over while his backup Jack Driscoll steps into a starting role at RG until Aaron Brewer gets back. Robert Jones seems to have locked down the role at LG while Isaiah Wynn remains out with injury. Part of why they might lean toward Eichenberg rather than Driscoll at C, even tho Driscoll acquitted himself very well at C this Friday night, is to keep continuity with the C-QB snap exchange. Eichenberg and Tua have experience together. However, you should note that this opens the door for Jack Driscoll to establish himself as the starting RG. Things could get interesting when Brewer is back and Liam Eichenberg will be expecting to slide over to the RG position. - They could have split the TE position into two separate groups, with Durham Smythe, Julian Hill, and Hayden Rucci as one phenotype and Jonnu Smith, Jody Fortson, and Tanner Conner as the other. That might be too cute for an official depth chart. Jody Fortson blocks a whole lot better than Tanner Conner, and something tells me there's not much Conner can do in the passing game that Fortson can't as well. Thus, Fortson placing ahead of Conner on the depth chart isn't a shocker. Hayden Rucci's blocking Friday night was outstanding. That can be a real weapon when you're trying to establish the ground game. - Where Tanner Conner continues to interest me most is in the backfield as an upback. He did some of that last year and he did some more of it Friday. It isn't that the other TEs never line up in the backfield, it just seems that Conner does it a higher percentage of the time. He continues to be surprisingly good at blocking like a lead blocker from that position. When he blocks as a TE, he seems to be hesitant where he should be aggressive. As a FB, that doesn't seem like as much of an issue. Thing is, FBs don't usually have his speed or pass catching skills. So he could be unique if Miami decides to commit to it a little. - There's a fair amount to decode in the way they've listed their DLs, although not much of it is surprising. Benito Jones and Brandon Pili definitely fit as DLs that can play nose specialist when the play calls for one. Zach Sieler, Jonathan Harris, Neville Gallimore, and Leonard Payne are all guys who can play Closed End type positions in odd fronts. Harris, Payne, and Gallimore did a lot of that Friday night. I think it's interesting Calais Campbell is not among them, though we know he can do it. Perhaps he's a bit long in the tooth to be playing on the edge of the line anymore. - The two OLB positions appear to be differentiated as well. Jaelan Phillips, Quinton Bell, Wyatt Ray, and David Anenih all have significant experience and competence playing with their hands off the ground as standup OLBs. Before he retired, Shaq Barrett was similar. And interestingly, Bradley Chubb is the same, whenever he gets back. On the other hand, Emanuel Ogbah, Chop Robinson, and Mo Kamara are guys you probably want starting in a down position more often, for varying reasons. With Ogbah we know he struggles when asked to play up in an OLB position. With Robinson you want his hand down because of that ridiculous get-off, unless you're having him blitz the C on 3rd down. Tho Kamara had plenty of experience at CSU playing OLB, and even being out in coverage, he broke out in his final season as a pure outside rusher. He is an undersized guy, and that's his best bet for making the team and making an impact. - The way the CBs are listed sort of suggests that the winner of the competition between Ethan Bonner and Cam Smith might end up with similar snaps as Kader Kohou and/or Nik Needham. The key will be whether the individual game plan asks for Jalen Ramsey to move inside against certain personnel groupings.
