Fins' Safety Woes Need an In-House Solution

Miami’s Safety Trouble Should be Fixed In-House

There were many shortcomings on the roster of the 2009 Miami Dolphins, but no area on the field was as big of a debacle as the Keystone Cops safety spot. Yeremiah Bell, Miami’s strong safety, was so bad in coverage that he was usually removed from the game on obvious passing downs, replaced by the hardly intimidating Tyrone Culver. Free safety Gibril Wilson was spared the indignity of being benched on the game’s most important down, but he was the whipping boy of opposing QB’s and Dolphin fans alike all year long, and he was a major reason for Miami’s pass defense being amongst the worst in the league. Obviously, Miami will have to upgrade at the safety position before they can challenge many of the league’s better teams. But rather than scouring free agency or the draft for a solution, I believe Miami should look to bolster the position with players already on the roster.

Option 1
Chris Clemons. The ex-Clemson Tiger will be entering his second season with Miami and mainly for financial reasons, he will probably be the favorite entering the off-season work outs & training camp. I say financial reasons because Wilson (5 yrs 27.5 million) has a much bigger contract, and Clemons (4 years 1.9 million) did absolutely nothing on the field to deserve the job on a merit based scale. Clemons saw extensive playing time twice this year, when Wilson was benched for Jets game in Week 8, and in the season finale vs. Pittsburgh. I didn’t see him make any plays, I saw no big tackles, pass deflections, or even near misses. For a guy with elite speed for a safety, Clemons never seemed to be around the ball, and he was torched for two touchdowns vs. the Steelers in Week 17. Perhaps another year to get acclimated to the pro game will help him. If Clemons is anywhere near as effective as Wilson, which isn’t saying much, he’ll have an inside track on the starting gig because he works for about a 1/10 of the price that Wilson does, and last I checked the NFL was still a business.

Option 2
Will Allen. In my view, this is the most intriguing option. In the same year that Miami drafted two corners in the first two rounds, Will Allen struggled in coverage and then tore his ACL vs. New Orleans and missed most of the season. Even if Allen returns at 100% of his former self, which is doubtful at his age (32 in August), he is unlikely to regain his role as a starting cornerback because that would ****** the growth of one Miami’s younger players, Vontae Davis or Sean Smith. Allen could either serve as the highest paid nickel corner in the league this side of Ellis Hobbs, or he could move into the starter’s role at FS and perhaps extend his career by a few years in the process. At 5’10, 195, Allen doesn’t have the size you would typically want in a safety, but he’s one of the better tackling corners in the league, and I don’t think he’d be a liability physically. Many corners have moved to FS towards the end of their playing time, most notably Rod Woodson, I think Miami should take a long look at Allen as a FS.

Option 3
Jason Allen. Entering the final year of your contract whilst buried on the depth chart is hardly an enviable position to be in. Allen played reasonably well as a FS in 2007 and if I were him I’d be in the coaching staff’s ear asking for a return to safety early and often in 2010. Barring injury, Allen has little chance seeing significant action as a corner so his only chance of showing he deserves a new contract may be to move to FS and play well there. He’d have to beat out Clemons and perhaps Wilson for playing time, but he stands a better chance of doing that than he does passing Davis, Smith or Will Allen as a corner.

Option 4
Sean Smith. At 6’3 214, Smith has the size to play safety, he was an All-Conference FS in his last year at Utah, but he lacks the temperament and physicality needed for the position at the pro level. Sean’s tackle attempts look more like hugs than hits, he’s perfectly willing to loiter in the general vicinity of the play rather than stick his nose in the pile and make a hit. That being said, I believe that with proper coaching, Smith could be an eraser in pass coverage. Sean has good speed for a safety, fluid hips, long arms, good leaping ability, and tremendous ball skills. He could erase half the field in a cover 2, the middle third in a Cover 3, he can slide down to cover a WR/TE when the team is blitzing, and I’d even trust him in a single high look. Miami’s penchant for wanting physical players, coupled with Sean’s youth and inexperience might make this the least likely of the options, but it’s hard not to wonder how #24 would look roaming the depths of Miami’s secondary.

Option 5
Gibril Wilson. Wilson is due 3.85 million plus workout incentives for the 2010 season, so unless there is a drastic improvement in his play, I’d expect Miami to move on just as the Raiders did last season. Keeping him as a back up and/or special teams guy is not an option.

One of the underlying reasons why one of the above options makes more sense than an outside solution is that Miami has many other holes to fill. ILB, OLB, NT, WR, & TE are all areas of need, and it’ll be impossible to fill them all in one off season. If Miami can nab ILB Karlos Dansby or OLB Elvis Dumervil it would take a lot of pressure off of their scouting/drafting team come April and cutting Joey Porter and Wilson should clear up the cap space needed to sign one of the two with room to spare. Alabama senior ILB Rolando McClain is already a fan favorite in Miami, but I have my reservations. From what I’ve seen, McLain is an arm tackler who would rather go around blockers than go through them, and that’s not what I want in an ILB. Dez Bryant is an intriguing possibility at pick #12, a better prospect than any of the 4 WRs who went in the first round last year, and possibly the piece that turns Miami’s offense into the pick your poison juggernaut that I believe they can be with the addition of a couple of receiving threats. The Dolphins are closer to having an elite offense than they are to having an elite defense, so I’m inclined to hope they go offense early in the draft. Either way, I think the safety position should be put on the back burner while in house remedies are given heavy consideration.

 

Your'e right, Bell did go to linebacker many times, but the point remains, he wasnt trusted to play safety, which is a red flag. At SS, Bell is the better player, he's faster, quicker, better hands, better tackler, better at everything basically. Bell is older, so that may hurt him, but I doubt that'll be enough to tilt the balance towards Wilson. And if Wilson isnt a starter who is playing well he's most likely gone b/c theres no sense in paying a guy 4 million to suck when you have guys who can suck just as well for 400K.

I didnt mention Culver because if the coaches felt he was the answer, he wouldve been given an opportunity already. Wilson was horrible last year, Clemons wasnt much better, and still, Culver wasnt even tried as a starter or allowed to play in the base defense. IMO he sees the field in nickel/dime because of Bell's shotcomings in coverage, not because of his own ability.

 

Ive got a couple problems w/ your arguement. Counting snaps vs. completions allowed is a flawed statistical anaylysis. Completions vs. times targeted is more accurrate. Second, "completions" doesnt factor in pass interefernce, holding, or illegal contact penalties, which are the same, and sometimes worse than completions. Another thing to factor in is occurences like "good coverage vs. better throws" or "bad coverage vs. worse/no throws". Which DB is matched up against the opposing teams top wideout is also important. I could go on, but the point is that statistics can say whatever you want them to say and anyone can go to Pro Football Focus and copy some stats, but understanding what youre looking at is the other half of the battle.

Vontae Davis and Sean Smith were ROOKIES last year, so saying that Will Allen outplayed them, which I dont agree with, isnt saying much anyway. Vonnie Holliday outplayed Phillip Merling in 2008, but who was cut in the off season?

Taking a quick look at Will Allen, vs ATL he allowed (short) completions on 4 of 6 throws at his man/zone, he was flagged for P.I. on another throw, and I must add that Roddy White was covered by either Davis or Smith for most of the game.. Peyton Manning mostly stayed away from him in week 2, as the Colts also put thier top wideout on Smith/Davis' side of the field. In four attempts, the only completion Allen "allowed" was the game winning 48 yd screen pass that wasnt his fault IMO, but if you wanna go by statistics lol..Week 3 was the first time Allen faced a #1 wideout for most of the game, and easily his worst game of the year. In 7 attempts Allen allowed 2 completions for 45 yards and was flagged for P.I. and a personal foul, with 0 passes defensed..Week 4 was a feast for the entire defense, Allen had his best game with two picks, Vontae a pick 6, but it was the QB pressure that led to most of the success..vs the Jets in week 5 Allen was beaten on 3 of 6 targets, all were short comps, including a 3yd TD to Braylon Edwards, and he was flagged for a 49 yd P.I. which set up another TD..vs Nawlins he was targeted 3 times, allowing 1 comp for 9 yds to Devery Henderson in the 2nd qtr., that was it prior to the injury and the rest is history. I dont know where you find the words "Pro Bowl" in there, but I'd have to disagree. I dont think Allen played any better than Smith or Davis, certainly not more than can explained away by the 8 year gap in experience or the large discrepancy in salary. In 2010, Allen will be in the slot, at FS, or on the wiaver wire. I cant see him regaining his spot at age 32 coming off of an ACL tear.

 

Jones is a free agent that Miami probably cant afford to resign. Hopefully he'll find a starting gig somewhere. Will Allen is intriguing, but he's old and damaged so Miami wont be counting on him. I dont know how the coaches feel about Culver, Clemons & Jason Allen, but from looking at the tape, I'd say they dont like any of them very much, and neither do I. But with so many holes to fill, I think safety will have to wait.