Omar Kelly: Anthony Weaver compares Dolphins unproven CB to unfinished work of art
Published in Football
MIAMI — Nobody is coming to rescue the Miami Dolphins’ secondary.
There is no major trade on the horizon that will boost the Dolphins defense, which lost — or dumped — all its secondary starters from the previous season.
Outside of maybe adding a veteran or claiming a player at the end of training camp when teams trim their roster to 53 players, what you see on the field for the preseason games the next three weeks is what defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver intends to roll with in the season.
We’re not just biding time. This isn’t a pump fake. This is the unit Miami plans to roll with in 2025.
“We’re chipping away at outer layers knowing that there’s greatness in there,” Weaver said, referring to the cornerback unit, which is filled with undrafted players, draftees who have been waived by multiple teams, three rookies (two of them undrafted) and Cam Smith, a 2023 second-round pick the franchise has seemingly lost hope in.
“There’s a sculpture we’ll love,” Weaver reiterated on Monday, 10 practices into training camp. “We’re just trying to chip some of those pieces off to make sure we get there.”
General manager Chris Grier warned us before and after the draft that Miami wasn’t pressed to do more. The Dolphins are committed to having a young cornerback room, one where these cornerbacks and safeties will be given an opportunity to carve out NFL careers for themselves if they respond to the challenges that come with this season.
So what exactly is Miami working with?
Storm Duck, who played 358 snaps as an undrafted rookie from Louisville last season, is the unit’s most technically sound cornerback. He does what he’s asked to do, and Miami’s coaches love that because this defense is built around plenty of zone coverage.
In a zone-based scheme being in your gap, your area is paramount to everything.
Then there’s Ethan Bonner. He’s one of the fastest players on the Dolphins roster and nobody argues it. He’s one of the few players in the NFL who has the speed to run with Tyreek Hill step-for-step.
“This is probably the best and most comfortable I’ve ever felt on a football field before. I’m feeling good. My body is feeling good,” Bonner said. “I’m just blessed for the opportunity.”
Mike Hilton might be one of the NFL’s smallest players checking in at 5-foot-9, 184 pounds, but he has also gained a reputation for being one of the most physical cornerbacks in the NFL.
Hilton has made 52 NFL starts in four seasons, handling 5,425 defensive snaps, and will likely man the nickel spot unless Cornell Armstrong, a six-year veteran who has made a career for himself as a special teams contributor, outperforms him.
Kendall Sheffield, a 2019 fourth-round pick who has 20 games of starting experience, has playing 1,392 defensive snaps. He began his NFL career as a starter, but injuries took him down a dark path the past few seasons. Miami, a roster he made as a rookie camp tryout, is his chance at redemption.
Then there’s Jack Jones, a talented but troubled former starter, who has pulled down seven interceptions in the 42 games he has played for the New England Patriots and Las Vegas Raiders. Jones clearly has talent, but comes with a warning label considering I’ve had a handful of calls and texts informing me he’s a “$100 million talent who is his own worst enemy,” according to one of his former coaches.
Jones and Miami could be a match made in heaven because they’re both desperate.
But Jones has to earn Weaver’s trust to enter the inner circle of this rebuilt secondary, which hasn’t been embarrassed during training camp, and also hasn’t been heavily penalized from the referees attending practice.
“The one thing I know about that group, Storm Duck, Ethan Bonner, Kendall Sheffield, is that they come out here every day and compete, which is all we ask for,” Weaver said. “Iron sharpens iron. They are not going to face better receivers than the guys we have so through that competition, individually and collectively as a whole, that group is getting better.
“While we may not have some of the names that we’re used to in the secondary, those guys are fighting to make a name for themselves, and I think you’ll see that when the regular season starts.”
Minkah Fitzpatrick, the five-time Pro Bowler and three time All-Pro the Dolphins acquired in the trade that sent Jalen Ramsey and Jonnu Smith to Pittsburgh, is expected to lead the entire secondary.
Weaver admitted he plans to use Fitzpatrick as a chess piece, lining him up in various roles, giving him multiple assignments that will be catered to Miami’s opponent.
“Minkah is a stud,” Weaver said of Fitzpatrick, who has delivered two impressive interceptions in Miami’s first 10 practices. “I’m so happy he’s here. Not just because of who he is as a player, but also because he’s an awesome leader.”
Let’s hope Fitzpatrick can shepherd this unit effectively, helping them become a respectable group.
Clearly Miami’s hoping that the defensive front seven will shoulder a heavy load, creating enough pass-rushing pressure to speed up the opposing quarterback’s operation.
But if that’s not the case these cornerbacks and safeties could be the thread that makes everything about the 2025 Dolphins season unravel.
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