It was announced today that Miami Dolphins edge rusher Jaelan Phillips will be out for the season with a knee injury. This is devastating news to the young pass rusher, as he tore his achilles coming off his greatest game as a Dolphin last year on Black Friday. Phillips has been plagued with injuries his entire career, it hurts to see a man of his character be faced with all this adversity. Below I will talk about how this affects the Dolphins moving forward, and how they will look in future weeks.
With Phillips out, the Dolphins remaining HEALTHY edge defenders are Emmanuel Ogbah, Chop Robinson, Quentin Bell, and Mohammed Kamara. It is safe to say the Dolphins won’t be very disruptive off the edge with this group. Emmanuel Ogbah has looked like a fine starter for the Dolphins through four weeks, but if he is the current Dolphins best option they are in some serious trouble. Defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver is a guru on coaching defensive lineman, however he can only do so much when his unit lacks starpower.
One man who the Dolphins need to step up earlier than expected is Chop Robinson. Robinson was the first round pick for the Miami Dolphins in the 2024 NFL draft, and is widely considered a project for Miami. Chop still averages playing 22 snaps a game, but has yet to record a snap. He has created pressure and has been close however, and his most recent game against Tennessee he looked like he was going to get one before the refs missed a clear hold on left tackle JC Latham. If Robinson does not elevate his game soon, that is extremely poor news.
The other two guys mentioned are young players, one of which (Mohammed Kamara) is a rookie 5th round pick out of Colorado State. He was considered a steal in the draft, and had a solid preseason campaign to make the team. Quentin Bell was a breakout player for Miami in the preseason, and earned his spot on this football team. It’s ideal that neither player starts off the edge, but both are good enough to hold their own when thrown into the game.
Two other guys who are on injured reserve are Cam Brown and Cameron Goode. Neither are notable names, and neither have made an impact in the National Football League.
The guy the Dolphins are going to need to rely on to come back from his injury is Bradley Chubb. Chubb was traded to Miami at the 2022 NFL trade deadline and received a big paycheck by GM Chris Grier. Chubb last year had 11 sacks and 6 forced fumbles (tied for first in the league), he was excellent. A lot of people said that the Dolphins made a poor trade giving up a first round pick and more for Chubb, but he clearly proved he was worth everything the Dolphins spent.
In essence, the Dolphins are heavily going to be relying on Chubb to come back if they want to have a good defensive line this year. Will he come back when expected? I’m not sure, the news surrounding him has been extremely quiet. One last option would be the Dolphins trading for someone, but as of right now that seems to be infeasible.