‘It’s a champagne problem’ — Dolphins defense faces a challenging issue that every coach wishes they had in 2025
This position room could be among the best in the league.
The Miami Dolphins defense will enter the 2025 season as one of the more intriguing units in all of football. The team has been hammered by national and local pundits on account of a cornerback room that doesn’t offer many names who have earned their stripes. As a result, a completely re-made secondary looms as a big question mark for the Dolphins.
But the front seven in Miami is looking like a tremendous blend of power, explosiveness and speed. The anchors in the middle include defensive tackle Zach Sieler, first-round draft choice Kenneth Grant and another 2025 rookie in nose tackle Jordan Phillips. Three former first-round picks headline the pass rush room — Bradley Chubb, Jaelan Phillips, and Chop Robinson could be a stellar trio.
But it is the team’s linebacker room that may end up being the deepest of all. The Dolphins return Jordyn Brooks and Tyrel Dodson from last season — Brooks was a home run free agent signing and Dodson was a mid-season waiver claim who took over the starting job opposite Brooks in the second half of the season. The Dolphins bolstered the rest of the unit by signing veterans Willie Gay and K.J. Britt this offseason. Gay has been one of the best players in camp — and it’s creating a tremendous problem for the Dolphins to solve.
Dolphins boast a wealth of depth & starting experience at linebacker
Gay has been perhaps the team’s most consistent splash player on defense for much of training camp. He’s been impactful as a pursuit player in the run game, knifing underneath throws in zone coverage, and showcasing burst as a pressure player.
But Dolphins linebacker coach Joe Barry, in speaking to the media on Monday, affirmed that the team’s starting two linebackers are Brooks and Dodson — which creates a challenging math problem for Barry and Dolphins defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver to have to try to solve. How do you get Gay on the field if he continues to perform at such a high level? What does that path look like to maximizing his talent and the diversity he can give the defense?
“Traditionally, you’re starting two inside backers, or three inside linebackers if you’re a 4-3, don’t rotate. But there’s no rule against it. We did it last year with David Long and Anthony Walker. We did it in probably three or four games before Anthony took over. So it’s not the norm, but you absolutely can do that — in addition to just finding different packages and different things that you can get those guys on the field. It is a champagne problem to have that we have four inside linebackers that have all started in this league and played a lot of football. So that’s a good problem.”
– Linebackers coach Joe Barry on how to get Willie Gay on the field the most
Gay did not have a good season with the New Orleans Saints last season. But he’s a former second-round draft choice in Kansas City (2020) and he enjoyed plenty of success with the Chiefs while playing under Steve Spagnuolo while playing on his rookie contract. Based on his persistent impact during Dolphins training camp, Gay didn’t simply forget how to play football.
The Saints offered the blueprint on how not to use Gay in 2024 — he was charged with playing more as a rush linebacker on the edge than he was asked with playing off the ball. Gay has the burst to threaten the edge but featuring him predominantly there, as the Saints did while totally accommodating veterans Demario Davis and Pete Werner, is setting him up for failure. After playing over 1,110 snaps off the ball in 2022 and 2023 combined, Gay barely played 100 snaps off the ball in 2024 in New Orleans.
It will be Weaver and Barry’s job to avoid falling into the same trap. Whether it comes via a rotation or courtesy of sub-package groupings, the Dolphins defensive coaches have their work cut out for them — but it can be done. As Joe Barry stated, it’s a champagne problem. And with a little inspiration, it will be an asset to the 2025 Miami Dolphins.
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