New Miami Dolphins signing Major Burns offers some major parallels to another defensive addition this offseason
What current member of the Miami Dolphins offers the most parallels to new UFL signing Major Burns.
There’s a new addition to the Jeff Hafley’s Miami Dolphins defense. The Dolphins signed UFL standout Major Burns yesterday, in the process marking the end of a multi-year investment into offensive lineman Kion Smith.
Burns brings size and length to the back seven. But amid what has been a clear attempt by the Dolphins front office, how well does Burns fit into the search for smart, tough, versatile players? It doesn’t take much tape from his time at LSU to gather a vision for him as a player. But Burns’ biggest hurdle may well be that there’s a veteran in the mix for the Miami Dolphins that offers many of the same things.
New Miami Dolphins signing Major Burns overlaps with fellow free agent signing Ronnie Harrison Jr.
Former safety Ronnie Harrison Jr. was one of Miami’s (many) free agent signings this offseason. Harrison Jr., like most of the team’s other signings, is here on a one-year deal. At 6-foot-2 and 207 pounds at the NFL Combine, Harrison has lurked between playing safety and linebacker throughout his NFL career. The Miami Dolphins reportedly have him tabbed at linebacker.
I’ll give you one guess what Major Burns weighed in at for the 2025 LSU Pro Day. Yep, you guessed it. 6-foot-2, 207 pounds.
And the LSU usage also shows a player who was tabbed with playing on the second level, even as a linebacker, a lot. Burns logged 497 snaps in the box as a sub-package linebacker across his final two seasons in the NFL, which is 105 more snaps than Burns played as a deep safety. Sprinkle in ample reps in the slot as a big nickel (373) in 2023 and 2024 and you have the makings of a hybrid subpackage player.
Harrison, for what it is worth, has played more snaps as a subpackage linebacker than he has as a safety in every season he’s been in the NFL except for one. Since 2022, Harrison has logged 449 snaps as a linebacker and 99 snaps at safety. The overlap in prior usage is significant enough to consider the pair of newcomers to be potential competitors. And that’s exactly the kind of world the Dolphins want to live in.
Competition everywhere.
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