We’d be wise to change our perception of the Dolphins’ team needs after Jeff Hafley’s remarks at the annual NFL owners meetings
Jeff Hafley’s comments this week seem to elevate one position on the Miami Dolphins’ list of team needs.
The Miami Dolphins‘ new leadership group wasn’t shy this week when talking about what they’re looking for or how they’re going to go about their business.
The harmony between Jon-Eric Sullivan and Jeff Hafley’s comments is a promising trend. It underscores the cohesive mindset they’re bringing to building the Dolphins. They’ll need it if the tide in Miami is going to turn quickly — as there’s a lot of work to be done. But one comment in particular made by Jeff Hafley this week has caught my eye. It would seem to underscore just how important addressing one need in particular is for Miami’s new head coach.
Jeff Hafley’s comments about the safety position seem to suggest it is a primary need for the Miami Dolphins
“My last couple years I had guys moving all over the place based on what their skill set was and where we wanted to put certain players. I think at that position, intelligence and instincts are very important for me. I want guys who can think, think on their feet. I want guys who, as I call the game through those guys, can kind of react and communicate with me and tell me what they see and I kind of play the game within the game with the opposing quarterbacks with those guys. I want guys that understand the game, can think on their feet because they’re out there alone at that point and have good instincts.”
– Miami Dolphins head coach Jeff Hafley
It isn’t necessarily breaking news. Hafley’s Green Bay Packers defenses were fueled on the back-end by some heavy investments in the safety room. The Packers, in Hafley’s first offseason, spent big in free agency on veteran Xavier McKinney. They subsequently double-dipped in the draft with Javon Bullard and Evan Williams within the first four rounds.
But to hear Jeff Hafley so plainly state their importance to how he calls a game defensively? It’s eye-opening. And all it takes is one quick glimpse of the depth chart identify that there’s a missing link (or two) in the room.
We could interpret Hafley’s comments as an indicator of just how important safety is to the functionality of the defense overall. If that’s the case, it’s our biggest breadcrumb yet on the pecking order of items on Miami’s shopping list. There’s no shortage of needs. And the Dolphins would be foolish to draft exclusively off need in the first year of a multi-year reload. But if all things are equal? A tie for players under consideration for a pick could go to a safety.
You can read between the lines for yourself. I can’t help but wonder what it would mean to see Ohio State’s Caleb Downs on the clock at No. 11 overall. Or, alternatively, if any number of safeties are on the board when Miami’s early second-round pick comes on the board at No. 43 overall. That could include LSU’s AJ Haulcy, Toledo’s Emmanuel McNeil-Warren, and others.
The position is key to Hafley’s ability to call a game the way he wants. That’s straight from the head coach’s mouth and no longer speculation. Accordingly, it is probably safe to assume they won’t be skimping. That’s And boy, is it light as we roll into April.
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