Dolphins elevate Melvin Ingram to roster ahead of Ravens showdown
The Miami Dolphins are facing off against Lamar Jackson and the powerful Baltimore Ravens offense in Week 17, so it makes sense to bring in all the defensive reinforcements, possible. The Dolphins did just that on Saturday when they decided to elevate former first round pick, Melvin Ingram, from the practice squad to the 53-man roster. […]
The Miami Dolphins are facing off against Lamar Jackson and the powerful Baltimore Ravens offense in Week 17, so it makes sense to bring in all the defensive reinforcements, possible.
The Dolphins did just that on Saturday when they decided to elevate former first round pick, Melvin Ingram, from the practice squad to the 53-man roster. This is the second week in a row that he's been elevated after signing with the Dolphins on December 14 and Miami has one elevation left before it's required to sign him to the active roster. Meaning, he'd get a nice pay raise and would have an official spot on the 53 if/once that happens.
Last week against Dallas, he played 32% of defensive snaps and finished the game with two solo tackles.
Ingram played in all 17 games for the Dolphins last year and amassed 6.0 sacks, seven tackles for loss, 10 quarterback hits, a forced fumble, and two fumble recoveries that included a recovery for a touchdown in the season-opener against the New England Patriots.
He was the No. 18 overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft and made three straight Pro Bowls from 2017-2019 with the Los Angeles Chargers.
Lamar Jackson is hard to take down, but it's not impossible
We all know how dangerous Jackson is when it comes to using his legs and how hard he can be to take down. I mean, just take a look at what he did to the San Francisco 49ers on Christmas Day.
But, he's not impossible to take down. Especially in 2023.
Jackson's 7.50% sack rate is the ninth-highest rate in the NFL and 18.1% of his pressures turn into sacks, which is right around average among quarterbacks with at least 234 dropbacks, per Pro Football Focus. In all, Jackson has been sacked 36 times on the season, per PFF, which is fifth-most among the aforementioned 32 qualifying players.
The key for Ingram and the other Dolphins rushers on the edge will be to stay disciplined on said edge. Don't compromise the edge -almost set it as if it were a run play- by crashing down the line in an attempt to corral Jackson. All he'll do is scamper out of the pocket, find the opening on the perimeter/boundary and make whatever defense he's facing pay.
Obviously, that's much easier said than done, but an experienced veteran such as Ingram knows what it takes to defend Jackson. If the Dolphins can limit the explosive scrambles and runs, then they'll have a great shot at winning both this game and the AFC East.
