The Miami Dolphins defense will look significantly different in 2024 as a new defensive coordinator will be taking over following Vic Fangio's departure from the team.
Anthony Weaver, the former defensive line coach coming in from the Baltimore Ravens to take over the unit, talked to reporters for the first time since touching down in Miami and made several intriguing comments about his defensive philosophy, including his vision for cornerback Jalen Ramsey, which is very refreshing to hear.
“I mean, it’s Jalen Ramsey, come on now," Weaver said when asked about his plans for the defensiva star. "You talk about prototype corners, he is that. Size, length, speed, competitiveness. The thing about him is I think he is your ultimate chess piece. So to have him just sit outside and be a field corner or boundary corner or something like that is a detriment to him."
That's what we're talking about, man! Talk about a shift in perspective following Fangio's handling of Ramsey. In 2023, Ramsey played 13 snaps in the slot and 533 out wide. In each of the last three seasons before his arrival to Miami, Ramsey had triple-digit snaps working in the slot as defensive coordinators utilized him as the chess piece that Weaver claims he is.
"We got to find ways to move him around where he can be most impactful. We’re committed to doing that," added Weaver.
Fangio, as good of a defensive mastermind he is and as much as his scheme has taken ahold of the NFL thanks to its versatility, didn't adapt properly to having a player as good as Ramsey. To the point that before the Dolphins played the Cowboys back in Week 16, the frustrated cornerback went as far as revealing the gameplan to reporters.
"I don't think that's the gameplan," Ramsey told reporters while visibly upset. "I don't think that's my role on this defense. (...) "Next question. Y’all know who I am. What’s up? You know what I’ve done in my career."
Fangio's scheme is based on giving the opposing quarterback as little information as possible before the snap. It's disguised coverages have led to offenses being much less explosive than they were in that 2018-2019 window where Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, and others seemed to be unstoppable.
But when you've got somebody like Ramsey, it's coaching malpractice not to match him up against top receivers here and there and move him around.
Fortunately, Weaver is preaching flexibility, something the Ravens defense absolutely was under Mike Macdonald, who received a head coaching gig this offseason with the Seattle Seahawks.
"I think the scheme that we used in Baltimore is extremely multiple and flexible, and the foundation of what we’re going to do here will be from that," Weaver told reporters. "But the beauty in that is a lot of the things that they’ve already done here that they’ve had success in, we’re very similar there, so there should be a lot of crossover teaching."
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