Dolphins Place LB Ronnie Harrison On IR

A former third-round safety out of Alabama, Harrison has become something of a journeyman in the NFL. When he signed with Miami in free agency this offseason, the Dolphins became Harrison’s fifth team over his nine-year career. Harrison was drafted by Jacksonville, where he started 22 of 28 games for the Jaguars before getting traded to the Browns for a fifth-round pick. He mostly retained a first-team role in Cleveland, starting 18 of 23 games in his first two years but only starting five of 16 in his third season with the team.

After losing his starting job with the Browns, it became a bit of a struggle for Harrison to get consistent playing time. He signed with the Colts the following year and, after failing to make the 53-man roster, had to make his way off the practice squad to start three of seven games. He stayed in Indianapolis a second season and, once again, had to come off the taxi squad just to play a special teams role for 10 games. He did the same thing last year with the Falcons but played a bigger role once on the active roster, starting four of 10 game appearances.

Harrison didn’t have to work his way off the practice squad in Miami this year, but he’ll now have to work his way off IR. Harrison joined a linebacking corps that returned first-team All-Pro Jordyn Brooks and was welcoming second-round rookie Jacob Rodriguez. Harrison only played special teams in Week 1 and, perhaps, would’ve had a bigger role had Rodriguez not been NFL ready, but after the Dolphins’ opening matchup, it became clear that last year’s league-leading tackler, Brooks, would have some competition on his own team when Rodriguez notched 14 total tackles.

So, even with Harrison out for at least four weeks, the Dolphins’ linebacking corps appears to be in good shape. Anderson, an undrafted linebacker out of Holy Cross with a couple games of special teams experience with the Colts, will come up to help replace the depth lost due to Harrison’s injury.