Full Scouting Report on Ifeatu Melifonwu

The Miami Dolphins are making a high-risk, high-reward bet for one of their starting safety spots.

The team agreed to a one-year, $4 million deal with former Detroit Lions defensive back Ifeatu Melifonwu on Tuesday, and he looks primed to be the starting strong safety in Week 1. Miami needed two starting safeties since Jevon Holland and Jordan Poyer were free agents, so even though Melifonwu isn’t making much next season, he’s likely to fill Poyer’s spot.

Melifonwu was selected in the third round of the 2021 NFL Draft out of Syracuse. Originally, Melifonwu was a cornerback, but he was converted to safety at the end of the 2022 season.

This was done for a few reasons we’ll cover later, but it allowed Melifonwu to become a fairly productive player on the Lions’ defense. 2023 was Melifonwu’s best season, as he recorded 33 tackles, three sacks, eight pass breakups, and two interceptions.

Unfortunately, that’s the only time Melifonwu has played more than 10 games in a season. He’s been limited by various injuries but most recently missed all but four games of the 2024 season after a training camp ankle injury.

We’ve decided to dive into the film to see if Melifonwu is a worthwhile bet for a Dolphins team that needs to get a lot better at the safety position this season.

Ifeatu Melifonwu’s Strengths

Versatility

Although Melifonwu will be the Dolphins’ “strong safety,” there are a lot of roles packed into that position. Melifonwu bounces around a lot on tape, and his snap count distribution shows a player with experience playing all over the defense.

In 2023, Melifonwu took 233 snaps at free safety, 168 in the box, and 113 at slot cornerback. Those 168 reps in the box can also be broken down further. He took reps as a weakside linebacker and in a robber role.

Those distributions mostly held up across his limited action in 2024, so it’s likely to be how he’s deployed by the Dolphins. It should also be noted that Melifonwu was a college cornerback. He’s much better suited to play safety in the NFL, but he’s familiar with playing on the outside.

Melifonwu’s versatility goes past where he lines up. He was asked to handle several different responsibilities through his tape.

He took man and zone coverage reps in the slot, using his 6-foot-3, 210-pound frame to match up with tight ends. His “linebacker” reps show a solid, reliable run defender capable of shooting gaps and stacking blocks.

His free safety reps include a diverse menu of responsibilities like playing in a deep half, coming closer to the line of scrimmage for Cover 3 looks, and roaming the middle of the field as a robber. Melifonwu is better at some things than others, but he did it all with the Lions.

He was even used as a blitzer throughout his tenure in Detroit. It’s a small sample size, but on 19 pass rush snaps across the last two seasons, he generated 12 pressures and four sacks. Here’s a look at one against the Vikings from the 2023 season.

The Dolphins don’t use a lot of traditional blitzes, but this is just another area where Melifonwu can give Dolphins defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver more options.

Run Defense

It's rare for a former cornerback to be a strong defender, but Melifonwu is an impressive player against the run. His size (6-3, 210) allows him to hold up much better against blocks.

Melifonwu’s length is also a weapon for him in this area. His huge wingspan makes it easier for him to stack blocks and make tackles at all levels of the field. At the 2021 NFL Combine, he measured in with a 78½-inch wingspan, ranking in the 87th percentile among defensive backs.

Tackling near the line of scrimmage is a great trait for a safety, but their ability to come from depth and make tackles is far more critical. Holland and Poyer struggled mightily in this area last season, leading the Dolphins to give up big plays.

Melifonwu’s tape looks a lot more consistent in this area than anything the Dolphins got from Poyer and Holland last season. This rep shows Melifonwu coming downhill to tackle San Francisco 49ers receiver Ricky Pearsall on a reverse.

Melifonwu is not a perfect run defender by any means. He can still miss some tackles in space, but putting too much stock in his missed tackle percentages is hard because they’re pulled from a small sample size of snaps.

He should be an upgrade in this area for the Dolphins.

Zone Coverage Instincts

When it comes to coverage, Melifonwu is at his best in short to intermediate zones. He’s a smart player who takes his experience playing cornerback and applies to how he roams the field as a safety.

Most of his plays on the ball look somewhat similar. Melifonwu stays leveraged over a route, keeps his eyes on the quarterback, and breaks downhill to make a play on the ball.

This rep against the Falcons is an excellent example of what Melifonwu can do for the Dolphins in the middle of the field. Watch him read the quarterback’s eyes, feel the crossing route coming toward him, and then trigger across the field to make the PBU.

Obviously, it’s nice to see Melifonwu make a big hit to dislodge the pass. “Physicality” could have been its own section for this article, but it’s a lot more efficient to point out that Melifonwu’s physical nature is a staple of his game, even when he’s in coverage.

His ability to operate with such natural instincts is impressive, given he hasn’t actually played much football at the NFL level.

Ifeatu Melifonwu’s Weaknesses

Durability, Proof of Concept

The main reason young players with good film reach free agency is because of injury concerns, and that’s the case with Melifonwu.

His preseason ankle injury last year was not his first big injury. He missed time in 2022 with a different ankle injury and spent most of his rookie season on injured reserve with a quad injury.

This has led to Melifonwu playing in just 37 games across four seasons, and he’s played more than 250 snaps just once (535 in 2023). Even that comes with an asterisk, as Melifonwu only became a consistent contributor starting in Week 14.

Between Week 1 and Week 13, he logged just 67 snaps on defense. In his defense, the Lions’ safety room was incredibly stacked, and when he did become a fixture of the defense, he was great.

However, any positive forecasting you’re doing around Melifonwu’s play is based on a seven-week run (four regular season games, three playoff games) at the end of the 2023 season and a four-week run (three regular season games, one playoff game) at the end of the 2024 season.

If Melifonwu can’t stay on the field, it doesn’t matter how good his film is.

Deep Zone Coverage

The only real gripe with Melifonwu’s on-field play is his ability to play in deeper zones. This is why he’s likely to fill a strong safety role as opposed to a free safety one.

He’s not totally inept downfield, but he’s not quite as instinctive as he is closer to the line of scrimmage. Melifonwu ran a fast 40 time, but he looks more explosive over short spaces than he does over distance.

Reading out route concepts in deep zones requires a lot more discipline and experience than Melifonwu currently has. It’s just not an area that maximizes what Melifonwu is best at.

Pulling him away from the line of scrimmage makes him a less impactful player against the run, makes it harder for him to blitz, and doesn’t let him match bigger receivers in man coverage.

This means Melifonwu needs to be paired with a safety that has more range on the backend.

The Final Word on Melifonwu

Melifonwu is a pretty straightforward evaluation. If he can stay on the field, he’s clearly a starting strong safety with the natural ability to be a Pro Bowl-caliber player. He does so many things well, has above-average size, and impressive athletic ability.

For the Dolphins, he’s a massive upgrade over Poyer, arguably one of the worst starting safeties in the NFL last season. Plus, the Dolphins got him for an absolute bargain. A player with Melifonwu’s skill set likely gets more than double what the Dolphins will pay him this season.

However, “if” he can stay healthy is a huge “if.” Players get injured all the time, but Melifonwu has had enough significant injuries to be considered an injury-prone player. This becomes especially concerning at a position like safety, where players take a lot of hits.

He plays a high-risk position and has only played 17 games once. And it’s hard to give him proper credit for that since he only played significant defensive snaps in six regular season games that season.

The bright side is that Melifonwu isn’t coming off an injury. He finished 2024 healthy and had enough flashes across that sample size to make betting on his strong 2023 season worthwhile, especially for just $4 million over one season.

Still, safety isn’t a position of strength for the Dolphins. Melifonwu will be paired with Ashtyn Davis, with whom the team agreed to a deal on Tuesday, and with last year’s sixth-round pick, Patrick McMorris.

Davis was demoted primarily to a special teams role with the Jets, and McMorris’ skill set is better suited for a purely special teams role.

There’s a good chance the Dolphins will add another name to the safety room this offseason, but there will be a lot on Melifonwu’s shoulders in that room either way.

Melifonwu is a good signing. He fills a need and is a young, ascending player who has performed well when given a chance. The Dolphins just have to hope their injury luck turns around.

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