Jones and Hilton Should Help the Dolphins’ Defense be Among the Best in NFL

Jones and Hilton Should help the Dolphins’ Defense be Among the Best in NFL

All off-season, the question about the Dolphins’ defense was solely about who would play the cornerback position.

With Jalen Ramsey and Kendall Fuller gone from last year’s unit, there was a clear hole that needed to be filled.

Early on training camp, Chris Grier, Mike McDaniel, and the rest of the coaching staff must not have liked what they saw from the likes of Ethan Bonner, Storm Duck, and Cam Smith, to be comfortable enough to have one of those players from that trio start early in the season.

They did the right thing by adding veterans Mike Hilton and Jack Jones.

No, Hilton and Jones are not all-pro corners, but the two should be serviceable enough to start at either the boundary or at the nickel.

If Kader Kohou is out for an extended period of time, maybe Miami will move Minkah Fitzpatrick into the slot at a heavy rate on obvious passing downs, while Ashtyn Davis and Ifeatu Melifonwu man the safety spots.

While they are not the best at their positions in the league, Jones and Hilton should allow the rest of Miami’s defense to thrive, as it was quietly a top unit in the NFL in the back half of last season.

Miami just needs the duo to be adequate so that pass rushers like Bradley Chubb, Chop Robinson, Jaelan Phillips, Jordyn Brooks, and Zach Sieler can get after the quarterback.

Before these two additions, defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver had to hope that his scheme would help his front seven get to the opposing quarterback in two seconds or less or else it would be tough for his coverage guys on the back end to hold up.

That should not be the case anymore.

Jones and Hilton, with their coverage skills, should help the front seven and even help the safety play as well, as Fitzpatrick, Davis, and Melifonwu should not have to spend so much time bracketing receivers.

For Fitzpatrick, this is especially big as he is at his best when he is playing the “robber” or “thief” role in the defense, where he can sit in the middle of the defense and pick off crossing routes and slants.

All in all, the additions of Jack Jones and Mike Hilton were very wise.