Dolphins lose Trill Williams for the season. Where things stand at corner, other spots

This might be the Dolphins’ best roster in a decade, but it’s still one with several holes, particularly backup positions on the offensive line and cornerback.

And cornerback depth became an even bigger concern with the loss of Trill Williams to a season-ending injury during Saturday’s preseason opener, a 26-24 win at Tampa Bay.

Examining that position and four others that need sorting out:

▪ Fourth cornerback: One of the candidates, Williams, was lost for the season with a left knee injury sustained late in Saturday’s game. Williams was diagnosed with a torn ACL, according to a source.

“You hate to see an injury like that for a guy that’s been working as diligently as Trill has,” coach Mike McDaniel said Sunday. “He was making plays daily on the ball. You could tell from his teammates how pumped they were for him. It hurt the hearts of the whole team.”

Williams’ injury leaves Keion Crossen and Noah Igbinoghene as the best internal cornerback options behind Xavien Howard, Byron Jones (who remains out after spring leg surgery but hopes to return for the opener) and Nik Needham.

Igbinoghene struggled all week in Tampa, allowing multiple completions in joint practices and then sharing blame with Brandon Jones and Needham on Jaelan Darden’s 23-yard touchdown catch in Saturday’s game.

McDaniel said he “put that” mistake “on myself. “I don’t think they had really gotten enough reps in that situation. I talked to Noah during the game and [told him] he could let it loose and play what he sees and don’t be as conservative. Those are things I’m more worried about happening again than on game day. It was definitely a learning moment.”

Crossen has been productive defensively in training camp and had excellent coverage on a long incomplete pass to Scottie Miller on Saturday.

Crossen, who was signed primarily because of his good work on special teams, played only two percent of the Giants’ defensive snaps last season after logging 28 percent of Houston’s defensive snaps in 2020.

During that ‘20 season with the Texans, Crossen permitted a strong 83.2 passer rating in his coverage area in 28 targets. So at this point, he’s the best internal option for the No. 4 cornerback job.

Several veteran cornerbacks remain unsigned, including Xavier Rhodes (a three-time Pro Bowler and Miami Norland alum who started 13 games for the Colts last season), Chris Harris (a four-time Pro Bowler who started 11 games for the Chargers in 2021), Joe Haden (a three-time Pro Bowler who started 11 games for Houston last season) and AJ Bouye (a 2017 Pro Bowler who started seven games for Carolina in 2021).

Without getting into names, McDaniel said: “We’re evaluating a couple guys and we will be in discussion how to handle some of these injuries and... not overdo [the workload of] existing corners on the roster.”

Would the Dolphins consider moving Eric Rowe back to cornerback after successfully shifting him to safety in October 2020? Not at this time, McDaniel indicated. “He does have versatility where we could go down that road if need be,” McDaniel said.

▪ Backup offensive tackle: Terron Armstead has never played a full season in a career that began in 2013. But his backups - Larnel Coleman, Greg Little and Kion Smith - have not distinguished themselves throughout camp.

Coleman played 42 of Miami’s 45 offensive snaps on Saturday, allowed a sack and did nothing remarkable in the running game. Smith logged 34 snaps - primarily at right tackle - and also permitted a sack. Little sat out with an injury that’s “day to day” and has flashed at practice, McDaniel said.

If the Dolphins determine that their sixth best lineman is an interior lineman (Robert Jones? Michael Deiter? Solomon Kindley?), would the Dolphins be inclined to insert that player in the lineup and have one of their two former left tackles (left guard Liam Eichenberg, right tackle Austin Jackson), move to left tackle to fill in for Armstead?

“Moving a player that’s in a spot where he’s being productive, now you have two spots that are less than than one thing that you can work around,” McDaniel said. “There are exceptions to that. Left tackle is an interesting one.... From a starting point, I would try not to move a starter out of their position to cover up another position.”

▪ No. 5 and 6 wide receiver jobs: There’s likely room for two receivers behind Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle, Cedrick Wilson Jr. and Erik Ezukanma.

Trent Sherfield started Saturday’s game opposite Wilson, caught one pass for 33 yards and is a favorite for one of those two other jobs.

That leaves potentially one job for the winner of a competition between River Cracraft, Mohamed Sanu, Lynn Bowden Jr., Preston Williams, Braylon Sanders or a player plucked later in August.

Bowden and Williams have been made available in trade talks, and Bowden helped himself the most on Saturday, with 3 catches for 55 yards and one punt return for 18 yards. If this is a harbinger of the next two weeks, Bowden could give the Dolphins something to think about.

Williams didn’t have a target on offense and returned two punts for 13 yards.

Sanu - who ended last season with McDaniel and the 49ers - caught three passes for 39 yards and shouldn’t be discounted.

▪ No. 3 and 4 running backs: It was telling that Sony Michel and Salvon Ahmed both had touches on Saturday before 2021 starter Myles Gaskin, who had the best night of the three with four carries for 27 yards. Michel lost two yards on his two carries, and Ahmed gained nothing on his two carries.

Gaskin is at risk because his $2.5 million salary is completely non-guaranteed, while Michel has a partial guarantee and Ahmed is cheap (due $895,000 non-guaranteed).

▪ Backup edge: While No. 4 cornerback and backup offensive tackle are problematic, that’s not the case with determining what players to keep behind Emmanuel Ogbah, Jaelan Phillips, Melvin Ingram and Andrew Van Ginkel.

Porter Gustin, who has a handful of sacks in camp practices, started at defensive end and played well. Darius Hodge had a sack on Saturday.

Rookie seventh-rounder Cameron Goode had six tackles and deflected a pass. And Brennan Scarlett - who has worked at both linebacker and defensive end - has value. There’s likely room for only one or two from that group.

Undrafted rookies Deandre Johnson and Owen Carney shared a sack Saturday and have made a case for practice squad jobs.

THIS AND THAT

McDaniel addressed other issues during his Sunday news conference:

▪ The roster cutdown from 90 to 85 by Tuesday’s deadline will be a difficult one, McDaniel said. The final cutdown to 53 must be made by Aug. 30.

▪ On his first game as an NFL head coach: “I’m excited because it’s over... I expected to get a C on the math test. Now I can work” to get an A.

▪ Backup quarterback Teddy Bridgewater didn’t practice Thursday because of back tightness and McDaniel and the staff then decided to have rookie Skylar Thompson play the entire game Saturday. McDaniel explained the thinking this way: “What if this is the only opportunity [to play Thompson a lot]? Let’s see what this kid is made of.”