Third in a series: Examining the Miami Dolphins’ defensive linemen and their futures

During a two-week period, we’re taking a look at every player on the Miami Dolphins roster, with revealing metrics, how they compared to others in the league, their contract status and whether they’re worth keeping.

Today, in Part 3 of an 8-part series, we examine the defensive linemen.

CHRISTIAN WILKINS

▪ Contract status: Two years left on rookie deal. Will earn $1.9 million in 2021.

▪ How he played: Pro Football Focus ranked him 47th overall among 127 defensive tackles and 21st as a run defender.

One reason why he ranked highly in PFF’s run metrics: Among players who appeared in at least eight games, Wilkins was 10th best in PFF’s run stop metric, which measures what would be considered a “loss” for the offense on specific downs — such as picking up one yard on 3rd and two. Wilkins made such plays 11.3 percent of the time, which is good.

Also, he missed only two tackles all season.

Pass rush remains an area where more is needed. He had 1.5 sacks and four tackles for loss, and the hope is for more impact plays from a first-round pick who lines up primarily at defensive end when Miami is in a 3-4 alignment.

Here’s one way of looking at it: There were 134 defensive linemen who had at least 100 pass-rushing chances last season. PFF rated Wilkins 86th of that group in pass rush efficiency, with the 1.5 sacks and 18 pressures in 345 chances.

▪ The future: At the very least, Wilkins looks like a decent long-term starter. The question is whether he becomes a top third of the league defensive lineman. There was clear progress last year, but he’s clearly not there yet. There aren’t enough plays behind the line of scrimmage in the run game or pressuring the quarterback.

Miami faces a tough decision if the Texans ask for Wilkins - in addition to a bunch of first-round picks — in Deshaun Watson trade talks. The Texans haven’t made Watson available, but that could change. One Dolphins person won’t be surprised if Houston asks for Wilkins, but that’s speculative at this point.

EMMANUEL OGBAH

▪ Contract status: Entering second year of two-year, $15 million contract. Will earn $7.5 million in 2021.

▪ How he played: Very well. His nine sacks were tied for 14th in the league. He had 66 quarterback pressures; among edge players, only Shaquil Barrett and JJ Watt had more. That’s heady company. And he ultimately became Miami’s best free agent signing last spring.

PFF rated him 49th of 109 edge players overall and 42nd as a run defender. But he ranked low (89th) in PFF’s run-stop metric, at 6.0 percent (worst among Miami’s defensive linemen) — a gauge of how often a defender stops a run play for what would be considered a failure for the offense. Also, he missed five tackles; only three NFL edge players missed more.

The Dolphins curiously put him in pass coverage a few times and he permitted both of the passes thrown against him to be caught for 36 yards.

▪ The future: Agent Drew Rosenhaus, on his weekly WSVN-Fox 7 segment, said in December: “Do I think Emmanuel has earned a contract extension? Absolutely. If I were the Dolphins, I would sign him to an extension.” That’s a possibility this offseason, but the Dolphins might want to see how he plays in 2021.

RAEKWON DAVIS

▪ Contract status: Entering second year of a four-year, $5.7 million rookie deal. Will earn $867,000 in 2021.

▪ How he played: Pretty well. His 40 tackles were second most among rookie defensive linemen (behind No. 2 overall pick Chase Young).

Pro Football Focus rated him 37th of 126 defensive tackles and 46th against the run.

On the flip side, he had only one tackle for loss and no sacks. He showed enormous potential as a pass-rusher in his sophomore year at Alabama, collecting 8.5 sacks.

But he had a combined two sacks in his final two years at Alabama and none (and 14 pressures) in 240 pass-rushing chances as a rookie.

Also, in the aforementioned “run stop metric” (see Wilkins), Davis graded out worst among Miami’s rotational defensive tackles, 76th overall among 100 who were evaluated. He had a run stop (considered a bad play for the offense) 7.2 percent of the time, much lower than Zach Sieler (see below) and Wilkins.

And there’s this: Davis missed six tackles; only three interior defensive tackles had more missed tackles.

▪ The future: Bright. At the very least, Davis looks the part of a behemoth-space eating nose tackle and the arrow is going up. His job was hardly easy; he often faced double teams. But he must make more plays behind the line of scrimmage — both in the run game and as a pass rusher — to reach what could be a Pro Bowl-level ceiling.

SHAQ LAWSON

▪ Contract status: Entering second season of three-year, $30 million contract. Will earn $7.9 million in 2021.

▪ How he played: Well. Though the sack totals were modest (four), his 39 pressures were 35th most among all NFL edge players. Pro Football Focus rated him 28th of 108 NFL edge players, including 35th against the run.

▪ The future: Lawson appears to be safe for 2021 despite a cap hit of $9.8 million. It would cost more against the cap to cut him than keep him. And the Dolphins could not afford to part ways with one of their better run defenders.

ZACH SIELER

▪ Contract status: Beginning first season of three year, $9.3 million contract extension (of which $3.8 million is guaranteed). Will earn $2 million in 2021.

▪ How he played: PFF ranked him 43rd of 126 defensive tackles and 40th against the run.

This is particularly impressive: Among players who appeared in at least eight games, Sieler was fourth best in PFF’s run stop metric, which (as noted above) measures what would be considered a “loss” for the offense on specific downs — such as picking up one yard on 3rd and two. Sieler made such plays 13.2 percent of the time, which is exceptional.

He had 4.5 sacks and 13 quarterback hits, and PFF rated him the 41st most efficient interior pass rusher among 134 interior defenders who had at least 100 pass-rushing chances.

One negative: He missed five tackles, above average for interior defensive linemen.

▪ The future: Very good. Sieler has wildly exceeded expectations as a December 2019 waiver claim pickup from Baltimore. He’s likely to remain in the defensive tackle rotation next season.

DAVON GODCHAUX

▪ Contract status: Unrestricted free agent.

▪ How he played: Pro Football Focus ranked him among the worst defensive tackles in football through 172 snaps and four games before his season-ending biceps injury. Nevertheless, Godchaux was a steady player for three previous seasons here, outperforming his draft spot (fifth round).

Keep in mind that in 2019, he led all NFL interior linemen with 32 stops, which - as explained above - are tackles that constitute a bad play for the offense (but not necessarily a loss of yardage; he had only four of those in 2019).

▪ The future: His agent, Rosenhaus, explained where things stand on his WSVN-Fox segment this week: “Davon would love to come back and the Dolphins would like for him to come back. The question is can we make it work economically because the Dolphins have invested in three other defensive tackles recently.

“Davon is one of the most talented defensive tackles, I believe, and the Dolphins would have to be able to compensate him in that capacity. I’m not sure that they will, given the talent they have on the team. We’ll see if the Dolphins are able to step up and be competitive with other teams that may not have as much talent at the defensive tackle position.”

JASON STROWBRIDGE

▪ Contract status: Entering second season of four-year, $3.6 million rookie contract. Will earn $780,000 in 2021.

▪ How he played: Logged only 55 snaps and had three tackles and one for loss.

▪ The future: The Dolphins praised his play against the run in limited opportunities, but it’s too early to tell if the fifth-rounder will either stick around as a bottom-of-the-roster backup in 2021, or more optimistically, follow Seiler’s path and become a helpful rotation piece.

BENITO JONES

▪ Contract status: Will earn $780,000 next season.

▪ How he played: Logged 47 defensive snaps and wasn’t overwhelmed.

▪ The future: Likely will compete with a rookie and perhaps a low-salaried veteran for the final defensive tackle spot on the 53-man roster.

ALSO ON THE ROSTER

The Dolphins will try to develop two rookies who were on the practice squad last year: Tyshun Render and Nick Coe. Render played briefly. Coe was part of the group of Auburn defenders that Brian Flores and Chris Grier really liked last year and met with on March 5.

Here’s part 1 of our 8-part series on the wide receivers on the roster.

Here’s part 2 of our 8-part series on the tight ends on the roster.

Armando Salguero and I talked about the Dolphins in this podcast.