Dolphins defense could shift to wide 9, press coverage. What it means

MIAMI GARDENS — The Miami Dolphins defense may be moving towards more 4-man-defensive line formations, wide 9 defensive alignments and press cornerbacks coverage.

That is, after all, what the Green Bay Packers have used in recent years.

Don't worry. We're about to explain what all those fancy words mean.

Obviously Miami wants its defense to be "multiple," which means at times they'll have four players with their "hand in dirt," and sometimes they'll have three.

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Sometimes they'll play man-to-man and sometimes they'll play zone.

And sometimes they'll have their defensive ends rush the passer from an extremely wide angle, often outside the shoulder of a tight end or well outside the offensive tackle.

That's the "wide 9."

We think this alignment could greatly benefit third-year pass-rusher Chop Robinson .

"We love getting to the quarterback," first-year Dolphins defensive coordinator Sean Duggan said . "We're going to do that from a wide nine sometimes. But it also gives you advantages in the run game. I mean, the run game, in my belief, is setting edges and taking away space. So when you set edges from a nine, it makes the ball carrier go inside, and then you got all your buddies in there to help out. As far as pass rush, it gives you a great angle of the quarterback."

Miami Dolphins could return to wide 9 formations on defense

The Dolphins utilized the wide 9 formation with Cameron Wake under defensive coordinator Vance Joseph and coach Adam Gase in 2016. Miami most often used four defensive lineman then, but they've more often used a 3-4 formation in the Brian Flores and Mike McDaniel regimes.

In the 3-4, Miami would have edge rushers like Chop Robinson and Bradley Chubb rushing the passer as outside linebacker/edge rushers, with three defensive lineman and two or three linebackers.

If Miami uses more 4-3 or 4-2 formations, they could use Chop more as a hands-in-the-dirt defensive end. How can four defensive lineman benefit a defense?

"Good against, you know, a lot of different run game," Duggan explained. "I think you got to have the ability to change that and not give the same presentation every single play. It allows guys to get on edges, you know, both in the run game and the pass game, create some one-on -one blocks for different positions, where if you get an odd spacing, some guys are dealing with some more double teams, but also creates one-on-ones for other guys. So I think there's got to be a little balance of both."

The Dolphins used a lot of off or zone coverage in the secondary in recent years. But Green Bay has forced the action with press-corner coverage, something Miami used in the Flores era.

"As far as press corners, it's similar," Duggan said. "It's depending on the situation, right? If it's third and two or third and one, we don't wanna be seven yards off the ball. So it's situation, it's based on the call, it's based on which receiver you're going against. Studying the opponent every week, does this guy struggle a little more with press? Or is he a guy that he can get around that and create space between you and him? There's a lot of elements to that. It's the opponent, it's the situation, it's your personnel."

The Dolphins will need young pass-rushers Chop Robinson and Kenneth Grant to make big impacts in a new scheme.

"I think they're both very talented guys," Duggan said. "They play hard, have a motor. So I'm really excited to work with both those guys."

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Joe Schad is a journalist covering the  Miami Dolphins  and the NFL at  The Palm Beach Post . You can reach him at  jschad@pbpost.com  and follow him on  Instagram  and on X  @schadjoe . Sign up for Joe's free weekly  Dolphins Pulse Newsletter . Help support our work  by subscribing today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Miami Dolphins defense: Sean Duggan new Wide 9, press coverage scheme