Jeff Hafley didn’t need to say Tyrel Dodson’s name for the linebacker picture in Miami to get a little more complicated.
The Dolphins’ decision to extend Jordyn Brooks last week already made the middle of the defense feel crowded, and now the spotlight shifts to Jacob Rodriguez, the rookie Miami drafted in April. The obvious question has been which linebacker ends up squeezed out. Hafley’s comments at the start of training camp suggested the answer may not be as simple as picking one winner and one loser.
What stood out to Hafley was the way Brooks has handled the offseason. Rather than acting like a veteran who can coast on his own, Brooks has been working alongside Rodriguez and helping bring him along.
"You get a guy who's a vet and he could kind of probably go out and just do whatever he wants on his own, but instead he's bringing a guy along and trying to help him," Hafley said of Brooks. "Which I don't think everybody does in this league."
Hafley said the two spent time working out together this offseason, and he praised Brooks for the leadership he has shown. That kind of presence is part of why Miami chose to lock him up.
Brooks said the connection with Rodriguez came together naturally.
"I think it's just something that happened naturally," Brooks said of his relationship with Rodriguez. "Any time I can spend some time with any of my teammates outside of the building, I'm always up for it."
That leaves Dodson in an awkward spot, at least on paper. He started next to Brooks last season and played well, but this year he’ll have to prove he offers more to the defense than Rodriguez does. The competition is real, even if Hafley’s comments made it sound less like a battle and more like a problem with too many capable answers.
In an ideal setup, Dodson and Rodriguez would rotate series next to Brooks, keeping everybody fresh as the game moves into the fourth quarter. Hafley likes the physicality all three bring, and the only real downside is that he can’t put all of them on the field at once.
As camp rolls on, Rodriguez’s grasp of the scheme will be one of the biggest things to watch, along with how the three linebackers fit together on the field. The best pairing will eventually start, but Brooks is already doing his part to get the former Texas Tech Red Raider up to NFL speed.
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