The Miami Dolphins have turned to a familiar face on their defensive line, signing Rodney McGraw off their own practice squad earlier this week after calling him up twice already in the first five weeks.
McGraw, a 24-year-old defensive end who played college ball at Penn State from 2021-22, Louisville in 2023 and Western Michigan from 2024-25, had already shown enough in limited duty to stay in the conversation. Injuries at the position, along with the release of Clelin Ferrell, pushed Miami to elevate him in those early weeks. Across those two promotions, he logged 53 snaps - 26 on defense and 27 on special teams - and finished with five tackles and a quarterback hit.
On Thursday, defensive coordinator Sean Duggan laid out why McGraw earned the full-time roster spot.
“First off with Rodney, just his work ethic and the way he's gone about everything he's done since he's gotten here,” Duggan said. “To be an undrafted guy and come in and just put your head down and work and learn and just embrace the way we're going to play defense.
So really a ton of credit goes to him. But just the right mindset, which is huge for us, the desire to play the game a certain way...
“As far as him as a player, I think the thing is, one, he's a big man. You see him on the field; he's a big person.
And he embraces being a big person, and some guys don't do it. He plays the game physically.
He knows what he's good at and continues to lean into that and grow in that aspect. You see, he’s heavy-handed, sets edges in the run game and is continuing to develop his rush.
He's just done a nice job. I can't say enough good things about how he's worked and his just desire to get better and better.”
Duggan also said McGraw is still a work in progress.
“I think anytime you get a big body guy, you can have flexibility with him,” Duggan said. “There's certain things technique-wise he needs to continue to get better at, and we're going to ask him to do different things and grow in that aspect of the game.
Being a flexible piece along the line as a big body, but size is good. I know I heard Austin had a good line in here about size a couple of weeks ago when he was here.
So he's done a nice job, but there's definitely room to improve too.”
McGraw now gets the chance to make a stronger case with Robert Beal Jr. doubtful for Sunday’s game against the New York Jets. If he takes advantage, he could keep carving out a bigger role in a defensive end room that needs someone to step up.
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