Mike McDaniel gets things done in Miami! Tua Tagovailoa struggled during his first two years, but McDaniel’s arrival in the third year changed everything to fit the needs of his unique and talented quarterback. The offense is unrecognizable compared to what it was before the head coach waltzed in.
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McDaniel achieves this by understanding the needs and working with the front office to fulfill those needs. Just a couple of days back, two-time Super Bowl champ and Miami-bound linebacker Shaq Barrett announced his retirement, leaving a void that could hurt the team in the long run.
Now, it is being reported that two potential linebackers are already being interviewed by the Dolphins. Yannick Ngakoue and Emmanuel Ogbah will be checking in with the Miami franchise to see if they can both fit as replacements for Barrett.
However, for now, McDaniel’s team is in serious trouble. They had offered $7 million to Barrett, hoping he would address their edge-rushing issues. With him gone, they need to fill that spot quickly. Jaylen Phillips and Bradley Chubb are coming off torn ACLs and are currently on the PUP list, with no guarantee of a strong performance from them.
They currently have only two healthy options at edge rusher: rookie Demeioun ‘Chop’ Robinson at the top of their depth chart, followed by Mo Kamara. Signing one of the top edge-rushing free agents in Barrett was a masterstroke by Miami that unfortunately fell flat.
Barrett faced significant turmoil last year after losing his daughter in a tragic accident. Though he considered retirement, he decided he had one more year left in him and signed with the Dolphins.
A few weeks later, he announced he wouldn’t be able to return. Consequently, the Dolphins have decided to work out Emmanuel Ogbah and Yannick Ngakoue.
Analyzing the Two Potential Replacements for Shaq Barrett
Yannick Ngakoue was drafted by the Jaguars in 2016 and has since played with several teams in the league. He spent his rookie season in Jacksonville, but afterward, he began bouncing around from team to team, playing with the Ravens, Raiders, Colts, and most recently, the Bears.
Although an impactful player, Ngakoue did not find a fit with the Bears. Before that, he was producing 10 sacks on average. He also shows up on the stat sheet consistently, with solo and assisted tackles being steady throughout his career.
On the other hand, Emmanuel Ogbah was drafted by the Browns, the same year as Ngakoue. But he spent the last 4 years in Miami. He was pretty good the first two years, having 9-sack seasons back to back. But then the sack count decreased severely. His tackles and assisted tackles also went down year over year.
But with Barrett gone, the Dolphins might need to go back to Ogbah and hope that he gets back to his previous form. Otherwise, their hope lies in singing Ngakoue or trusting the rookie Chop Robinson to break out.
