In-depth look at defensive tackles in free agency for the Miami Dolphins

The Miami Dolphins will head into free agency in less than two months and they will have a lot of work to do. While it’s not ideal to build a team through free agency, the Dolphins have no choice but to fill a lot of their holes through this method. This is because there simply isn’t a lot of impact players at various positions in this year’s draft class.

In an earlier column, I analyzed and described why there aren’t a ton of options for the Dolphins at the inside linebacker position in free agency. Make no mistake that every position on the team affects one another and the lack of inside linebacker options in both free agency and the draft will help chart the path for the Dolphins this offseason, just as every other position will do the same.

While there might not be many options at inside linebacker, this doesn’t ring true for defensive tackles in the draft. There are going to be great defensive tackles for the Dolphins when they pick with the 14th selection and there are also going to be great defensive tackles when they pick in the second round. However, will they want to spend one of their first two picks on a defensive tackle when they have so many holes? To get a better idea, we need to look at all of the defensive tackles who are set to become unrestricted free agents on March 10. This can be found on our player tracker page. 

Next, we then need to figure out what players are worth pursuing. Based on the signature stats from Pro Football Focus, I put together a weighted formula that took run defense and pass rush productivity into account. 

To determine how good a player was in run defense, I looked at several categories. Among them was the run stop percentage, which is the percentage of plays where the player was the primary man responsible for making a tackle. From there, I looked at the number of missed tackles compared to the number of snaps that player participated in. I then created a formula that gave me a ratio to show the production of the defensive player when they were the primary man responsible for making a stop when the opponent ran the ball.

When it came to pass defense, the only grade I looked at from Pro Football Focus was the 'Pass Rush Productivity' category. This is the percentage of pressure a defensive tackle gets a sack, hit or hurry relative to how many times they rush the passer. As you can see, it takes everything into account so there wasn't a whole lot of work I had to do.

After evaluating players in both run defense and pass defense and taking their age into account, I narrowed the list to seven players, including Jared Odrick. I used him as the Mendoza line since he will be in play to come back. Anyone who graded out lower than him was thrown out of the picture and anyone who was higher or equal to him are listed as possible targets in free agency.

You may also say that the Dolphins are likely to part ways with Randy Starks. This is true and I would expect that he becomes a cap casualty. However, I believe that his replacement will either come via the draft or via one of the young guys already on the roster such as Anthony Johnson and AJ Francis. Keep in mind that the Dolphins still have Earl Mitchell, who they just signed to a hefty contract last offseason when free agency opened. In addition to all that, it’s unrealistic to think that the Dolphins can afford to pay both Odrick and another high priced free agent. Therefore, since Odrick is the one who won’t be under contract, it’s important to look at those who compare to him on the market.

Let's take a look at run defense first, since it's the most complex. 

• Corey Peters played for the Atlanta Falcons and participated in 170 run snaps. His stop percentage was 8.2% and he missed 0 tackles while making 18 tackles and 14 stops.

• Ndamukong Suh played for the Detroit Lions and participated in 268 run snaps. His stop percentage was 9.7% and he missed 1 tackle while making 29 tackles and 26 stops.

• Jared Odrick played for the Miami Dolphins and participated in 305 run snaps. His stop percentage was 4.9% and he missed 0 tackles while making 19 tackles and 15 stops.

• Nick Fairley played for the Lions and participated in 101 run snaps. His stop percentage was 8.9% and he missed 1 tackle while making 10 tackles and 9 stops.
  

• CJ Mosley also played for the Lions and participated in 189 run snaps. His stop percentage was 7.9% and he missed 1 tackle while making 21 tackles and 15 stops.
  

• Dwan Edwards played for the Carolina Panthers and participated in 168 run snaps. His run stop percentage was 10.1% and he missed 0 tackles while making 20 tackles and 17 stops. 
  

• Stephen Paea played for the Chicago Bears and participated in 259 run snaps. His stop percentage was 6.6% and he missed 3 tackles while making 23 tackles and 17 stops.
  

Thus, if you're talking about run defense only, the best to worst are Peters, Suh, Odrick, Fairley, Mosley, Edwards and Paea. However, I'm sure the Dolphins want to get a player who is well-rounded and who can do play both phases of the game at a high level. To get a better idea of who that can be, let's look at the pass defense grades and statistics.

• Fairley participated in 170 passing snaps. He had 2 sacks, 3 hits, 17 hurries and 22 total pressures. His total pass rush productivity was 10%.
  

• Paea participated 418 passing snaps. He had 5 sacks, 11 hits, 31 hurries and 47 total pressures. His total pass rush productivity was 8.7%.
  

• Suh participated in 530 passing snaps. He had 8 sacks, 12 hits, 37 hurries and 57 total pressures. His total pass rush productivity was 8.4%.
  

• Edwards participated in 387 passing snaps. He had 4 sacks, 11 hits, 12 hurries and 27 total pressures. His total pass rush productivity was 5.5%.
  

• Peters participated in 334 passing snaps. He had 2 sacks, 4 hits, 15 hurries and 21 total pressures. His total pass rush productivity was 4.9%.
  

• Odrick participated in 472 passing snaps. He had 1 sack, 9 hits, 18 hurries and 28 total pressures. His total pass rush productivity was 4.6%.
  

• Mosley participated in 270 passing snaps. He had 3 sacks, 4 hits, 7 hurries and 14 total pressures. His total pass rush productivity was 4.2%.
  

With those numbers out there, if you’re talking strictly about pass defense, the best to worst is Fairley, Paea, Suh, Edwards, Peters, Odrick and Mosley. However, as I mentioned it’s important that the Dolphins get a well-rounded player. When putting those two categories together, I came up with another weighted formula that allowed me to get an overall grade. That led me to the following list of top defensive tackles the Dolphins should target in free agency.

Overall, in order of best to worst, these players are Suh, Fairley, Odrick, Peters, Paea, Mosley and Edwards Let’s dig a little deeper into each player now and find out what risks there may be and why I ranked them in this order.

• With Suh, you have the troubling patterns of behavior on the field. Whether it’s him stepping on someone’s face or stepping on someone’s ankle, there’s no doubt that Suh is one of the dirtiest players in the game. Will Joe Philbin want to bring that to Miami or will he pass on the opportunity to get one of the best defensive players in the game? In addition, will the Dolphins want to throw all the money possible at Suh? If they want him, they will need to do since he is projected to receive one of the largest free agent deals if he hits the open market and there will surely be lots of other teams bidding for his services. Suh will be 28 when the season begins but he could have the same impact Mario Williams has had in Buffalo since signing his free agent contract several years ago.
  

• Fairley will be 27 when the season begins and is coming off a knee injury that forced him to miss the entire second half of the season. Up until that point though, he was dominant and playing at a consistent level. The Dolphins will need to make sure they properly evaluate him so they are confident that he can get back to his dominant ways before the knee injury. However, he's someone that can come in and be a force on the line from day one.
  

• Odrick will be 27 when the season begins and he had a fantastic year. While he had a few rough patches, it's important to note that these came when the entire defense was struggling in the second half of the season. Odrick makes his money rushing the passer but isn't the worst when it comes to run defense. The Dolphins need to decide if they want to pay their homegrown talent or look outside the locker room for a replacement.
  

• Peters will be 27 when the season begins and could be a target for the Dolphins. He had a few rough weeks in 2014 but overall, he did a great job throughout the season, especially in run defense. He struggled at times rushing the passer but it's not enough to knock him off the list.
  

• Paea will be 27 when the season begins and if the Dolphins are looking for someone who can be a force in the run game, then Paea is not their guy. Like Odrick, he makes his money rushing the passer but unlike Odrick, he's very weak when it comes to defending the run. Paea is one of the best defensive tackles in the league when it comes to pass defense but really needs to improve in the run defense phase of the game. He's an intriguing option if the Dolphins think they can refine his fundamentals and technique, which would allow him to become a better run stuffer.
  

• Mosley will be 32 when the season begins so automatically, that raises a red flag. Mosley had a few rough spots during the second half of the season but throughout the remainder of the year, he was a solid player for the Lions. He wasn't anything spectacular and would be a good rotational player at best in Miami.
  

• Edwards will be 34 when the season begins so he would be a stop gap at best. This may not be in the Dolphins best interest since there are a lot of quality defensive tackles in the upcoming draft but we'll leave him here as a potential fit for Miami. This past season, he was a bit inconsistent but overall, he was solid. While he wasn't spectacular in any particular week, he was someone who got the job done. He could be a player the Dolphins bring in to include in their rotation.
  

With all this in mind, we can now see that there aren’t many options besides Odrick in free agency. While the Dolphins can go all in on Suh or Fairley, it would seem best that they reward Odrick for his hard work over the years and show the guys in the locker room that if you work hard and do what you’re supposed to do, you will be rewarded for it with a second contract with the team that drafted you. 

I would then look to draft a run-stopping defensive tackle in either the first or second round of the draft. That would give you a rookie starter, Odrick, Mitchell, Johnson and Francis. That would solve the defensive tackle position by taking care of your own guy and by also drafting a young player who can hopefully develop into a star over the next several years.

This column was written by Matthew Cannata. Follow him on Twitter: @PhinManiacs