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The Dolphins will be without backup guard Nate Garner for at least the next 8 weeks due to surgery on his left foot. He played in 16 games (8 starts) for the Fins last season. The 25-year old, 6′7″, 325 pound Garner is important to the Dolphins’ offensive line so they hope he will be ready to return in 8 weeks.
UPDATE: (8/31/2010) - The Dolphins have placed Nate Garner on I.R. ending his season.
The Dolphins have lost 25-year old DE Phillip Merling for the season due to a torn Achilles tendon. Merling played in 16 games for the Fins last season and he had 33 tackles, 2.5 sacks, 1 tackle for a loss and he defensed 3 passes. He has now played in 32 games in his two years in the NFL and he has made 59 tackles, defensed 5 passes, had 3.5 sacks and he has 1 interception (he returned it 25 yards for a TD). This is a big blow to the Dolphins who were going to use Merling quite a bit this year.
The Dolphins have selected OLB A.J. Edds of Iowa with the 119th pick (4th round) of the NFL Draft. Edds is 6′3″, 245 pounds and he runs a 4.7 40. He is a good athlete and he is a big time asset in pass coverage. But, he’s not much of a blitzer and he doesn’t bring a lot of thump against the running game despite his size. Edds played in 13 games (all starts) for Iowa last season and he had 78 tackles, 4.5 tackles for a loss, he had 1/2 a sack, broke up 4 passes and he had 5 interceptions. He played in 46 games (39 starts) in his four years at Iowa and he had 226 tackles, 14 tackles for a loss, he had 2.5 sacks, broke up 12 passes and he had 7 interceptions. Edds will help the Dolphins immediately on special teams and as a coverage linebacker in passing situations. But, if he’s over going to develop into a starting linebacker he’s going to have to develop a mean streak.
UPDATE: (8/3/2010) - The Dolphins have placed rookie linebacker A.J. Edds on the Injured Reserve List due to a torn ACL in his right knee. He was injured in practice.
The Dolphins have placed starting linebacker Channing Crowder on I.R. with a right foot injury ending his season. Crowder played in 13 games for the Dolphins last season and he made 51 tackles, 3 tackles for a loss, he had 1 sack and 1 interception. 28-year old Reggie Torbor will be replacing Crowder in the starting line-up. He has played in 15 games this season for the Dolphins and he has made 32 tackles, 3 tackles for a loss, 1 sack, defensed 4 passes and he has 1 interception. The pass defense will probably improve a tad while the run defense regresses a tad making this essentially a wash.
The Dolphins have lost 34-year old NT Jason Ferguson for the season due to a severe knee injury. He played in 9 games for the Dolphins this season and he made 23 tackles, 4 tackles for a loss and he defensed 1 pass. Randy Starks will move into the starting lineup to replace Ferguson and he is a pretty decent player himself. He has played in all 10 games for the Fins this season and he has 33 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss and he has 5.5 sacks. With Starks in there full time the pass rushing will improve up the middle for the Dolphins while the run defense might be a tad weaker. Tony McDaniel will move up to the #2 job behind Starks and they will need him to step up when he’s on the field. McDaniel has played in 10 games this season for the Dolphins and he has made 7 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss and he has defensed 1 pass.