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. 

The Dolphins have lost running back Ronnie Brown for a while with a injured right ankle.  Brown has played in 9 games this season for the Fins and he has carried the ball 147 times for 648 yards (4.4 ypc) with 8 TD runs.  He has also caught 14 passes for 98 yards (7.0 avg) so far this season for the Fins.  This means that Ricky Williams will have to be an every down back until Brown is ready to return to action.  Williams has played in all 9 games for the Dolphins so far this season and he has carried the ball 105 times for 558 yards (5.3 ypc) with 6 TD runs.  He has also caught 18 passes for 193 yards (10.7 avg) with 1 TD grab.  I fully expect that Williams is still able to carry the load as the main ball carrier for the Dolphins.  Backup QB Pat White will likely run the Wildcat Formation with Brown out of action.  Williams has also been the QB in the Wildcat but the Dolphins will likely want him to focus on playing RB until Brown is ready to return.

UPDATE:  Ronnie Brown has been placed on I.R. ending his season with a LisFranc injury to his foot.  This is a big blow to the Dolphins’ offense as they better hope that Ricky Williams can stay healthy and handle a full workload.

The Dolphins have lost starting CB Will Allen for the rest of the season due to a torn ACL.  Allen played in all 6 games for the Fins this season and he finished up with 21 tackles, 6 passes defensed, 2 interceptions and 1 tackle for a loss.  Rookie CB Vontae Davis will take over as the starter filling in for Will Allen.  Davis has played in all 6 games for the Dolphins this season and he finished with 10 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 2 passes defensed and a interception that he returned 23 yards for a TD.  Davis is a solid player but this will hurt the depth in the backfield of the Fins.

RB/KR Patrick Cobbs tore his left ACL last night against the Jets which will cause him to miss the remainder of the season.  Cobbs was the #3 RB for the Dolphins and he will likely be replaced in that role by Lex Hilliard who doesn’t have and carries or catches this season.  Cobbs carried the ball 6 times for 36 yards (6.0 ypc) and he also caught 3 passes for 23 yards (7.7 avg) for the Fins this season.  He also returned 16 kickoffs for 361 yards (22.6 avg) for the Dolphins this season.  Ted Ginn will likely replace Cobbs as the kickoff returner.  He has returned 4 kickoffs for 87 yards so far this season (21.8 avg).  The Dolphins will miss Cobbs who filled many roles for them this season.

The Miami Dolphins quarterback Chad Pennington suffered a shoulder injury Sunday in the Dolphins 23-13 loss to the San Deigo Chargers.  News surfaced today that Pennington’s shoulder suffered a torn capsule and it will keep him out for the rest of the season.  The Dolphins are 0-3 so far this season and this is a pretty big loss for them.  Pennington has already had two shoulder surgeries on his throwing arm, and it looks like a third one is on its way.  Chad Henne, who replaced the injured Pennington yesterday, will be the starter for the Dolphins.

The Dolphins have lost cornerback Michael Lehan for the rest of the season due to hamstring and ankle injuries.  He finishes the 2008 NFL season with only 11 tackles.  The Dolphins will miss Lehan both in the secondary and on special teams.

The Dolphins have lost rookie guard Donald Thomas for the season with a foot injury that has landed him on the Injured Reserve List.  The 22-year old Thomas started last week against the Jets as he earned his way into the starting lineup.  The Dolphins like Thomas so he will likely get another chance to compete for a starting job in 2009 for the Fins.

RB Ronnie Brown and S Reynaldo Hill both had season ending surgery to repair torn ACLs yesterday and they will both miss the remainder of the season.  Brown was the key to the Dolphins offense and he’s not replaceable.  Brown carried the ball 119 times for 602 yards (5.1 ypc) with 4 TD runs.  He also caught 39 passes for 389 yards (10.0 avg) with 1 TD grab.  Hill also played well this season for the Fins as he had 32 tackles, recovered a fumble and picked off a pass.  They will both be missed big-time by the Dolphins.