Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports
Why the Miami Dolphins needed Bradley Chubb
Coming into the 2022 NFL season, the biggest question facing the Miami Dolphins was obvious.
Would quarterback Tua Tagovailoa take the next step in his development?
To their credit, the organization did everything they could to help the quarterback, as he entered his third season in the league. They brought in Tyreek Hill, one of the sport’s most explosive offensive players, to help in the passing game. They revamped their offensive line, including adding cornerstone left tackle Terron Armstead from the New Orleans Saints. And of course, they hired Mike McDaniel, an offensive-minded assistant, as their new head coach.
The results? Tagovailoa is having what many consider to be an elite season, as he ranks at or near the top of the league in many passing metrics, including NFL Passer Rating, QBR and Adjusted Net Yards per Attempt. In the process, the Dolphins are off to a 5-3 start, right in the thick of things in the AFC as the season enters the second half.
The offense is fun again, McDaniel is helping his quarterback through schematic elements, and the results are visible on film.
However, another question cropped up over the first half of the season, one that was not as expected.
Could the Dolphins generate enough pressure on opposing passers?
Why was this not a question entering the season? A combination of roster construction, and scheme. Miami added Melvin Ingram to help their pass rush this past spring, adding him to a defensive front that already listed Emmanuel Ogbah as an option off the edge, along with 2021 first-round selection Jaelan Phillips. Beyond that, last season the Dolphins were one of the most aggressive defenses in the league, blitzing on 39.6% of their defensive snaps.
Often, these were not blitz packages of the five- or six-defender kind, but the Dolphins were truly bringing the heat. According to charting data from Sports Info Solutions, last season Miami faced 70 passing attempts where they brought six or more defenders after the quarterback, tying them with the Kansas City Chiefs for second-most in the league.
The Dolphins generated 44 quarterback pressures on those plays, also second-most in the league, behind only the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and ahead of Kansas City.
When you step back and look at the overall numbers, the Dolphins were second in the league in quarterback pressures a season ago, with 193, and third in the league in pressure percentage, as they pressured the quarterback on 28.5% of dropbacks.
These numbers were also a big reason why McDaniel and the Dolphins retained defensive coordinator Josh Boyer, who stepped into that role in 2020 after serving as a defensive assistant in Miami during the 2019 season.
Unfortunately for the Dolphins, the story in 2022 has been much different.
After eight games, Miami has pressured opposing passers on just 14.8% of dropbacks, fourth-lowest in the NFL. Dolphins pass rushers have generated 15 sacks, placing them near the bottom of the league. Furthermore, the blitz schemes have not created nearly the same kinds of pressure they did a season ago. According to SIS, the Dolphins have generated ten pressures when sending six or more after the quarterback, which still sees Miami ranked tenth in the NFL, but a far cry from what they were doing a season ago.
Oh, and what have opposing offenses done when Miami has brought pressure with six or more this year? Opposing quarterbacks have completed 14 of 18 passes for 233 yards and 5 touchdowns, without throwing an interception.
With pressure rates down from a year ago, and opposing quarterbacks having success against their blitz schemes, the Dolphins needed help in the pass rushing department.
Which brings us to yesterday’s trade for Bradley Chubb.
While Chubb has not consistently put up the kinds of numbers people expected from him when the Denver Broncos made him the fifth-overall selection back in the 2018 NFL draft, he did post 12 sacks as a rookie in 2018. So far this season, Chubb has 5.5 sacks to his credit, placing him 13th in the NFL, along with 16 pressures.
Chubb gives the Dolphins a boost off the edge, as he can generate pressure in one-on-one situations, as well as creating opportunities for his teammates when the offense dedicates resources towards him. Here against the Los Angeles Chargers, you can see Chubb pressure Justin Herbert off the edge, using a speed move to the outside against rookie left tackle Jamaree Salyer. The result? A throw under pressure, and an interception:
In Denver’s Week 5 game against the Indianapolis Colts, Chubb got to Matt Ryan more than a few times, including two sacks. On this first quarter takedown of the veteran quarterback, Chubb uses a quick move to the inside to beat the right tackle, finishing the play with his first sack of the night:
In the fourth quarter, Chubb generated a huge play for Denver as he split a double-team, knocking the ball loose from Ryan. The quarterback managed to secure the loose ball, but this play is a great example of how Chubb can defeat doubles off the edge:
The last example of Chubb creating pressure on his own comes we’ll examine comes from Week 1, against the Seattle Seahawks. Watch as the pass rusher gets past rookie left tackle Charles Cross with a violent chop-and-rip combination, swatting away Cross’ hands before using a rip move to get around the edge. Chubb then careens into Geno Smith, knocking the ball out of the quarterback’s hands:
Smith manages to secure the loose ball, but this play along with the strip-sack of Ryan, shows how Chubb can change the game in the blink of an eye.
These plays are just some of the reasons why the Chubb move was one of our favorites from deadline day.
The biggest question facing the Dolphins before the season was the quarterback. With Tagovailoa playing at an elite level right now, the focus in Miami shifted to the defensive side of the ball before the trade deadline. With the pressure numbers down from a season ago, and the blitz schemes failing to disrupt the quarterback as they once did, the Dolphins needed help off the edge.
Chubb is the perfect option to provide that help.
