Is It Time to Worry About Teair Tart?
Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
In the wake of Christian Wilkins’ departure in free agency this offseason, the Miami Dolphins signed a small handful of defensive linemen. Chief among them was former Tennessee Titans nose tackle Teair Tart, who was considered to be one of the better run stoppers in the league.
More often than not, nose tackles are rather unassuming and don’t receive a ton of controversy. Despite that, Tart has become one of the more polarizing players at his position. In a nutshell, Teair is an above average run stuffing nose tackle with a little bit of juice as a pass rusher. In 2022, Tart had a career year with a PFF pass rushing grade of 75.9 which ranked 18th amongst interior defensive linemen that season along with 26 pressures and 1.5 sacks.
Teair Tart’s talent is undeniable, which is why the Miami Dolphins took a chance on him this offseason by signing him to a 1 year, $1.292 million prove-it deal. The main knocks on Teair Tart have been his attitude problems, especially from the end of his time with the Mike Vrabel-led Titans, and his conditioning. We’ll get to his character concerns later, but first let’s talk about a recent update regarding Tart’s conditioning.
Miami Herald’s Omar Kelly reported from Dolphins OTAs last week that “At the end of Tuesday’s practice, the Dolphins defensive linemen did sprints to each sideline and Tart was generally 20 yards behind the pack.” Omar added that if this was somehow injury related that it would be more forgivable. Personally, I highly doubt that this was injury related. In fact, I think it’s very troubling that a player who has a reputation of struggling with conditioning is lagging behind other defensive linemen in practice.
Look at it from this perspective. This is a guy who is fighting for his career. Tart was waived by the Titans despite being productive and on an affordable deal because he was such a locker room cancer to the point where no one wanted to deal with him anymore. I would argue that despite Mike Vrabel’s eventual firing, Tennessee had assembled one of the better coaching staffs on the defensive side of the ball during Tart’s time there. Vrabel aside, the Titans had Shane Bowen and Jim Schwartz who are now both serving as defensive coordinators for the Giants and Browns, respectively.
Then, another highly respected defensive mind in DeMeco Ryans took a chance on Tart at the tail end of the 2023 season. In Tart’s two games as a Texan, he was absolutely abysmal against the run and mediocre as a pass rusher. Teair finished his time in Houston with an overall PFF grade of 38, and was not retained by the team. Then free agency hit, and it felt like no one wanted to touch Teair Tart with a ten foot pole. It wasn’t until two weeks before the draft on April 8th when the Dolphins finally signed Tart to a prove-it deal.
Now, if you were in a position where you had one last shot to save your career, wouldn’t you want to do everything you possibly could to revive it? One hundred percent. Every year, there are plenty of undrafted free agents who enter the league and do everything in their power to make a practice squad with the hopes of one day making a 53-man roster. Those guys bust their ass, and most of them still fall short of their goals due to factors out of their control.
At the same time, every year there are a couple of exceptions to the rule. Guys who not only put in every ounce of effort but also have just enough luck on their side to beat the odds and make the roster. The reason why I’m being so hyperbolic about Teair Tart in late May is because this is a guy with a history of lackluster work ethic and character concerns, and he has one last chance of saving his career. If he’s not willing to stay in shape and take his conditioning seriously, then that tells me that he doesn’t care.
The Dolphins may not have the most talented group of defensive tackles anymore, but there will always be someone willing to take your job if you’re not willing to fight for it. It’s time to worry about Teair Tart, and it wouldn’t surprise me at this point if Tart gets cut after training camp in favor of a UDFA who wants it more than he does.
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