Can Miami Survive Without Kader Kohou?
Credit: Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images
The Miami Dolphins are dealing with some injuries at cornerback heading into their Week 8 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals. Storm Duck is nursing an ankle injury, but more importantly, Kader Kohou is dealing with a neck injury and has yet to participate in practice this week. Kohou is the Dolphins’ starting slot cornerback, and they don’t have a clear-cut backup at the moment listed on their depth chart at nickel corner.
Thursday injury report #AZvsMIA
It’s not looking good for CBs Storm Duck & Kader Kohou. Cam Smith, newly activated, is expected to see considerable action on Sunday.
QB2 will likely be Skylar Thompson as he is now apparently 100%. Snoop Huntley will be OUT. #Dolphins pic.twitter.com/W32vbPJJU3
— Chris at Phins.com (@PhinsChris) October 24, 2024
Kohou is an important player for this Dolphins defense. Last season, Kohou was ranked as the 23rd-best cornerback in the league by Pro Football Focus, exceeding all expectations as an undrafted free agent pickup in 2022. Even though he struggles with consistency and hasn’t been nearly as effective this season, he still plays with good technique in the slot and is physical at the line of scrimmage.
Given the fact that Kohou has yet to practice, it’s safe to assume that he will be ruled out this week. The Phins will have their hands full dealing with an underrated Cardinals wide receiver group that includes Greg Dortch, Michael Wilson, and fourth-overall pick Marvin Harrison Jr. With no proven slot cornerback currently on Miami’s active roster, it will be interesting to see how the Dolphins adapt without Kohou in the starting lineup.
David Furones of the South Florida Sun Sentinel suggested that the Dolphins could potentially rely on second-year cornerback Cam Smith to fill the void left by Kohou. Smith was recently activated off of injured reserve and offers a lot of upside as a guy who was drafted with the 51st overall pick in the second round of the 2023 NFL Draft. However, it may not be the wisest decision to have Smith’s first career start to come at the slot when he’s better suited as an outside cornerback.
If the Phins prefer to have someone with a little more experience start at the nickel, then Nik Needham could be a viable option. Needham is a veteran who has 27 starts throughout his six-year career and he served as Kohou’s backup last season. Anthony Weaver had Needham rotate in at the safety position during the offseason program, so he offers some positional versatility. The downside to starting Needham is that he’s on the practice squad, so someone would have to be waived for him to start. Needham also doesn’t provide the same athletic upside that Smith or special teams ace Ethan Bonner offers.
Regardless of who gets the starting nod on Sunday, the Dolphins could be inclined to make some personnel adjustments designed to decrease the number of snaps where a backup corner is featured on defense. One way of going about that would be to play more base defense with three linebackers on the field. The Detroit Lions have found success playing a 4-3 base defense with Alex Anzalone, Jack Campbell, and Malcolm Rodriguez all sharing the field at the same time. The big question is, do the Dolphins have the right players at linebacker to make that strategy work?
Another idea would be for Miami to utilize more three-safety subpackages. After trying out Nik Needham at safety for a hot minute during the offseason, the Dolphins decided to add some more depth at the position with the addition of Marcus Maye. The veteran has experience playing at both free safety and strong safety. Although he isn’t the same player he was in his prime, Maye is still good enough to start in a pinch if necessary.
While starting three linebackers like the Lions do in the modern NFL is somewhat unconventional, three-safety subpackages are much more common. The only concern is that Jordan Poyer hasn’t been great so far this season, and Jevon Holland was limited at practice with a hand injury. The Dolphins would really be testing their safety depth if they went this route, and that may not be the best strategy.
It’ll be interesting to see who ends up getting the start at slot corner, and how much the Dolphins change things schematically without Kohou, if at all. While we don’t know exactly what Weaver has planned for the secondary, the one thing that is certain is that Miami’s pass rushers will need to step up once again to make life easier for whoever gets the start in the secondary this Sunday.
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