Dolphins’ Fangio answers a key personnel question, but another looming one will be tougher

Notes, quotes, thoughts and metrics on the Dolphins defense as the team exits its bye week and prepares for Sunday’s home game against Las Vegas (1 p.m., CBS):

▪ With a group that’s healthy for the first time this season, and starters firmly established, there are very few personnel decisions that need to be made with this defense.

And the one question that might at some point require some reconsideration — whether to give Nik Needham a chance to compete with Kader Kohou for the nickel cornerback job — was resolved Thursday.

“Right now, we are sticking with Kader,” defensive coordinator Vic Fangio said when asked if he will open up the competition at that slot corner position. “He’s played good.”

Kohou was a rookie revelation last season; the 80.7 passer rating in his coverage area was 21st best among players targeted at least 50 times. He had one interception, in the Green Bay game. He was targeted 106 times, most of any NFL cornerback, but held up well.

This season, Kohou is again being targeted a lot, but the results aren’t nearly as good, according to Pro Football Focus. Among cornerbacks who have been targeted at least 40 times in coverage, Kohou has yielded the fourth highest (or fourth worst) passer rating in his coverage area: 128.9.

Kohou has permitted 48 of the 57 passes thrown in his coverage area to be caught for 532 yards (an 11.1 average), with four going for touchdowns and no interceptions. On the positive side, Kohou is usually in good position and he’s an excellent tackler and an asset in run support.

With Pro Bowler cornerbacks Jalen Ramsey and Xavien Howard now healthy, teams are going to attack Kohou. Per PFF, he was targeted nine times (and yielded eight catches for 89 yards) against Kansas City, while Howard and Ramsey were targeted seven times and permitted 21 combined yards.

“There are going to be downs where Kader has that long one-on-one,” defensive backs coach Renaldo Hill said Thursday. “I thought he did a good job against Kansas City. He knew the ball was going to come there. He has to expect that when you have two outside guys [of the caliber of Howard and Ramsey]. It’s most likely going to be an attack on him.”

Needham, back from last October’s torn Achilles, played six snaps against the Chiefs and is another other viable No. 3/nickel corner option. But he’s still rounding into form.

Before tearing his Achilles in the sixth game of the season last year, Needham allowed a 116.1 passer rating in his coverage area — 10 completions on 16 targets for 158 yards, including one touchdown and no interceptions.

Needham finished 2021 with an 81.4 passer rating in his coverage area — excellent from a defensive standpoint — and no touchdowns allowed.

“The biggest thing for him is trying to get as many scout team reps as he can,” Hill said. “Hopefully there’s a lot of carryover from the scout team he’s mocking that he can apply to his game.

“He has to be a little bit more dialed and detailed and have a little sense of urgency in walk-throughs. Nik has approached it head on. He knows he has to be one of those pieces” potentially for the dime package as a fourth corner.

Beyond Needham, Fangio has two other No. 3 cornerback options if Kohou struggles: using Justin Bethel as the nickel or using Eli Apple outside and Ramsey inside at times. Neither of those options is as appealing as riding with Kohou.

But a case could be made to give Needham a chance to compete for the nickel/No. 3 corner job if Kohou doesn’t play well in the coming weeks and if Needham rounds into pre-injury form.

▪ Here’s the big looming offseason decision: For a team already $25 million over the 2024 salary cap, is it worth clogging the cap with a projected $20.9 million franchise tag hit for Christian Wilkins if the sides can’t agree on a new deal?

Or would that cap money be better spent on re-signing starters from an offensive line with four impending free agents?

Let’s be clear: Wilkins is a very good player. Miami is much better with him than without him. This is mostly a financial allocation question.

PFF ranks Wilkins 18th among 126 interior defensive linemen, and his 4.5 sacks have already tied a career high. But many months of negotiations about an extension proved fruitless, with talks now tabled until after the season.

Losing Wilkins — or trading him in March — assuredly would diminish the Dolphins defense. But with the Dolphins’ precarious salary cap situation — and Jaelan Phillips and Jaylen Waddle just 16 months from big pay days in free agency — the question is whether Miami can find a player not much worse than Wilkins for far less money.

That would be the biggest challenge that general manager Chris Grier will face if he decides that the big cash and cap charge for Wilkins would best be allocated elsewhere.

Of the 17 defensive tackles rated higher than Wilkins by PFF, most are expensive and most are nose tackles, a position the Dolphins also must fill if they move on from impending free agent Raekwon Davis, who’s rated 104th among 126 defensive tackles. The Colts’ Grover Stewart is among the best impending free agent nose tackles.

One thing is clear: The Dolphins don’t have the cap space to spend big on both Wilkins’ spot and Davis’ spot. Whether they can afford a big cap hit on one of those positions remains to be seen.

▪ Beyond Wilkins and Davis, linebacker Jerome Baker arguably has the most at stake in the weeks to come because none of his $10.8 million 2024 salary is guaranteed.

PFF ranks him just 70th of 80 linebackers, but Fangio said he has been playing well, and Baker has been entrusted with every defensive snap the past two games.

The Baker/David Long Jr. tandem has done some of its best work in the past three weeks; PFF rates Long second among all inside linebackers against the run while Baker is rated 70th, which seems to undervalue his play in that area.

Pass coverage remains an issue for both starting linebackers; Baker permitted a touchdown in coverage against Kansas City, and PFF says he has yielded a 101.9 passer rating in his coverage area (and two TDs) this season.

The bad news is Baker has allowed 31 completions in 35 targets — the 13th-most completions yielded by an NFL inside linebacker entering the Dolphins’ bye weekend. The good news is that those passes have averaged 7.6 yards; 88 linebackers have allowed more yards per catch.

But Baker has been the better of the Dolphins’ two inside linebackers in pass coverage.

Among linebackers targeted in coverage at least 15 times, Long has the second-worst passer rating against (136.3), allowing 17 completions in 19 targets for 254 yards (14.9 per catch) and a touchdown. But Long has been very good against the run.

None of Long’s $4.5 million 2024 salary is guaranteed next season. The Dolphins ultimately could stick with Long in 2024 because of his value contract and run-stuffing ability while figuring out what to do with Baker.

▪ Now that Ramsey is playing opposite him, the hope is that Howard — who’s playing well — can return to Pro Bowl form.

After allowing an uncharacteristically high 121.9 passer rating last season (sixth worst in the league), Howard is at a respectable 94.8, with two TDs allowed and 28 completions in 40 targets for 270 yards (9.6 per catch) and an interception.

▪ The safety play has been good; PFF ranks Jevon Holland second and DeShon Elliott 12th among 87 qualifying safeties.

Among safeties targeted at least 20 times in coverage, Holland has the 12th-best passer rating against at 76.1 — 16 receptions in 25 targets, but just 7.8 per catch and no TDs allowed.

Elliott has a somewhat bloated passer rating against of 106.5 (8 for 14, 13.9 per catch), with one TD allowed, but has been very solid in run support. PFF ranks him the eighth-best run defender among 87 safeties.

“He’s been a great complement to Jevon,” Hill said. “He’s a physical guy. You are seeing he can impose that will. He’s a guy that brings energy to the unit. I think that chemistry with those two working together, it’s paying off big for us.”