Defensive Co-ordinator Josh Boyer faces a massive 2022 season. With former-HC Brian Flores now out of the building, Boyer gets to prove just how much of the Dolphins creative, dynamic defence he can improve in a pivotal season.
While Flores was known as a defensive guy who would bring the Patriots exotic defences down to Miami, Boyer has followed a very similar path in the NFL to his former boss.
Joining the Dolphins in Flores first year, Josh Boyer was formerly cornerbacks coach under Bill Belichick at the Patriots. In 2020 and 2021 the Dolphins become renowned for their zero-blitz packages which kept opposing QB’s confused, and stressed the Dolphins own defensive backfield.
QUESTIONS OVER JOSH BOYER WILL BE ANSWERED IN 2022
But as the 2021 season spiralled towards disaster, it was Josh Boyer who received much of the criticism for the Dolphins vanilla defence in the opening half of the season. Rumours swirled that Flores and Gerald Alexander took a more hands-on role in the defensive scheme and play calling.
These rumours were seemingly confirmed by the Sun Sentinel in February “After Boyer was stripped of his playcalling duties the Dolphins closed the season by holding opponents to less than 300 passing yards in 10 consecutive games for the first time since 2017.”
In fact the Sun Sentinel went even further and cited the rift between Flores and Boyer as one of the key factors in the dismissal of both Flores and Alexander, “The changes created a rift in Miami’s coaching staff, which players openly admit became an issue late in the season. Boyer’s retention led to Alexander’s firing on Thursday, and a couple more defensive assistants will likely be let go in the coming days.“
Continuity on defence is something all Dolphins fans are hoping becomes a reality this off season. Alexander has a great rep around the league, and even interviewed for the DC job in Tampa this off-season. The additions of Patrick Surtain, and Sam Madison are hoped to cover that role as well as Alexander did.
For his part Boyer has a chance to prove that some of the rumours were overblown, or plain not true. But as the season unfolded last season there have to be serious questions heading into 2022.
Josh Boyer will get a chance to prove himself, and the Dolphins season will likely hinge on just how successful he can be at keeping this Dolphins defence performing at the level they achieved in the second half of 2021.
There can be no doubt that the Dolphins defensive unit is stacked with returning talent which has been bolstered with the additions of Melvin Ingram and rookie Linebacker Channing Tindall. Everything is set up for success on that side of the ball, now it’s up to Josh Boyer to prove he can bring that best to the field on Sundays.
For more like this, you can visit our opinion section. Also, follow us on Facebook and Twitter for news, views, competitions, and much more.