By HAL HABIB
Digest Correspondent
The Bengals could have held on to Rey Maualuga.
The Steelers could have brought back Lawrence Tim-
mons.
The Eagles could have found a use for Kiko Alonso.
The Dolphins weren’t too proud to pass on any of them.
After years of seeing linebackers come and go, years
of spending draft picks on players who collectively were
serviceable at best and a liability at worst, the Dolphins
seem to have finally hit on a winning formula in 2017.
Timmons is 31. Maualuga, 30. Alonso, 27. While that
suggests a graying bunch of linebackers, the Dolphins
would prefer to look at it as going green — this recycled
trio leads a six-man linebacking corps devoid of a single
Dolphins draft pick, a single player who wasn’t passed
over by others.
Somehow, all the pieces have fit together perfectly for
first-year coordinator Matt Burke, who says he always
has confidence in his players, so he isn’t surprised.
That might put Burke in the company of only a few.
It’s as if Coach Adam Gase could sense something be-
fore the 16-10 victory over the Tennessee Titans. He re-
called spotting Alonso, Timmons and Maualuga warming
up and a curious thought coming to mind.
“OK, that looks different,” he said.
You think? After ranking 30th against the run last sea-
son and giving up a team-record 2,247 rushing yards, the
defense has spent much of the season in the NFL’s top
five against the run and in fewest points allowed. The
Dolphins have put up a wall and made opponents pay for
it. During Jets week, Showtime analyst Boomer Esiason
said the Dolphins had “a championship-caliber defense.”
Naturally, that put Burke’s overconfidence alarm on
red alert.
“I don’t know who is talking about that, but nobody is
reading anything in our room,” Burke said. “ ... There’s
always stuff to get better at. We’ve definitely not played
our best game — by far.”
Maybe not, but the players can sniff potential, espe-
cially after the second-half shutout of the Falcons.
“That team was in the Super Bowl last year, so any-
thing is possible,” Timmons said.
When he wants to, Alonso can budget words even bet-
ter than he does ball carriers. When he says, “We’re play-
ing well, but I think we can play a lot better,” it amounts
to a filibuster for him.
At times like this, it’s best to go the word-association
route with Alonso.
Maualuga?
“He’s like Maui from Moana.”
Timmons?
“Lawrence is a beast.”
You, Kiko?
“I’m just a guy.”6 Dolphin Digest OCTOBER 28, 2017
NEW HOME IN MIAMI
New Dolphins LBs making big impact on defense
Rey Maualuga
Digest Photo/Steven Murphy