The Miami Dolphins add sixth new player this week, address the release of Isaiah Prince

A six-pack of Dolphins notes on a Friday:

The Dolphins took a flier on Ohio State offensive tackle Isaiah Prince in the sixth round in April’s draft, hoping to get the best version of a player who struggled at times as a Buckeye last season but did enough to be named All Big 10 first team.

Ultimately, there wasn’t enough consistency in practice — or during his appearances in four games — for the Dolphins to want to move forward with him.

In fact, after cutting him, the Dolphins had no intention of immediately signing him to the practice squad; as it turned out, Cincinnati claimed him off waivers.

Prince was cut Thursday when Miami needed a spot on the 53-man roster to claim former Ravens defensive end Zach Sieler. Prince, selected 202nd overall, thus became the first Dolphins’ 2019 draft pick to be cut.

“Any time you have to release a player it’s difficult; Isaiah was a difficult one,” coach Brian Flores said. “Players can do everything right and play to the best of their ability. It doesn’t work out sometimes. Isaiah worked extremely hard, made a lot of improvement. I think he’s got a future in football.”

His departure surprised some teammates. “It’s another day of ‘wow, this is how the NFL goes,’” rookie guard Michael Deiter said. “If you get close with a guy, it’s like losing a buddy.”

Dolphins’ newcomers

The Dolphins added a sixth new player this week, plucking 6-foot cornerback Lyndon Stephens off Seattle’s practice squad. Stephens had six interceptions in four years at the University of Cincinnati but went undrafted in 2017. He’s spent time with the Saints, Browns, Broncos and Seahawks but hasn’t appeared in a regular-season NFL game.

The move wasn’t announced and Miami must cut a player on Saturday to make room for Stephens.

Flores assessed some of the six players added this week:

On former Eagles receiver Mac Hollins: “He’s a tough, physical wide receiver. He’s had some production offensively and in the kicking game. We like him. You can see he has a lot of ability as a receiver, fast, big, has good hands. He blocks.”

Former Giants guard/center Evan Brown, who was plucked off New York’s practice squad: “We watched him in the preseason. I watch all this stuff, so anyone we feel like can help us get better that we feel like has some developmental potential, we’ll look into it.”

On Sieler, who had 33 sacks in three years at Ferris State and had limited playing time for Baltimore the past two years: “We saw Ravens film earlier this season and preseason. He’s big, physical, high effort, good length. He’s everything we’re looking for - high effort, works hard. Those are traits we covet and we had an opportunity to claim him” when the Ravens waived him this week.

On veteran running back Zac Zenner, claimed off waivers from Arizona: “Big back, had production in this league, played in the kicking game. After we lost Kalen Ballage, we needed a back who could play in the kicking game and give us some snaps offensively.”

Hollins, incidentally, joked that because the Eagles didn’t practice early this week, he could have stayed in South Florida after Sunday’s Philadelphia game here if he knew the Dolphins were going to claim him. “This opportunity is a gift,” said Hollins, who has 26 catches for 351 yards and a touchdown in 28 career games for Philadelphia.

All the players on the 53-man roster are expected to be available Sunday at the Jets. Flores said three players who were limited this week — linebacker Jerome Baker, cornerback Nik Needham and safety Steven Parker — will play Sunday.

The Dolphins, with 753 rushing yards, are on pace to easily break the record for fewest rushing yards in a season by a Dolphins team (1,205 in 1988), and their 3.1 yard-per-carry average would also be their worst ever.

Flores said blame can be shared among everybody — the backs, offensive line, skill players, even himself — but it’s telling that Pro Football Focus rates three Dolphins tackles (Jesse Davis, Julien Davenport and J’Marcus Webb) among the nine worst run-blocking tackles in football and Deiter and Shaq Calhoun among the nine worst run-blocking guards.

Also, former starter Kalen Ballage had the worst yards-after-contact average in the league (1.5) and new starter Patrick Laird is marginally better (at 1.9), though he doesn’t have nearly enough carries to make any definitive judgments on that and has been very good in the passing game. That yards-after-contact dynamic is one area where it was hurtful to lose Mark Walton, who averaged 3.1 yards in yards after contact.

Dolphins offensive line coach Dave DeGuglielmo said in his view, the team must prioritize athleticism over size in addressing their need for help at his position. Then he elaborated in colorful, whimsical terms:

“Athleticism is first. This is the National Football League. The days of the big, slow athlete playing up front, you might be able to have one and plug them in. But you can’t have that. You’ve got to have guys that can move. You’ve got to have guys — and you don’t have to be huge to have strength and leverage and explosive power.

“We’re not Alabama. [Nick Saban] picks whatever he wants. That’s why he’s good every year. I mean, are you kidding me? That’s easy money doing that. That’s why you wonder why Florida can’t win all the time. They pick whatever they want. They just leave the rest for the riff-raff to pick up. I got it. We don’t have that option, so what you have to do is you have to get some young men in — kind of like what Iowa does. They get these guys and who the hell knows where they get them, what farm, what pig farm they pulled them off of — good kid, tough kid, smart kid — you work them, you develop them, they gain 40 pounds and next you know, they’re getting drafted in the NFL and playing 10 years.”

Punter Matt Haack and kicker Jason Sanders — following their memorable TD connection last week — heard from people who had not contacted them in years, including Haack’s second-grade teacher at Jefferson High in Des Moines, Iowa (Mrs. Countryman).

Before Miami’s win last Sunday, NFL teams that were at least five games below .500 had lost 45 games in a row in which they had trailed by at least 14 points in the second half, per ESPN’s Trey Wingo.