What to know about Dolphins’ revamped inside linebacker room, position switch and fallout

The Dolphins have shuffled the decks in their inside linebacker room, hoping an import from Tennessee and a moonlighting gig by one of their edge players can raise the quality of the unit’s pass coverage and produce greater impact.

Starter Jerome Baker and backup Duke Riley – who have been here five and two years, respectively – remain vital parts of the unit, which will be charged with slowing running back Austin Ekeler and a dynamic Chargers passing attack when the teams meet on Sunday in Los Angeles (4:25 p.m., CBS 4).

But the success of this inside linebacker room will rest in large part on whether new starter David Long Jr. can replicate his production with the Titans and stay healthy, something that has been a challenge for him.

And there’s a wild card: Andrew Van Ginkel, the productive edge player, who has pleased coaches in his transition to an inside/outside dual role.

“He’s done really good,” linebackers coach Anthony Campanile said of Van Ginkel’s transition to the new position. “He’s a super detailed guy and a fun guy to coach because he’s always trying to do extra.”

When Van Ginkel was an unsigned free agent in March, defensive coordinator Vic Fangio called to encourage him to return and told him what a good fit he would be in this defense — ultimately, both inside and outside. Fangio didn’t broach playing inside linebacker in that first conversation.

“Credit to coach Fangio because he really saw some things in Gink where he felt he would be able to do that,” Campanile said. “There are not many guys who are outside guys who can transition inside. He’s done that really, really well.

“Gink runs really well, has a lot of fluidity and gives you another element because he’s a good pass rusher. His length shows up in pass coverage. He’s done a good job with his hands and seeing the run fits.”

Where has Van Ginkel grown the most playing inside linebacker?

“Being able to recognize the plays,” he said. “Obviously, it’s a different game being an inside linebacker. Just being able to see the bigger picture and see everything in front of me and relax my eyes.”

Van Ginkel and Riley have been paired together in preseason when Miami uses its second team defense.

Long has been an unquestioned starter since signing with Miami in March, and with good reason: In Tennessee, he was effective against the run and the pass. He upgrades the unit’s overall speed.

Pro Football Focus ranked Long 14th among all linebackers last season, including fifth against the run, even though he’s just 5-11 and 227 pounds. He had 86 tackles, including seven for loss, in 11 games in 2022.

“David can run,” Fangio said. “He’s a run-and-hit guy and can make good, flashy plays.”

Per Next Gen Stats, Long tackled opposing ball carriers for a loss or no gain on 6.6 percent of his run defense snaps last season, the second-highest run stuff rate in the NFL (minimum 200 snaps against the run). So even though Roberts was very good against the run, the Dolphins aren’t sacrificing run defense for pass coverage.

“You see he’s a run-and-hit guy, a physical guy,” Campanile said. “If he gets space, he can do some really, really good things in the run game.”

Where Long upgrades the Dolphins is against the pass. He has four interceptions and no touchdowns allowed over the past two seasons.

Last season, Dolphins linebackers allowed a league-high 11 touchdowns and yielded the fourth-highest completion percentage (79.4) in coverage, per Next Gen Stats.

He allowed an 87 passer rating in his coverage area last season — compared with 107.8 against Jerome Baker, 108.1 against Duke Riley and 112.8 against Elandon Roberts, who were the Dolphins’ top three inside linebackers last season. In 2021, Long permitted an 86.1 passer rating in his coverage area, on par with his 87 last season.

Long gives up a lot of completions but not for a lot of yards - and rarely permits touchdowns.

He says he hopes he has shown the Dolphins “the instinctive player I am…. My big thing is making a play behind the line of scrimmage.”

The issue with Long is hamstring injuries, which sidelined him for seven games in 2021 (the opener and six in November/December) and kept him out for the final five games in 2022. Titans coach Mike Vrabel said after last season that he wants Long to find a way to avoid soft tissue injuries. Ultimately, the Titans didn’t re-sign him.

The Baker/Roberts pairing was pretty good. The Dolphins hope the Baker/Long tandem can be even better:

“He shoots gaps. He’s smart,” Baker said of Long. “We work well together as far as like, ‘You got this’ or ‘I got this.’ We really work well together, and he’s very similar to me. He can run. He can hit.

“Off the field, we got similar personalities. We’re laid-back. We do what we got to do. We crack jokes, but he’s definitely fun to work with.”

Also still on the roster: second-year player Channing Tindall, the third-round pick who logged just 10 defensive snaps last season and wasn’t seen again after a few snaps “spying” Bears quarterback Justin Fields in a Nov. 6 game.

Tindall seems fifth on the depth chart at the position, but Campanile said there has been improvement. Where so?

“I think his urgency within the scheme,” Campanile said. “He’s trying to apply himself to get it right in year two. It’s an awesome system because you learn a lot of football playing in this system.

“That’s the biggest thing for him right now; he’s trying to cross all the Ts and dot all the Is within the system and make sure he’s lined up. When he’s lined up and ready to go, he can play really, really fast. It’s coming a little bit quicker to him right now than it did last year.”

Campanile said Tindall’s “best skill is his ability to run. He runs really well. You put him out with anybody, I would feel good about him in a footrace. He’s a run and hit guy, physical guy.

“He does rush the passer well. That’s what’s exciting when you have guys that can play three downs, that’s what you’re looking for. Channing certainly has the skill set to be able to do that.”

ARMSTEAD UPDATE

Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel declined to rule out Terron Armstead from Sunday’s game, even though he’s dealing with three injuries and hasn’t practiced in three weeks.

“His expectation has been to play week 1,” McDaniel said at midday Friday. “I want to take a look at him this afternoon and make a concrete decision. By today we’ll have an answer for Sunday. The only reason there’s a debate is it’s my job to protect players from themselves. We do what’s best for the Dolphins for the entirety of season, make sure there continues to not be setbacks.”

UPDATE: The Dolphins announced at 4 p.m. Friday that Armstead is out on Sunday.