Candid comments from a prideful, self-critical Dolphin. And reflections from Grier, notes

A six-pack of Dolphins notes on a Friday:

▪ Several cornerbacks are projected to go in the Dolphins’ draft range at 21, but Miami probably cannot afford to spend another high pick on a cornerback because it has far more pressing needs: defensive tackle, interior offensive line, edge rusher and No. 3 receiver.

Nor can the Dolphins particularly afford to use the 55th pick at cornerback, either, in our opinion, even though general manager Chris Grier said again this week that he always selects the best available player in the first and second rounds.

But the Dolphins also must be sure that they have four reliable cornerbacks behind Jalen Ramsey and Kendall Fuller.

Kader Kohou, Cam Smith, Nik Needham, Ethan Bonner and veteran special teams player Siran Neal are the internal candidates. Perhaps a free agent veteran or two could be added to that mix later in the offseason. A few young corners could be added late in the draft or after the draft.

What the Dolphins particularly need at that position is for Kohou to bounce back from a disappointing second season.

As a rookie in 2022, Kohou allowed an 80.7 passer rating in his coverage area — 21st best among players targeted at least 50 times in that ‘22 season.

He had one interception, in the Green Bay game, and yielded just one touchdown in 106 targets. He was the most-targeted cornerback in the league as a rookie and very much held his own.

This past season, he was targeted 80 times (25th most) and allowed far too many completions (67) for too many yards (721) and too many touchdowns (seven), without an interception.

The seven TDs allowed tied for sixth most in the league among cornerbacks. The yards permitted were 12th most.

His 133.4 passer rating against was second worst among cornerbacks targeted at least 50 times, ahead of only New England’s Marco Wilson.

Nobody was unhappier than Kohou about his play last season.

“Terrible,” was how Kohou described his season in a postseason chat with the Miami Herald’s Daniel Oyefusi. “I set a lot of goals for myself coming into the season. I feel like I had the right approach. At the beginning of the season, I feel like I was doing good. As the season continued” his play worsened.

He said he needs to take a deeper dive into why he struggled.

“I’ve got to go back and figure it out,” he said. In any defense, “you are going to have to play man, play zone. I could still make plays in this defense. I don’t like how the year went. I envisioned a lot more for myself.”

Kohou was often targeted by opposing quarterbacks when Ramsey and since-released Xavien Howard were on the field at the same time.

“I don’t think having them on both sides affected my game at all,” he said. “If anything, I feel it was supposed to help my game to make more plays.”

Because of his sterling play as a rookie, Kohou will be given every chance to keep the No. 3 cornerback job. But he’s not going to be handed anything.

Smith and Needham and perhaps Bonner – and perhaps a summer addition – will have every chance to take that job from him.

▪ The Dolphins certainly won’t miss facing receiver Stefon Diggs, who was traded from Buffalo to Houston.

In nine career games against Miami, Diggs caught 53 of 78 targets for 719 yards and seven touchdowns.

In his career, he has more receiving yardage only against Green Bay Packers, against whom he has competed against 10 times, primarily when he played for the Minnesota Vikings.

The Dolphins also will be glad to see former Bills receiver Gabe Davis move on to the Jacksonville Jaguars. In eight games, Davis caught 17 passes against the Dolphins -- his most against any team.

Davis has 296 receiving yards against Miami --- also his most against any team. His four TDs against the Dolphins tied for his most.

▪ I found this comment from Terron Armstead interesting, from his recent appearance on Rich Eisen’s radio show:

Last season, “I saw [Tua Tagovailoa] take steps of growth in his leadership and holding guys accountable. I saw him get on the great Tyreek Hill last year, which he never would have done the first year.

“Tyreek loves work and he loves for everybody to put in that type of work and to be accountable. And so he loves challenges. Mike McDaniel has challenged ‘Reek and ‘Reek will come back and go for 230 [yards in a game]. So when Tua told him ‘you need to be lined up here,’ he loves that.“ He loves that and he’s somebody that responds. So it’s great for us. The more we can have that accountability, we’re going to win those big games.”

Armstead added this about Tagovailoa: “Looking forward to... him taking another step in the management and piloting this franchise. I’m going to do everything I can to keep him clean.”

▪ ESPN’s Field Yates, who has assumed much of Todd McShay’s previous draft role with ESPN, mocks Texas defensive tackle Byron Murphy to Miami with the 21st overall pick:

“The Dolphins just watched Christian Wilkins depart in free agency, but Murphy has some traces of Wilkins in his game as a disruptive interior defender,” Yates said. “Murphy had a great season in 2023 with five sacks, but the stats are far from the full story of his impact. He has a unique ability to torque and hold up against the run, and he makes life easier for the players around him.”

▪ Yates has Miami taking Connecticut guard Christian Haynes at No. 55, with this comment:

“The Dolphins lost Robert Hunt in free agency, opening a significant gap along the offensive line. Enter Haynes, an experienced guard (49 starts) who plays with a serious edge to his game. I think he’d be an ideal fit in the Miami offense.”

▪ Dolphins general manager Chris Grier on Tuesday was asked: “Is there one guy, can you pinpoint one guy that you say to yourself, “I’m really proud that I found this guy?”

His answer: “That’s hard. Obviously, most recently would probably be De’Von Achane last year. Achane was a guy that we were very high on and spent a lot of time getting to know him. I’d say in the past, probably Andrew Van Ginkel was one because he was kind of a – transferred into Wisconsin and had a little bit of production and just watched him grow as a person and play over the last few years. Very happy for him. Sad to see him go, but very happy for him.

“But there’s been a number of guys over the years. You go through it and you just talk about – Xavien (Howard) was one, too. Xavien was always a guy that was talented and he would tell you, we interviewed him at the Combine and it was a terrible interview. He would tell you that and then we brought him in on a 30 visit and he was lights out.

“Like knew all the players, everything, talking history of Dolphins stuff. So it was cool and then watching the evolution of him where his rookie year he played and got criticized a little bit for some of his play as a rookie and then becoming an All-Pro.

“So it was fun watching his growth and the number of things he did behind the scenes that when he came by to see me probably a month or so ago, we had a long talk about just everything he did behind the scenes. I’m so proud of him, how he worked so hard to get to where he was, so those are always satisfying moments to watch when players get what they’ve worked hard for.”