The Dolphins may have found a gem in linebacker Channing Tindall. Sky Sports’ Cameron Hogwood reveals why Miami’s newest spy is poised to do well in full defense of Josh Boyer.
The Miami Dolphins’ offseason agenda was driven by the responsibility of helping quarterback Tua Tagovailoa succeed, but in rookie linebacker Channing Tindall, they also managed to bolster an outstanding defense with another individual contributor.
He became the product of a Kirby Smart defense that ran on different toolkits, disciplined espionage, and a bigger, faster, stronger, and smarter ethos that rallied him to the national championship.
He steps in to defend Josh Boyer, who thrives on a similar basis with her Cover-0 lightning attacks, her “Two Techs? Three technologies? Who’s doing what? cheating with the spin and its hanging before and after the click, designed to disrupt the quarterback’s progress.
What has become abundantly clear in today’s NFL is that there is little harm in addressing and developing an area that is already strong, and with Tyndall, the Dolphins have acquired a potential high-floor, high-ceiling core with which to bolster his suffocating unit.
It may have been easy to overlook Tyndall’s college workload at moments like the constant presence and influence of the Nakobe Deans and Smart’s second-tier defense Quay Walkers, not forgetting the rotational role that has been centered around special teams until last season.
But when he was on the field, it was purposeful. The quarterbacks soon found out, the offensive coordinators soon found out, and the pre-draft staggering, wide athletic size was evident.
Tyndall’s performance increased in 2021 as he compiled 67 tackles, 7.5 tackles for a loss, 5.5 sacks, a forced fumble and 26 pressure attempts in 15 games, none of which he started. In all of this, he continued to balance defensive snaps with special team duties.
That he didn’t play as a major player is perhaps as much a testament to juggernaut as Georgia flaunted a talented NFL defense. The fact that Smart could deploy Tindall as needed was an underestimated luxury.
The success of the draft is based on projection and translation, and even with an unconventional sample size, the more you dig into Tyndall, the more certain you are that Chris Grier has figured something out, the more you feel the same fascination.
