MIAMI GARDENS — If you want to find an up and coming unit on the low-expectation Miami Dolphins, a group that’s outperforming since the start of training camp, look toward the trenches and focus your attention on the defensive tackles.
Among veteran Zach Sieler, youngsters Jordan Phillips, Zeek Biggers and Kenneth Grant, and relative unknowns Matthew Butler, who got significant playing time last season, and Keith Cooper Jr., the Dolphins might have something at defensive tackle.
That’s a good thing because these defensive tackles have a bit of a Dolphins tradition to uphold.
More on that later.
It’s too early to know anything for sure about this year’s defensive tackles. But there’s blossoming hope when it comes to run-stuffing, and there’s low-key hope when it comes to pass rushing.
At the very least, these defensive tackles are willing to crack skulls. And as you’ll recall, physicality is a non-negotiable trait for coach Jeff Hafley.
Allow Phillips, the 2025 fifth-round pick, to explain the defensive tackles’ philosophy in that area.
“The goal is to be physical,” said Phillips, who might drive the bus in that category. “This game is played physically; this game was not made for soft people. So that’s always a point of emphasis when we take the field.”
The Dolphins have had some interesting and fear-inducing defensive tackles in the past two decades. They didn’t lack physicality, personality or talent.
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Start with the fearsome defensive tackle duo of Tim Bowens, a member of the Dolphins Ring of Honor, and Daryl Gardener, a 300-pound pair who were imposing even by NFL standards. Bowens, one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet, was so intimidating the vast majority of media members steered clear of him.
Bowens, a two-time Pro Bowl selection, and Gardener, who once dubbed himself a “modern day gladiator,” were members of the 2000 Dolphins, the last team in franchise history to win a playoff game. They were also the leading edge of a ferocious defense that included Hall of Fame defensive end Jason Taylor and Hall of Fame linebacker Zach Thomas as well as stud cornerbacks Sam Madison and Patrick Surtain.
Years later the Dolphins had the destructive defensive tackle duo of Randy Starks and Paul Soliai, a 2011 Pro Bowl selection. Starks had a rebellious side. Early in the 2013 season, after he sacked Cleveland quarterback Brandon Weeden, he infamously shot a finger toward the Dolphins sideline. Starks said the obscene gesture was meant as a joke to teammates.
But most, including myself, opine that the finger was either meant for Dolphins management, who refused to acquiesce to Starks’ contract demands and placed the one-year franchise tag on him instead of giving him a multi-year deal, or meant for coaches, who had Starks as a second-teamer because he sat out optional offseason workouts due to his contract situation.
After that came Ndamukong Suh, the erstwhile one-man gang who seemed more interested in guidance from friend and billionaire financier Warren Buffett than his coach Adam Gase. Suh became the NFL’s highest-paid defensive lineman after signing a landmark $114 million contract with Miami with $60 million guaranteed.
Suh was followed by the colorful Christian Wilkins, who preceded his good friend, Sieler.
The Sieler-Wilkins defensive tackle duo dubbed themselves “salt and pepper” because, well, Sieler is White and Wilkins is Black.
And finally, a couple of years ago there was defensive tackle Calais Campbell, a future Hall of Famer whose locker room wisdom always attracted a crowd.
As for this year’s Dolphins defensive tackles, we know that Sieler, the three-time captain who posted back-to-back 10-sack seasons in 2023 and 2024, is physical. Pro Football Focus ranked him 17th in run defense last season among interior defensive linemen.
Phillips, at 6 foot 3, 324 pounds, is a classic hard worker. He’s so well-anchored that coaches had to tell him to ease up on the squats in the weight room. They didn’t want him to be overly-anchored.
Biggers, at a towering 6-6, 315 pounds, is versatile enough to play inside, where’s expected to provide a pass rush, and outside, where he’s expected to set the edge (turn the run back inside toward the pursuit) in the run game.
After Biggers, things start to fall off a bit but there’s still reason for hope.
Grant, the 2025 first-round pick, was a disappointment last season as a rookie. PFF Ranked him 114th out of 134 interior defensive linemen against the run. If Grant was, say, a third- or fourth-round pick he’d be viewed as being OK. But expectations are higher for a first-round pick so he still has some developing to do this season.
Butler had 12 tackles in 12 games last season, and Cooper, undrafted out of Houston in 2025, has been on the practice squads for Detroit and Cleveland but hasn’t yet appeared in a game.
The 2026 Dolphins defensive tackles have a lot live up to if they’re going to uphold the recent productive and colorful traditions at their position on and off the field. Perhaps they’ll shock the world.
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