Pretty thorough rundown on how former Clemson DL and first-round pick Christian Wilkins fared as a rookie with the Miami Dolphins. From from the Miami Herald today:
CHRISTIAN WILKINS
▪ Contract status: Has three more years remaining on his rookie contract. Owed $1.2 million, $1.9 million and $1.6 million over next three seasons.
▪ Big picture: The Dolphins ended the season very pleased with his improvement over the second half of the season and confident he’s a longterm piece. A defensive tackle by trade, he played a lot of defensive end in a 3-4 defense, played in all 16 games and started 14, and produced 55 tackles, which led all rookie defensive linemen. Pro Football Focus rated him 74th among 117 qualifying interior defenders.
▪ The good: Besides the volume of tackles, he was a sure tackler; he missed just three tackles in 688 snaps, per PFF. That was fourth best among interior defenders with at least 500 snaps….
He had two sacks and 30 pressures in 322 pass rush chances, giving him a pass-rush efficiency rating that was 27th among all interior defenders with at least 300 pass rush chances. Though you would to see a higher sack total, that’s something to build on….
He was average (73rd) in PFF’s key run stop percentage metric, which measures tackles that constitute a loss for the offense, using a complex formula that we will explain at the bottom of this column. Wilkins had 27 such stops, which was 11th among all interior defenders. Do you know who topped that list? Teammate Davon Godchaux with 32. PFF rated Wilkins’ run stop percentage equal to Ndamukong Suh’s this season….
He was durable, with his 732 snaps ranking 17th highest among interior defenders.
▪ The not-so-good: There were too many times Wilkins was pushed aside on running plays, though less so in the second half of the season…. You would like to see more tackles for loss (three all season) and more impact plays (he had one forced fumble, one fumble recovery). The hope is that will come in time, though that’s not a high priority from tackles in Miami’s defensive system.
▪ The future: Wilkins should be a starter here for years to come and a key piece of the rebuild. But to be a clearly above average starter, he needs to be more disruptive in the opponent’s backfield. We’re told the Dolphins were very pleased how he played in the second half of the season.
CHRISTIAN WILKINS
▪ Contract status: Has three more years remaining on his rookie contract. Owed $1.2 million, $1.9 million and $1.6 million over next three seasons.
▪ Big picture: The Dolphins ended the season very pleased with his improvement over the second half of the season and confident he’s a longterm piece. A defensive tackle by trade, he played a lot of defensive end in a 3-4 defense, played in all 16 games and started 14, and produced 55 tackles, which led all rookie defensive linemen. Pro Football Focus rated him 74th among 117 qualifying interior defenders.
▪ The good: Besides the volume of tackles, he was a sure tackler; he missed just three tackles in 688 snaps, per PFF. That was fourth best among interior defenders with at least 500 snaps….
He had two sacks and 30 pressures in 322 pass rush chances, giving him a pass-rush efficiency rating that was 27th among all interior defenders with at least 300 pass rush chances. Though you would to see a higher sack total, that’s something to build on….
He was average (73rd) in PFF’s key run stop percentage metric, which measures tackles that constitute a loss for the offense, using a complex formula that we will explain at the bottom of this column. Wilkins had 27 such stops, which was 11th among all interior defenders. Do you know who topped that list? Teammate Davon Godchaux with 32. PFF rated Wilkins’ run stop percentage equal to Ndamukong Suh’s this season….
He was durable, with his 732 snaps ranking 17th highest among interior defenders.
▪ The not-so-good: There were too many times Wilkins was pushed aside on running plays, though less so in the second half of the season…. You would like to see more tackles for loss (three all season) and more impact plays (he had one forced fumble, one fumble recovery). The hope is that will come in time, though that’s not a high priority from tackles in Miami’s defensive system.
▪ The future: Wilkins should be a starter here for years to come and a key piece of the rebuild. But to be a clearly above average starter, he needs to be more disruptive in the opponent’s backfield. We’re told the Dolphins were very pleased how he played in the second half of the season.
