Chris Perkins: Dolphins DT Zach Sieler, an unselfish player, might need to become more selfish
· Yahoo Sports
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — The next time you watch Dolphins defensive tackle Zach Sieler on a passing down, whether it’s training camp, a preseason game or regular season game, study him very closely. Perhaps you’ll detect the same level of unselfish play that coach Jeff Hafley detected.
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Hafley compared Sieler, the 6-foot-6, 300-pound eight-year veteran and three-time team captain, to a point guard in basketball.
I wish Hafley would have directly linked Sieler with Jalen Brunson, the point guard for the world champion New York Knicks, but we’ll get to that later.
Hafley came up with his point guard comparison months ago after watching film of Sieler repeatedly setting up his teammates for a sack or, phrased more appropriately, dishing out assists to his teammates.
Hafley revealed this after he was asked how important the sack total is to determine success for Sieler, who had 10 sacks in each of the 2023 and 2024 seasons but dropped off to 5.5 sacks last season.
“Certainly I like his numbers to be up,” Hafley said, “but at the same time, I think if we counted assists, I think he’d be one of the assist leaders in the NFL.”
It’s an admirable quality from Sieler, one of the classiest guys on the team.
He genuinely believes rushing the passer is a team effort.
“You’ve got to rush this unit, all four up front,” he said. “With the quarterbacks in the league, how good they are, how mobile they are, if you don’t, they’ll find an opening. They’ll take it.”
That’s a great attitude from Sieler, but it only lasts as long as his young teammates hold up their end of the deal. They didn’t do that last year as youngsters.
The Dolphins had 39 sacks last season, which tied for 15th in the NFL, a middle-of-the-road ranking.
The problem is that the Dolphins only have 23.5 sacks from returnees among Seiler (5.5), linebacker Tyrel Dodson (5.0), edge rusher Chop Robinson (4.0), linebackers Jordyn Brooks (3.5) and Willie Gay Jr. (2) and defensive tackles Kenneth Grant (2.0) and Zeek Biggers (1.5).
And newcomers such as edge rushers Josh Uche (1.0) and David Ojabo (0.5) don’t add much to the sack total.
This is the reason it might become necessary for Sieler to become selfish, for lack of a better term. Sieler’s selfishness, in this sense his ability to get sacks himself, might be best for the team.
As point guards go, Sieler might need to resemble Brunson from the standpoint that Brunson sets up his teammates for 3 1/2 quarters and then takes over at the end, scoring the tough, game-winning buckets (apologies to Miami Heat fans for using a Knicks comparison).
Sieler might need to do the same.
Through seven training camp practices there’s been no indication that the Dolphins will have a feared pass rush this season. It’s true that Robinson and Uche are off to good starts as far as rushing the passer. And, yes, Robinson, the 2024 first-round pick who only has 10 sacks in two seasons, has fared better than Uche in practice. But no one on the team seems headed for a double-digit sack season.
And let’s take the pass rusher/point guard thing a step further.
If it gets late in the season and the pass rush is lacking it’ll be time for Sieler’s teammates to play point guard and set him up for sacks.
After all, he’s the only proven pass rusher on the team.
Uche, the six-year veteran, had 11.5 sacks in 2022. But he hasn’t had more than 3.0 sacks in any other season.
The true shame here is that Sieler, who is 30 years old and remains the best pass rusher on the team, will be 31 in one month, on Sept. 7.
Despite his pass-rushing talent and unselfish attitude, he doesn’t seem to fit into the Dolphins rebuild. The rebuild, so far, has leaned heavily toward players 30 and younger. And cheaper. Sieler, who has no guaranteed money next season, is due to count $20.7 million against the salary cap.
Let’s hope the Dolphins find a need for a point guard next season.