How Calais Campbell Can Unlock the Miami Dolphins’ New Defense: ‘You Get Really Scary’

Baltimore Ravens defensive end Calais Campbell (93) enters the field prior to the game against the Denver Broncos at M&T Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mitch Stringer-USA TODAY Sports

Spend 15 minutes — or even 15 seconds, frankly — with Calais Campbell and you get why the Miami Dolphins were so keen to add him.

He’s a natural leader who exudes competence and credibility.

So when he gets going about the upside of the Dolphins’ defense under first-year coordinator Anthony Weaver, you believe him.

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Campbell, now in his 17th NFL season, was a key cog of the Baltimore Ravens’ defense in his two years playing under Weaver.

And when Weaver brought that exotic system with him to Miami, Campbell was pretty quickly convinced that this is where he wants to potentially finish his career.

Campbell — a six-time Pro Bowler and the 2019 Walter Payton Man of the Year recipient — officially signed his free agent contract with the Dolphins Tuesday and met with local reporters a short time later.

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Asked what about the Ravens system he likes so much — and why it is so successful — Campbell replied:

“The amount of things you can do from it. The different blitz packages you can run. Different people you can line up in different places. It just has variety. You ask a lot of the players. They ask more of the players because you have to know a lot more. There’s some playbooks out there that are very small. But they do a good job as coaches of not overdoing it with trying to do everything at once.

“When you have a veteran group that can pick up more of the playbook and put a little bit more in there, you get real scary.”

The Dolphins certainly have a veteran group, as they have the NFL’s second-oldest roster (26.7).

Their defensive line is particularly seasoned, with Campbell the latest new face to replace Christian Wilkins and Raekwon Davis.

He is eager to play all over the D-line this fall — so long as his hand is in the dirt.

“I don’t like standing up,” he said.

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But Campbell is at his best as a 3-4 defensive end, known as the five-technique. Expect Weaver to use him there plenty.

“[If they] tell me to set the edge, you’re not running that ball,” he added. “I take great pride in making sure that you’re not gonna run the ball in my gap or towards me — at all.

“… The plays I am supposed to make in that five-technique, yeah, that’s 100% you’re not running … I take great pride in being one of the best run-stopping five-techniques to ever play this game. And I still think I got a lot of juice in the pass-rush role, too. So it’s kind of a good mix. But yes, to answer your question, I still think I’m very dominant in the five-technique.”