The Miami Dolphins suffered a blow to their starting secondary Wednesday, as Louis Delmas has been diagnosed with a torn ACL in his right knee. This is the same injury that ended his season in December of last year.
Delmas, while not spectacular, has always been a starting quality safety. He finished an up-and-down year last season with a slightly negative grade (-.2 overall), after finishing with a +2.8 overall grade in 2013.
He will be missed mostly in coverage. In 2014 he ranked 10th in our safeties coverage stat, allowing only one reception for every 36 snaps in coverage. He ranked third in that same category in 2013, allowing only one catch for every 42.4 coverage snaps.
The Dolphins don’t have a lot of safety experience on the roster. Walt Aikens, Jordan Kovacs, and Mike Thomas all played a combined 193 snaps last season. Philip Thomas was a free-agent addition from the Redskins, and he has starting experience, but he struggled down the stretch and finished the season at -9 overall with a -8.1 coverage grade. Another option could be the Dolphins’ fifth-round pick Cedric Thompson, but no matter what, Miami is looking at a downgrade at the position with Delmas out.
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