Chris Perkins: I’m OK with Vic Fangio’s remarks about the Dolphins’ defense

MIAMI GARDENS — Vic Fangio raised some eyebrows last week at minicamp.

Fangio, as you know, is the Dolphins’ new defensive coordinator, the sage tasked with reviving a unit that decades ago proudly wore nicknames such as the No-Name Defense and Killer B’s.

Fangio didn’t raise eyebrows with his scheme.

Fangio, however, raised some eyebrows with this quote about his defense:

“We have some really good talent at some places. In other places, we’ve got to find the talent. I think it’s a good mix right now.

“Our good players have got to play really good for us to be good, and we’ve got to find the other guys to fill in that play good in spite of their lack of playing time and experience.”

My interpretation: The Dolphins’ defense remains a work in progress, it’s far from a finished product and it’s still seeking an identity.

That’s what I take from Fangio’s remarks. It’s not a bad thing. In fact, it’s expected. Fangio was simply the coach who said it out loud.

This defense is short on talent in some areas, including inside linebacker and interior defensive line depth. We already knew that as Fangio said it out loud.

This defense needs its good players to be really good: Edge rushers Jaelan Phillips and Bradley Chubb and cornerbacks Jalen Ramsey and Xavien Howard. Again, we knew that; Fangio said it out loud.

This defense needs to find players who can play well despite their youth and relative inexperience, like safety Jevon Holland, slot/nickel Kader Kohou, safety Brandon Jones and rookie cornerback Cam Smith. No shocker there, either.

Fangio is speaking the truth publicly.

I like that. 

And I like Fangio.

I like his approach, and I like his candor.

Yeah, I realize it’s limited candor, sometimes even cryptic. 

But Fangio has been good from the start, when he told us he’d base his defensive system on his talent. And then he told us Phillips and Chubb have great potential, but we must see results.

And when asked last week whether an ESPN report was true, that if not for the Jonathan Gannon tampering charge, Fangio would be Philadelphia’s defensive coordinator, Fangio replied, “That’s possible, but I will neither confirm nor deny.”

Before he said all of that, he told us he had some new ideas he was tinkering with during his year away from full-time coaching. 

You already know I’m excited about the defense.

But I’m also excited about Fangio.

I appreciate Fangio not taking a Pollyanna approach to the defense. 

Having said all of that, no matter how much I like Fangio and his candor, his defense must produce.

When you have accomplished defenders such as Ramsey, Howard and Chubb, and rising players such as Phillips, Kohou, Holland, and lineman Christian Wilkins, along with steady veterans such as linebackers Jerome Baker and David Long Jr., lineman Emmanuel Ogbah and safety DeShon Elliott, you should be successful.

No, this isn’t a Philadelphia Eagles defense, or a San Francisco 49ers defense, or any of the NFL’s other high-profile units of recent memory.

But we’re expecting the Dolphins to be within shouting distance of those units.

At this point, however, the Dolphins are nowhere near that level, and Fangio let us know that last week.

No one should be surprised, upset or disappointed.

There were a number of key defensive players we didn’t even see on the field during 11-on-11s in minicamp. Ramsey. Long. Jones. Lineman Zach Sieler. Cornerback Keion Crossen. Cornerback Nik Needham.

We’ve only seen the defense at partial strength, and not even in pads. So this unit will be immediately better in training camp because it will, with good health, have better personnel.

There’s something we should all keep in mind regarding this defense, though — the final four.

I’m not a big schedule guy (I don’t excitedly await the schedule release and do that ridiculous W-L thing for each game), and I’m not a big quarterback guy (I don’t overreact to the opponent’s quarterback).

But for those who are big on the schedule and the opposing quarterback, consider this: the Dolphins’ defense finishes at home with Aaron Rodgers and the New York Jets (Dec. 17); at home against Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys (Dec. 24); on the road against Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens (Dec. 31); and at home against Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills (Jan. 7).

That’s a potentially brutal lineup.

But relax.

I’m guessing Fangio won’t be saying the same things about the defense in December and January that he was saying in June.