Miami Dolphins linebacker Stephen Dix was signed on Friday, and was then asked to call defensive plays during his first game with the team on Saturday.
The Miami Dolphins' roster construction is a result of general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan needing to cut high-priced contracts and rebuild with a poor cap situation. The result of that was bringing in a ton of low-cost veterans and UDFAs to compete to land on the 53-man roster.
As a result, the Dolphins have continued to bring in players dating back to the free agency period. One such player is linebacker Stephen Dix, who was signed on Friday and was thrust into the preseason game on Saturday, where he was asked to call plays on defense.
The usual case for the "Mike" linebacker is to relay plays and adjustments to the rest of the defense, and that is exactly what Dix was asked to do.
Dolphins head coach Jeff Hafley stated that he had barely met Dix in his office on Saturday morning, and the linebacker was then asked to call plays in the second half of the preseason loss to the New York Giants.
"We had a linebacker who I met this morning in my office; Steve came in, met him, and he started the whole second half where we had to tell him the call, he had to give the call, then we had to tell him what to do on every single play," coach Jeff Hafley told reporters after the game. "So we were able to play only like two calls in the second half, which has never happened to me in my life. So I just give him credit for going out and fighting. That’s what the preseason is all about, to find out who those guys are."
Dix did the best with the opportunity that he was handed. He played a total of 37 snaps in the game and was given a 67.1 overall grade on Pro Football Focus, ranking him as the eighth-best player grade-wise on defense.
Dix also finished the game with three total tackles, while playing 14 run defense snaps, four pass rush snaps, and 16 coverage snaps.
Previous to being signed, Dix had been a member of the Arizona Cardinals practice squad but was waived in June. He got the call to try out for the Dolphins, was signed, and was calling plays the very next day.
Dix understands the level of opportunity that he was awarded, as he spoke about the whirlwind of what transpired over the weekend.
"I think I had a quick 30-minute meeting with [linebackers] coach [Al] Washington," Dix told reporters. "They told me, ‘Look bro, just go out there run sideline to sideline. I’m going to be in your ear and I’m going to tell you the call and tell you what to do.’ . . . Like that’s literally any football player’s dream, get told what to do and just go play ball. It was exciting. It was so fun out there."
The purpose of preseason football is to evaluate talent at the backend of the roster to determine who can make the 53-man roster, as well as determine who the starters are based on training camp battles.
Dix may have pushed himself into consideration with how well he was able to play a day after being signed by the Dolphins. Hafley also spoke about players needing to take advantage of their opportunities in preseason, and highlighted Dix in that regard.
In terms of the second preseason game, things were a bit of a mess. The entire Miami roster struggled, from the backup quarterbacks through to the defense.
Hafley also pointed to many "details" simply not being good enough, and that was evident on the field. Now, the Dolphins will enter a crucial final week of training camp and preseason.
This week will lead to Hafley and the coaching staff getting together to cut the roster down from 90 to 53 by Aug. 30. Whether or not that includes Dix remains to be seen, but he now has one of the mot interesting stories to tell in the NFL.
