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Insiders: Dolphins defense looking old - 09/25/2007 - MiamiHerald.com

In preseason, the talk inside the Dolphins was that the defensive front seven would be among the NFL's best. That hardly has been the case, though Zach Thomas' absence Sunday was a huge factor.

''All of a sudden they've gotten old,'' said espn.com's Matt Williamson, a former Browns scout. Some feedback on the front seven:

• The questions about linebacker Joey Porter, 30, focus not only on his subpar play, but how he's being used. On Sunday, with the Dolphins playing extra defensive backs, Porter played a lot as a hand-on-the ground defensive end (which he did for Pittsburgh at times), and contributed little. The Dolphins are reconsidering how best to use him.

''I don't think he's a down lineman,'' former Dolphins defensive end/linebacker Kim Bokamper said. ``He's more effective as a rushing linebacker.

``In nickel situations, you'd like to see Porter as one of those two linebackers, but my assumption is they're not comfortable with his knowledge of the defense.''

Williamson's take: ``He's on the decline. He beats bad guys and struggles against good tackles. The contract Miami gave him seems ludicrous.''

Porter (no sacks) is on pace for 48 tackles -- two more than Donnie Spragan last year and less than half of mediocre Morlon Greenwood's 101 in his last year in Miami (2004) before moving to Houston.

• The new or promoted linemen haven't stood out. The Dolphins replaced Tampa Bay's Kevin Carter (12 tackles, .5 sacks) with new starter Matt Roth (10 tackles, no sacks). The '06 roster spots of Houston's Jeff Zgonina (one tackle), the Jets' David Bowens (five tackles) and unemployed Dan Wilkinson have been taken by Chase Page (four tackles), Paul Soliai (one tackle/two games) and Steve Fifita (no tackles/one game).

''Soliai had some troubles'' against the Jets, Bokamper noted, and Page is a ''marginal roster guy,'' Williamson said. (As is Fifita). Miami got 8 ½ sacks from backup linemen last year, but none so far. The Dolphins -- who had 47 sacks in '06 -- are on pace for 21.

• Tackle Keith Traylor, 38, ''can't do it anymore,'' Williamson said. ``You can't be [340 pounds] on those knees and still be agile.''

• Vonnie Holliday said he's playing more two-gap, as a defensive tackle, than ever before, ''and he's not a great two-gap player,'' Williamson said.

• Former NFL scout Ken Moll of espn.com said, ``Vonnie is more of an end in a 3-4 defense. . . . That defense is going to need some overhauling.''

• Former NFL scout Jeremy Green of espn.com asserts Jason Taylor's slow start has a lot to do ``with the players around him. They aren't in as many third-and9, third-and-10s, that play to Jason's and Porter's strengths.''

• Rod Wright has been the only D-lineman inactive all three games. Cam Cameron ''told me I had really good practices and he'll need me down the line,'' Wright said. ``I'm not sure what the deal is.''

• ESPN's Merril Hoge, who studies tape: ''They're a defensive line that never got pushed around before.'' And now? They're ''uprooted and moved back into the secondary. . . . I don't know that [coordinator] Dom Capers can trust them'' in run-defense. (Miami is fourth-worst in that category.)

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