Miami Dolphins give Robert Nkemdiche a second chance
The Miami Dolphins have taken a shot on apparent first-round bust Robert Nkemdiche who was recently cut by the Arizona Cardinals.
The Miami Dolphins have taken a shot on another former first-round pick of the Arizona Cardinals, signing defensive Robert Nkemdiche and placing him on the PUP/Non-Football Injury list.
Nkemdiche was a first-round pick out of Ole Miss in the 2016 NFL Draft (29th overall) by the Cardinals, and so far in his NFL career, he has played in just 27 games with 4.5 career sacks and 10 tackles for loss.
The good news for the Miami Dolphins? All of Nkemdiche’s sacks came this past season for the Cardinals and he paired his 4.5 sacks with nine tackles for loss and seven quarterback hits.
Entering his fourth NFL season, Nkemdiche is just 24 and won’t turn 25 until September.
The Dolphins announced the move on Twitter Thursday.
We have signed defensive tackle Robert Nkemdiche and placed him on the Active/Physically Unable to Perform List.
— Miami Dolphins (@MiamiDolphins) August 8, 2019
According to NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo, Nkemdiche’s former college teammate Laremy Tunsil, the left tackle for the Dolphins, vouched for him when the Dolphins were considering bringing him in.
Sounds like Laremy Tunsil was a big advocate for the #Dolphins signing his former Ole Miss teammate Robert Nkemdiche, who gets a shot at a fresh start.
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) August 8, 2019
The Dolphins are such an interesting cast of characters right now. Their roster, from top to bottom, actually isn’t bad if a few players who are more potential than production actually, you know, reach their potential.
Nkemdiche was let go from the Arizona Cardinals — who have a new coaching staff — after he showed up to training camp out of shape and overweight. The team had apparently had enough of Nkemdiche’s failure to launch and his failure to put hard work with his immense talent.
There’s no guarantee Nkemdiche makes the Dolphins’ roster, but if he can and if he can even come close to reaching his potential there, this is a great pickup for them.
If you’re an NFL general manager, what downside is there to bringing a guy like this in for a second chance? At this point in the offseason, you have a 90-man roster. Why not fill it out with as much talent as possible and see what happens?
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I love that the Dolphins are doing this. I love that they paid such a small price to go and get Josh Rosen, who could end up being a long-term solution at quarterback. I love the idea of picking up a player like Nkemdiche who has everything to gain at this point in his career.