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Dolphins' Chubb gets boost from old coach

Miami Dolphins linebacker Bradley Chubb. Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Dolphins OLB Bradley Chubb gets boost from old coach

By Michael Isaac Jacobs | Last updated 9/20/23

All that Miami Dolphins defensive end Bradley Chubb ever wanted was his coach back. In Week 2 against the New England Patriots, Dolphins defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, the former head coach of the Denver Broncos, really tied the Dolphins defense together — thanks in large part to his former disciple.

It takes an excellent teacher to extract talent from a student and Fangio is a tenured professor. Chubb, who made the Pro Bowl when Fangio was his head coach in Denver, made game altering plays that helped the Dolphins get an AFC East road win.

It was the first time that Chubb executed at a high-level for the Dolphins, which can be directly attributed to his comfort level with the Fangio defensive method.

"I feel like the defense in itself is very simple to learn," Chubb said, per NFL.com's Bobby Kownack. "I feel like it's very unique, and it's one of those defenses that once you're in it, you don't really want to play another form of defense. Especially the guys on the edge getting a chance to fly around and cause havoc."

Chubb, who was traded to the Dolphins from the Broncos in November of 2022, struggled to make an impact under DC Josh Boyer, who the Dolphins fired after losing to the Buffalo Bills in the AFC wild card game this past January.

On Sunday night in Foxborough, Chubb asserted himself in the first half with a forced fumble on a hustle play downfield that set the tone for the Dolphins defense.

@astronaut with the PUNCH and DeShon Elliott jumps on it! pic.twitter.com/mXArjWh5Z7
— Miami Dolphins (@MiamiDolphins) September 18, 2023

Even though the sample size is small, the Chubb-Fangio reunion produced a vast improvement from the Week 1 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers and promises even more upside.

The Dolphins are still without star cornerback Jalen Ramsey and did not have the services of burgeoning edge rusher Jaelan Phillips, who was out with a back injury.

"Any time you have a player like that go down, it’s not fun. It’s not something you look forward to, but just guys responded," Chubb said, as per Sports Illustrated's Gilberto Manzano. "Everybody just jelled together, and, like I said, it’s not perfect yet, but we’re going to get there."

Boyer was a blitz happy coordinator whose imperfect schemes led the Dolphins to have the 25th-ranked pass defense last year. The Dolphins brought the house 35% of the time last season, which was the second most in the NFL.

After being sent to Miami, Chubb had to learn new terminology on the fly and looked out of place — almost like he was wearing a tuxedo to a rehearsal dinner.

Under Fangio, who likes to mix-up the fronts, the base defense is a 3-4 alignment with two high athletic safeties, who can lend run support to take pressure off Chubb and Phillips.

Pre-snap, the linebackers are closer to the lineman and have less gap responsibilities. This configuration allows more one-on-one isolations and for the front seven to swarm the ball faster, which potentiates Chubb's abilities.

"Bradley (Chubb)’s versatile," Fangio said, as per southfloridatribune.com. "And then our inside ‘backers are off the ball and we can align them where we want or need to. So yeah, there is some versatility there.”

Chubb knows the Fangio system so well that he can help his teammates with some of the finer points almost like he's an adjunct instructor on the field.

"I'm kind of like another coach out there," Chubb said, per Fox Sports Henry McKenna. "Guys coming up asking me questions. … It's dope to be another set of eyes and ears for those guys and kind of holding myself to a bigger standard because I'm in it, I know it and I want to know more of it."

The Dolphins want the most they can get out of Chubb, and, so far, under the guidance of Fangio, the outside linebacker has been a star pupil.

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