Notebook: Breaking down the past week of Wisconsinâs spring ball practices
Insights from the Wisconsin Badgers' recent spring practices.

The Miami Dolphins are expected to target edge rushers in the upcoming NFL draft while developing their young defensive tackles. New GM Jon-Eric Sullivan and coach Jeff Hafley are shifting the team's defensive strategy to utilize four down linemen.
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The Miami Dolphins will almost certainly look to find high-end edge defender help in next weekâs NFL draft, while their youth at defensive tackle could possess some promise for the future.
New Dolphins general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan inherited a roster this offseason which had its first-round picks from the past two drafts invested in those respective positions. Under previous GM Chris Grier, Miami selected defensive tackle Kenneth Grant first last year and edge rusher Chop Robinson in 2024.
While Robinson enters Year 3, the Dolphins have experienced a lot of turnover around him on the edge. Meanwhile, the defense has a core of three young defensive tackles it can develop â Grant, Jordan Phillips and Zeek Biggers â alongside veteran Zach Sieler.
Miami is also undergoing a shift in how it presents its defensive fronts. New coach Jeff Hafley, who has a defensive background, wants to deploy four down linemen in his base look. In recent history, under defensive coordinators Anthony Weaver and Vic Fangio and the combination of Brian Flores as head coach with Josh Boyer and Patrick Graham as his defensive coordinators before them, the Dolphins have almost exclusively used stand-up outside linebackers as their edge defenders. Not the traditional 4-3 defensive ends.
Miamiâs new regime will look to find defenders who fit this system but who are versatile enough to both stand up and put their hand in the ground, as Hafley has said he doesnât want to consistently have to change personnel in order to alter formations.
That means Robinson may be lining up in a 3-point stance more often than not when he hasnât been doing that to this point in his professional career.
Robinson has 10 sacks in his first two seasons, but he still hasnât been counted on as a true starter either. He still has work to do setting the edge properly against the run.
The edge rusher group around him has opened up in the past several months. Jaelan Phillips was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles at last yearâs deadline and then signed with the Carolina Panthers in free agency. Bradley Chubb was released from his contract this offseason and joined the Buffalo Bills.
The Miami Dolphins are focusing on finding high-end edge defenders in the upcoming NFL draft.
The young defensive tackles on the Dolphins' roster include Kenneth Grant, Jordan Phillips, and Zeek Biggers.
Coach Jeff Hafley is shifting the Dolphins' defensive strategy to deploy four down linemen in their base look.
Under new management, the Dolphins are experiencing turnover on the edge while developing a core of young defensive tackles.
Insights from the Wisconsin Badgers' recent spring practices.

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Miamiâs new management then found a pair of upstart, economical options in free agency before the draft in Josh Uche and David Ojabo.
Uche, a former Miami Columbus High standout, has the pass-rush potential in him, once posting 11 1/2 sacks in 2022 for the New England Patriots. He has since been with the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles, struggling to find playing time in crowded edge rusher groups, but he now figures to get more chances back home with the Dolphins.
Ojabo gets a fresh start and opportunity in Miami after he was a highly sought-after player in his draft before he tore his Achilles at his pro day at Michigan. Still selected in the second round that year, he only collected 4 1/2 sacks with the Baltimore Ravens in four seasons.
The Dolphins could likely add to that group with one of their two first-round picks, at No. 11 or 30. The Miami Hurricanesâ Rueben Bain, one of the draftâs more polarizing prospects, could be an option with the first choice if he slips out of the top 10. The Dolphinsâ late first-rounder, acquired from the Denver Broncos in the Jaylen Waddle trade, could see players like Missouriâs Zion Young, Auburnâs Keldric Faulk or UMâs Akheem Mesidor among options.
The Dolphinsâ defensive line is more established with its own returning talent. Sieler, the longest-tenured player on the roster, can lead the 2025 teamâs youth. After back-to-back 10-sack seasons in 2023 and 2024, he dipped down to producing 5 1/2 sacks last season and didnât make as much of a consistent impact.
Grant, a 6-foot-3, 335-pound interior defensive lineman who can be athletic at his size, went through some rookie struggles and also some flashes. He had 33 tackles with two sacks as he played every game and made five starts.
Leaving his fingerprints more on the Dolphinsâ strength up front was Jordan Phillips, who started 16 games as a fifth-round pick. He looks to build on his success after making 34 tackles as a rookie and playing strong against the run at 305 pounds.
Biggers, a seventh-round selection, appeared in nine games with most of his highlights coming in the second half of the year. He had 1 1/2 sacks, made 20 tackles and blocked a field goal, something he was known for in college at Georgia Tech.
Back on the edge, the Dolphins brought back outside linebacker and key special teams contributor Cameron Goode, who can try to continue to build his abilities on defense. Former San Francisco 49ers defensive end Robert Beal was signed as an outside free agent as another player looking for more defensive reps.
Defensive tackle Matthew Butler was brought back after playing as a rotational defender on the line last season and collecting 12 tackles.
Other defensive lineman on the roster vying for roster spots are Alex Huntley and Keith Cooper Jr. And at edge, Miami also has Derrick McLendon, who tries to build on last preseasonâs success, and Seth Coleman.