The Miami Dolphins are turning back the calendar for just a few days — they’re treating their current search for a viable interior defensive linemen much like how the team handled every roster transaction in 2019: with no stone left unturned. Miami reportedly reached out to veteran tackle Damon “Snacks” Harrison and has hosted several interior defensive linemen at the team’s facility this week on the bye week to find the best candidate to replace Davon Godchaux, who is out for an indefinite amount of time due to injury.
The latest visit to Miami’s Davie facility is perhaps the most intriguing: former Seattle Seahawks 2nd-round pick and Michigan State Spartans standout Malik McDowell.
An interesting tryout for the Dolphins: former Seahawks DT Malik McDowell, the 2017 second round pick out of Michigan State that never played in a game for Seattle.
Talent was never an issue for him coming out of Michigan State.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) October 21, 2020
McDowell’s story is a tragic one — McDowell was involved in an ATV accident in the months after the 2017 draft, when Seattle made him their top choice with the No. 35 overall pick. That accident resulted in injuries that prevented McDowell from ever taking the field for Seattle and off the field issues eventually led to not only his release but also an 11-month prison sentence.
McDowell is now looking to get his life back on track and secure the opportunity he never got to suit up in the NFL. Whether or not that opportunity comes with Miami, you’d be hard pressed to not root for him to pull it off. The Dolphins aren’t immune to betting on troubled young players — the team took a leap of faith with troubled running back Mark Walton ahead of the 2019 season only to release him after he struck a woman five months pregnant with his child as he served a 4-game suspension with Miami due to prior offseason conduct.
Should Miami bet on McDowell, everyone involved will be hoping for a better ending than the risk the Dolphins took on Walton.
