The Dolphins today placed safety Yeremiah Bell on the IR. However, they also found a replacement for Bell. In fact, they signed two replacements: Donovan Darius and Lamont Thompson. To make room for both, the Dolphins also waived Akbar Gbaja-Biamila.
Darius is a hard hitting safety who excels in run support and has played in 115 career games, all with Jacksonville. He has 2 career sacks, 14 career interceptions, and 35 passes defensed. However, each of his last 2 seasons were cut short by season ending injuries.
Thompson started his career with Cincinnati. In 77 career games with the Bengals and Titans, Thompson has 9 interceptions and 20 passes defensed. Thompson is considered a very good "centerfielder" and has a knack for being around the ball. But when put in an isolated one-on-one situation, he tends to get beat.
It'll be interesting to see which one gets the start on Sunday, if any do. They'll likely be competing with Travaris Tillman to start. The way I see it, either of these 2 can't be any worse than having Tillman in there. So kudos to the front office for being proactive and bringing in potential starting candidates rather than settling for in-house replacements. Hopefully this all works out. Neither of these 2 new Dolphins will be as effective as Yeremiah Bell, but at least one of them should be a step up from Tillman or any other option on this current roster.