The 2025 campaign hasn’t even officially gotten underway yet, but the Miami Dolphins are already getting destroyed by the injury bug. On Wednesday morning, head coach Mike McDaniel shared a crushing injury update on cornerback Kader Kohou, who was in line to reprise his role as a key starter in the Dolphins’ secondary this season.
Miami has already lost quite a bit of talent in its cornerback room over the past few weeks, as it traded Jalen Ramsey to the Pittsburgh Steelers and then lost Artie Burns to a torn ACL. Now, Kohou is going to be joining the veteran Burns on the sidelines, as he was ruled out for the entire campaign by McDaniel.
Mike McDaniel Shares Kader Kohou Injury Update
Kohou latched on with the Dolphins in 2022 as an undrafted free agent, and he immediately earned a big role on defense with them, starting 13 games as the team’s primary nickel cornerback. Over the past two seasons, Kohou has remained an instrumental part of McDaniel’s plans on the defensive side of the ball.
With Ramsey gone and Burns injured, Kohou quickly emerged as Miami’s cornerback heading into the new season. Last year, Kohou racked up 45 tackles, two interceptions, and eight passes batted, and it seemed like those numbers were only going to be improved upon with a bigger role in front of him.
The problem is that, just like Burns, Kohou’s 2025 season has come to an end before it ever truly started. When speaking to reporters, McDaniel revealed that Kohou suffered a partially torn ACL on Tuesday, requiring surgery that will prevent him from suiting up this season. Considering all the other losses the team has dealt with at cornerback, it’s a crushing blow for the Dolphins.
“I saw him ascend to a different level [this offseason],” McDaniel said, per Marcel Louis-Jacques of ESPN. “The timing of it — I was crushed until I talked to Kader, and honestly Kader made me feel a little bit better, simply by his mindset.”
“You don’t know the whys all the time when things happen, and I get concerned for guys who get stuck in that world of a fixation for ‘opportunities lost.’ Kader’s mindset triggered like that, to where he said, ‘This is tough but I guarantee I’m going to come back better.’ That is the way to approach both the game of football and life.”
How Will Dolphins Replace Kader Kohou for 2025 Season?
GettyKader Kohou of the Miami Dolphins intercepts a pass
With Kadou out, Miami’s cornerback depth chart is looking perilously thin. Jack Jones, who was only signed after Burns’ injury, and the second-year Storm Duck currently are the top two options on the outside, with the veteran Mike Hilton appearing to be the most logical option to replace Kohou at the nickelback spot. Like Jones, though, Hilton was only signed after Burns went down for the season.
While the Dolphins’ front office already moved to shore up this spot after Burns’ injury, they could have to look at external options again, whether it be in free agency or on the trade market, if they want any chance of surviving this huge loss. Miami has talent elsewhere on its roster, but with very little help at cornerback, the Dolphins could be in serious trouble now that Kohou’s season is over.
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