NFL: Dolphins Cornerback Kader Kohou Out For The Season With A Knee Injury

The Miami Dolphins’ starting cornerback, Kader Kohou, will miss the entirety of the 2025-26 season after suffering a knee injury during the team’s practice this past Saturday, according to ESPN’s Marcel Louis-Jacques.

Kohou is the second member of Miami’s secondary to suffer a season-ending injury in the past seven days. Last week, cornerback Artie Burns was ruled out for the 2025-26 campaign after tearing his ACL. Also, safety Ashtyn Davis “will miss time” due to a non-contact leg injury.

“I saw him ascend to a different level [this offseason],” said head coach Mike McDaniel. “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.”

Kader Kohou joined the Miami Dolphins in 2022 as an undrafted free agent. Since entering the NFL, he has appeared in 47 games. Last season was arguably Kohou’s best after he recorded two interceptions, eight pass deflections, and a forced fumble in nine starts.

The Dolphins’ secondary is screwed

With Kohou’s injury, the Dolphins will open the 2025-26 season without any secondary starters from last year. They traded Jalen Ramsey to the Steelers, let Jevon Holland walk in free agency, and released Kendall Fuller. Meanwhile, Jordan Poyer remains unsigned as a free agent.

I have never seen a team this decimated across the board at all major defensive back positions. First, they lost Artie Burns, who was signed to a one-year contract this off-season. In all likelihood, he would’ve competed for one of the starting cornerback spots. Now, Kohou is gone too, which means Mike Hilton – whom the Dolphins signed two days ago – will probably be the team’s starting cornerback. Ashtyn Davis is expected to miss some time (whatever that means), so rookie fifth-rounder Dante Trader Jr. will probably have to step up and be a starter in his absence. I doubt that was the plan for him when he was originally drafted.

From a defensive back standpoint, this has been a disastrous off-season for Miami. They got rid of their clear-cut best cornerback for a top-flight safety in Minkah Fitzpatrick. Though he is a Pro Bowl-caliber player, having a good cornerback is more valuable to defensive game plans than having an elite safety. A top-notch cornerback can sometimes eliminate an entire side of the field if he is good enough. That is almost never the case when it comes to safeties.

Dolphins fans should be very concerned about the team’s defensive prowess going into this season. One of the biggest reasons why they were able to remain competitive last year, even without Tua Tagovailoa, was because of the defense, which was ninth in passing yards allowed and rushing yards allowed. This season, though, expect them to give up a lot more yards, especially through the air.

It’s also worth noting that the ‘Phins were one of the league’s worst teams when it came to forcing turnovers. They were 27th in takeaways and tied for 22nd in interceptions. With this slew of recent injuries, interceptions will be even harder to come by this season in South Florida.

Mike McDaniel is going to have to put on a coaching masterclass if he wants his squad to return to the playoffs for the first time since January 2024. McDaniel needs to scheme up some impressive offensive play calls to keep Miami competitive because they are going to have a lot of issues on the defensive side of the ball during the 2025-26 campaign.

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