‘Man of the people' Christian Wilkins takes having fun, and playing well, seriously

MIAMI GARDENS — Where to begin? That’s the problem with a story about Christian Wilkins.

Certainly, it’s legit to talk about how he makes more tackles than virtually any defensive tackle in the NFL, even the all-timer Aaron Donald. Three-time Pro Bowl tackle Terron Armstead was so impressed after lining up in just one practice against Wilkins that he predicted Wilkins won’t be a well-kept secret much longer.

So yes, Christian Wilkins is a man to be taken seriously.

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But there’s a reason that for Dolphins teammates, “Christian being Christian” is the norm. This 310-pound man once flopped to the ground and performed The Worm during a game. Anyone surprised simply hasn’t been paying attention.

So Christian Wilkins is not a man to be taken too seriously.

Put another way, Christian Wilkins is playing well because he’s having fun, but he’s having fun because he’s playing well.

If there is a player in the league having more fun — who so makes fun as contagious as COVID — Dolphins players haven’t met him.

“They’ve learned to expect the unexpected with me,” Wilkins said after Saturday’s practice. “It just kind of, ‘That’s just Christian. He’s gonna do what he does.’ ”

‘I'm the most fun dancer,' Christian Wilkins says

Wilkins was decked out in an orange No. 94 jersey Saturday. The fans immediately recognized what that meant. Wilkins had been judged the practice player of the day the previous day. He got to play deejay, bestowed with that honor for a second time in training camp, which put him in elite company. As if being the only guy in orange didn’t make him stand out enough, Wilkins had his moments to let the crowd know he was enjoying his most excellent musical selections blaring over the sound system.

“I’m the most fun dancer,” Wilkins said. “I don’t know. There’s probably guys who are legit dancers who could really do it, but I’m the most fun.”

You never want to get too deep into the “fun” aspect of his game because that would be a disservice. Example: It can easily go unnoticed, but whenever a speedster such as Tyreek Hill catches a pass and is about to bust one in practice, the large man in pursuit would be, yes, Wilkins.

“That's you the way you’ve got to stretch yourself and strain yourself so you can get your conditioning up,” he said. “So then the game is easy. … It's a tone-setting thing. No one else has any excuse if one of the bigger guys on the team, on the defense, is doing it.”

Wilkins couldn’t catch Hill in his dreams. He knows that. He treats this like many treat dancing: pretend the spectators aren’t spectating.

“I’m humbled running after him,” Wilkins said. “It’s a little embarrassing.”

Pause.

“I still think I’m decently fast for my size.”

A day earlier — after butting heads with Wilkins once — Armstead voluntarily said, “A  guy like Christian Wilkins, who has been highly productive but hasn’t been that notable as far as popularity, he’s going to have a — I’m projecting that he has a standout year, more so in the stat line than ever before.”

Wilkins made 89 tackles in 2021. No NFL defensive lineman since 2013 has made more. How’s that for a notable stat line?

Dolphins' offensive system helps fine-tune defense

If anything, Miami’s defensive front could be improved over a solid 2021. Jaelan Phillips isn’t a rookie anymore, Emmanuel Ogbah was retained and Melvin Ingram was added. There’s more.

“This is probably one of the toughest offenses that we’re going to go up against, just in terms of schematics,” Phillips said.

That’s where coach Mike McDaniel’s wide-zone offense comes in, forcing defenses to defend the entire field. Miami’s defense is only the first to have to deal with it.

“It’s just very multiple,” Phillips said. “They have a lot of movement and a lot of things that are specifically meant to mess with your eyes. So being able to read your keys is one of the most important parts of our position and the defense as a whole. So when your keys are moving around and adjusting, and they have trick plays here and there, it’s just a lot of processing.”

That’s not just for edge defenders such as Phillips. It trickles down inside to Wilkins.

“It's good for us,” Wilkins said. “It's definitely just good. It makes practices fun, competitive and you’ve always got to be ready for ready for it all.”

Fans arriving for Saturday’s practice may not have been ready for it, but rookie defensive lineman Ben Stille approached the stands and busted out his own version of The Worm beforehand. Cheers erupted.

“It was a little stiff,” Wilkins said. “It wasn’t quite like I can do it. He stole my move. I gave him some props. He tried his best.”

Thinking aloud, Wilkins tried to recall the word “for when you steal somebody’s work.” Plagiarism? Yeah, that’s it. Stille failed to ask permission, making him a plagiarist.

“I’ve got to talk to him about that,” Wilkins said.

Naturally, Wilkins was grinning through the whole episode. When is he not? His spectacular playlist (just ask him) only raised spirits that much higher.

“I’m a man of the people,” he said. “So I like to give the people what they want.”

Hal Habib covers the Dolphins for The Post. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Is anyone in NFL having more fun than the Dolphins' Christian Wilkins?