Measureables

Position: LB
Born: 12/12/1984, in Columbus, GA
Height: 6'2"
Weight: 240
College: Georgia Tech
Rookie Year: 2008

Former Team: Oakland Raiders

During the 2011 offseason, the Dolphins brought Philip Wheeler in for a workout and wanted to sign him. However, because the Dolphins already had Kevin Burnett at outside linebacker, he chose to go to Oakland instead because he felt he had a better opportunity to start there.

Now things have come full circle and Wheeler is a Miami Dolphin.

Wheeler was round 2 of an unexpected linebacker overhaul that saw the Dolphins acquire Dannell Ellerbe, release Karlos Dansby, acquire Philip Wheeler and presumably release Kevin Burnett.

Wheeler signed a 5 year, $26 million deal. He replaces Kevin Burnett, who was playing out the last two years of a 4 year, $21 million deal.

It is not entirely clear how Wheeler will be used, but he is an outside linebacker by trade, and will most likely wind up playing that position in the Dolphins 4-3 defense.

Wheeler was rated the 6th best 4-3 outside linebacker by PFF, two spots behind Kevin Burnett. He was also tied for 5th with New England's Jerod Mayo in the coverage metric.

Here is a game by game snapshot of Wheeler's 2012 season.