Saints LB Stephone Anthony traded to the Dolphins

The New Orleans Saints have announced that they have traded linebacker Stephone Anthony to the Miami Dolphins in exchange for an undisclosed draft pick. The move comes hours after the The Dolphins announced the indefinite suspension of linebacker Lawrence Timmons.
The Saints selected Anthony with the 31st pick of the 2015 NFL draft, after a great final season at Clemson, where he ended the college year ranked seventh of 385 linebackers with a PFF overall grade of 88.3.
Anthony played 1002 snaps in his rookie year, where he was active against the run, ranking 17th among 104 qualifying linebackers with 31 run stops. However, he struggled in coverage, and allowed a passer rating of 135.5 on throws into his primary coverage, the fifth highest mark among linebackers. Ultimately, he was unable to replicate the same level of success as he did in college, and ended the season ranked 69th of 90 linebackers with a PFF grade of 41.7.
In 2016, he was moved from the middle linebacker position to the strong side, and struggled with the transition. He managed just 133 snaps all season, and earned a PFF overall grade of 44.8 on those limited snaps. In his final year at Clemson, Anthony showed that he has the talent to succeed at the pro level, so if he can return to college form, he is capable of producing for the linebacker-needy Dolphins.