Miami Dolphins linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel was one of the team’s most pleasant surprises of the 2020 season. Van Ginkel, a former 5th-round draft selection whose impact on the team was marginal after an early-season injury derailed his rookie campaign, became a firecracker on both defense and special teams on his way to eventually becoming a valued member of the defensive rotation.
When the dust settled, Van Ginkel’s play was good enough for the team to not feel overly pressed to replace the snaps they lost when cutting veteran LB Kyle Van Noy — with Van Ginkel as the presumed beneficiary this upcoming season. Yes, the team brought back Vince Biegel, who missed 2020 with an Achilles injury, but Van Ginkel took 46% of the Dolphins’ defensive snaps last season and appears ready for more.
How was he able to make the jump?
Van Ginkel credits the constant messaging from three positional coaches: Anthony Campanile, Austin Clark and Robbie Leonard.
“I’d say they all do such a great job in their position groups and on this defense, you’ve got to be versatile because you can play any different role, so just being able to learn different outputs from each coach really helps improve your game and just getting their understanding of the game as well, ultimately is going to make you into a better player – hearing it from three instead of just the same thing from one coach over and over again,” said Van Ginkel.
“So I think just having all of them there has really honestly helped benefit my game and hopefully this year, I can take it to another level.”
The Dolphins are also hoping that a new level awaits Van Ginkel’s game in 2021 — as the team will be banking on someone to fill the void left behind by Kyle Van Noy’s departure. Van Ginkel gets the first crack in addition to whatever opportunities may await him in a stack linebacker role, which is a role he took just a handful of snaps at in 2020.