Tag: Andrew Van Ginkel

Watch: Dolphins score 2 touchdowns in 75 seconds

The Miami Dolphins scored on a long fumble return against the Los Angeles Rams.

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Emmanuel Ogbah separated the ball from Jared Goff with a crushing hit and Andrew Van Ginkel was happy to pick up the gift and take it 78 yards to paydirt in the second quarter of the Miami Dolphins’ game with the Los Angeles Rams.

The strip-sack into a touchdown came plays after Myles Gaskins of Miami had fumbled to set Los Angeles up inside the Dolphins’ red zone.

Ogbah came off the line and went untouched into the Rams’ quarterback, who had the ball jarred from his grasp.

Van Ginkel, a second-year linebacker from Wisconsin, picked up the gift and was off and running.

It is the second-longest fumbled return for a touchdown in Dolphins franchise history. Jason Taylor had an 85-yard return during his Hall of Fame career.

The Dolphins’ Jakeem Grant then took a Johnny Hekker punt 88 yards for the longest punt return in franchise history as the Dolphins grabbed a 21-7 lead in 75 seconds.

3 candidates to fill the void left by injury to Dolphins’ Vince Biegel

3 candidates to fill the void left by injury to Dolphins’ Vince Biegel

The Miami Dolphins have absorbed their first significant loss to the roster during training camp practices — 2019 breakout defender Vince Biegel is presumed to be lost for the year with what is reported to be a torn left Achilles tendon. Make no mistake, the loss of Biegel hurts for the Dolphins. He served as one of the team’s spark plugs in the front seven and served as one of Miami’s best pass rushers on the roster.

All of that coming in a player swap with the New Orleans Saints to ship away LB Kiko Alonso has the makings of a good deal for Miami. But without Biegel in the fray this year, Miami is going to have to alter their script for what the base defense looks like this season.

As Miami looks to reshuffle the pecking order, we can be thankful that Biegel’s play didn’t lull the Dolphins into a sense of security with their personnel on the edge; the team brought in several prominent bodies to man the perimeter of the line of scrimmage for Brian Flores’ defense.

Who are the best candidates to step in and fill the void left with the loss of Biegel? Here are three Dolphins defenders who could get a look.

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OLB Andrew Van Ginkel

A fellow former Wisconsin Badger, Van Ginkel has two years of experience and exposure playing in the same college defense as Biegel did. The trade off between the two is simple — Van Ginkel is more athletic, Biegel is more stout at the line of scrimmage. At least that was the case at Wisconsin and was the case last year. We got a limited look at Van Ginkel in 2019 after an early season injury, but Brian Flores did offer some encouraging words of Van Ginkel this morning.

“I think he’s had a good offseason. He really works hard. His strength is up. I think the first to second year leap, as some would call it, is an important one,” said Flores.

“I think he’s kind of taken that seriously and made a lot of improvements, and you can kind of see it in his game right now. Whether or not that translates into on-field production, that remains to be seen; but I’m happy with where he is.”

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Miami Dolphins 2020 training camp preview: Outside linebackers

Miami Dolphins 2020 training camp preview: Outside linebackers

In just over three weeks, the Miami Dolphins will open training camp for the 2020 season ahead — and with it face the prospect of building upon a promising “foundation” year. The Dolphins surprised everyone last season with a 5-4 stretch to finish the year and promptly followed suit by nailing down one of the most prolific college quarterbacks in recent history, plus a slew of new faces to add to the team.

The Dolphins will hold camp this year with fan enthusiasm as high as it has been in quite some time. But amid the restrictions of this offseason due to the ongoing health crisis, can the Dolphins rise to the challenge? We’ll be taking a look at each position group for the Dolphins ahead of the start of training camp and exploring which storylines are most pressing to monitor as Miami looks to improve in Year 2 under Brian Flores.

Here are the Dolphins’ key storylines in training camp amid the outside linebacker group.

Will Kyle Van Noy live up to his monster contract under Brian Flores’ watch?

Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

This is the 51 million dollar question. The Dolphins paid handsomely for Van Noy’s services — which are expected to help mold the Dolphins defense into a scheme diverse, flexible unit. Van Noy, who is 29-years old, is the de facto leader of the Dolphins defense thanks to his experience and championship pedigree as a former New England Patriot. But can he elevate his play to where it was in New England in 2018 under Brian Flores’ watch? That 2018 season was a career best for Van Noy (at the time, he was strong again in 2019) and he’ll need to play at that level to live up to his price point in free agency for the Dolphins.

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Where are they now: Andrew Van Ginkel

The newest edition of the “where are they now” series, a series of articles looking at former Badger football standouts and checking in on where they are in the NFL or elsewhere, turns focus to linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel. Van Ginkel came to …

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The newest edition of the “where are they now” series, a series of articles looking at former Badger football standouts and checking in on where they are in the NFL or elsewhere, turns focus to linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel.

Van Ginkel came to Wisconsin as a four-star defensive end from Council Bluffs, Iowa after transferring from Iowa Western Community College. 

Though he was only with the program for two years, Van Ginkel was one of the most productive players on Jim Leonhard’s defense and was a big reason the 2017 Badgers came within a drive of making the College Football Playoff.

The linebacker finished his college career with 26 games played, 98 tackles, 19.5 tackles-for-loss, two interceptions and two forced fumbles. One of those interceptions was a pick-six against Ohio State in the 2017 Big Ten Championship, a game during which he produced one of the most impressive championship performances ever for a defensive player.

Van Ginkel finished the game with three tackles, a pick-six, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. 

Were it not for his performance that day the Badgers would not have found themselves down six points with a chance to drive to win the game late in the fourth quarter.

Van Ginkel departed Madison, Wisconsin after his senior season in 2018 and was selected in the fifth round of the NFL Draft by the Miami Dolphins.

In his rookie season in 2019 the former Badger played in six games and recorded 15 tackles, one sack and one fumble recovery.

With the Dolphins’ recent free agent spending spree the Iowa native is currently listed fourth on the depth chart at weak side linebacker and is in line to see the field mostly during special teams in 2020.

Check in tomorrow for a look at the progression of now-New York Giant linebacker Ryan Connelly.

Dolphins linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel to return from IR

The Miami Dolphins will use their second eligible IR-return designation on rookie LB Andrew Van Ginkel, a 5th-round pick out of Wisconsin.

The Miami Dolphins’ 2019 rookie class has seen strong contributions from the likes of early, mid and late round draft selections alike. Miami has constant fixtures in the starting lineup courtesy of DL Christian Wilkins (1st-round) and OG Michael Deiter (3rd-round) — plus FB Chandler Cox’s (7th-round) sporadic contributions throughout each game when the Dolphins have to go with more heavy personnel. That doesn’t even include the contributions of undrafted rookies like WR Preston Williams and CB Nik Needham.

And they’re about to get more reinforcements. The Dolphins placed 5th-round linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel on injured reserve at the beginning of the season but will be activating Van Ginkel to help further boost the offense and begin developing Van Ginkel’s promising athletic skill set.

Coming out of Wisconsin, Van Ginkel had a knack for making plays against the pass — getting his athletic ability and nose for the football on the field will provide some intriguing opportunities for the Dolphins. Add in the presence of another Wisconsin Badgers defender, Vince Biegel, with the success he has had this season as a pass rusher and the Dolphins have the opportunity to manufacture some really good pressure reps for a bit more explosive player in Van Ginkel.

Implementation will likely be gradual, the Dolphins would be wise to slowly ease the workload of Van Ginkel up throughout the final seven games of the 2019 season — but getting a look at one of their more notable draft investments of 2019 is going to be a bonus for a defense that has turned the corner and found their groove.

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Badgers in the NFL: Andrew Van Ginkel returns to practice

Former Wisconsin Badgers linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel has been designated to return to practice by the Miami Dolphins.

The Miami Dolphins designated former Wisconsin Badgers linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel to return to practice following a 10-week stint on the injured reserve.

Van Ginkel was placed on the injured reserve on September 6, and will be eligible to make his NFL debut on December 1 when the Dolphins take on the Eagles.

Van Ginkel was a fifth-round pick by the Dolphins in 2019 after two successful seasons at Wisconsin. The Iowa Western CC transfer was a third-team All-BIG 10 selection in his senior year with the Badgers, recording 59 combined tackles, 9.5 tackles for loss, 5.5 sacks, three passes defended and two forced fumbles.

Van Ginkel’s designation to return to practice is a good sign that he will be a factor for Miami down the stretch, as the team had multiple players eligible to return this season, but they made him one of just two chosen to return.

However, while he is expected to compete for a role as a core special teamer for the Dolphins, he is unlikely to carve out a role on the defense until 2020 at the earliest.

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