Tag: Miami Dolphins training camp

Dolphins Wire UDFA Player Profile: LB Aubrey Miller Jr.

What is Miami getting in the Jackson State linebacker?

A week after the 2023 NFL draft process, the Miami Dolphins brought in nearly two dozen rookie free agents, affectionately known as UDFAs. These undrafted free agents can get calls throughout the draft weekend. If their names aren’t called for national recognition with an announced selection by a team, another call could happen seconds after the final pick.

Miami made quick work in signing their class of 2023 UDFAs, and Dolphins fans know currently rostered players who made a name for themselves in training camp, regardless of not hearing theirs a few months prior.

Recently, cornerback Kader Kohou excelled in 2022, while tight end Tanner Conner made the initial 53-man roster last year as well. Offensive lineman Robert Jones was a UDFA who cracked the team and lineup in each of the last two seasons.

Cornerback Nik Needham is another current Dolphin who was even a practice squad player following being undrafted. About a month or so into the 2019 season, Needham was called up, so to speak, and earned his role.

Almost immediately into the 2023 undrafted time window, Jackson State linebacker Aubrey Miller Jr. was signed by general manager Chris Grier and the Dolphins.

Starting his college career at Missouri before transferring in 2020, Miller was a star for Deion Sanders at Jackson State. Miller was named All-SWAC and the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year in 2022, while Sanders is now the head coach at Colorado.

While a bit undersized, at 6 feet tall, Miller is a very solid 229 pounds and built like a truck. A capable tackler in the open field, ball-carriers will likely remember being hit by Miller.

A solid project for linebacker-savvy defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, Miller is also a candidate to make a name for himself on special teams in coverage duties. With some appearances in college on coverage units, he showed promise. This could be his ticket to a practice squad role at least, and he could challenge for training camp social media supremacy within the fan base.

Some scouts pegged Miller as a sixth or seventh-round pick, so when looking at UDFA value, Grier may have found another diamond in the rough.

Should Miller make a run for linebacker duties immediately, his areas of strength would be blitzing as opposed to defending the pass in coverage.

With fine intangibles, he was warranted as an early signee with Miami, as his Jackson State coach Sanders gave a glowing endorsement.

“Aubrey is one of the guys that we hang our hats on in the middle of the defense, making calls, getting to the ball, flying around, and really setting the tone and the tempo,” Sanders said. “Not just on game day, but in practice as well.”

Miller was a team leader and led by example for Coach “Prime,” ranking ninth in the FCS last season with 112 total tackles, averaging 8.6 per game. He also added 6.5 sacks and five forced fumbles. He has a high motor and could be a spark-time player in multiple phases of the game.

NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein said Miller has “vision and anticipation to shadow runner’s lane choices. He’s fearless to crash hard and punish downhill runners and has had impressive flashes in limited special-teams snaps.”

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Dolphins defense primed for big 2022 as team heads to Tampa Bay

Notes and reminders regarding Josh Boyer’s unit.

The Miami Dolphins will kick off their preseason on Saturday, Aug. 13 in Tampa Bay against the Buccaneers. Miami’s new coach Mike McDaniel and his Dolphins traveled to Tampa early for what will be a series of joint practices leading into Saturday night’s preseason opener.

While this is McDaniel’s first season as a head coach, he has 16 years of NFL coaching experience, and since his first appearance in Miami has stated his version of the Dolphins will be “all about passion and energy.”

McDaniel is known for his offensive wizardry and schemes, as he coached the 2021 San Francisco 49ers offense to be the seventh-ranked unit in the NFL, averaging 375.7 yards per game. When McDaniel was brought on board back in February, he stated to the media, “You should be able to turn on the TV and know who the team is, even if the color is distorted, by the energy that they play with, by how they bond together.”

2022 will mark the 11th season the Dolphins begin with a new head coach. On four occasions, a first-year head coach led the Dolphins to the playoffs – Don Shula in 1970, Dave Wannstedt in 2000, Tony Sparano in 2008 and Adam Gase in 2016.

Helping McDaniel will be a Dolphins’ defense that returns 95% of their 2021 unit, a group that finished fifth in the NFL in sacks with 48. Despite a rough start to the season, the second half showed this defense’s potential, as in the final nine games, Miami ranked second in scoring defense, giving up just 15.6 points per game.

Additionally, during that span, they ranked third in total defense, allowing just 275.9 yards per game, fourth in passing defense, giving up 171.3 passing yards per game and 10th in rushing defense, where they allowed only 104.6 rushing yards per contest.

13 Dolphins defensive players started at least five games for Miami in 2021, and each of those core pieces is back for coordinator Josh Boyer’s crew. Boyer, who was an apprentice to Brian Flores and his defensive scheming and has stayed on with McDaniel. With Flores fired following the 2021 season, the blueprints were left for Boyer, and clearly, his manpower remains virtually unchanged.

To add to this impressive continuity, all 11 defensive players that Miami started during last season’s Week 18 win against the New England Patriots were under the age of 30, and eight of those 11 were drafted by the Dolphins. More so, Boyer will have several defensive coaching lieutenants return. Defensive line coach Austin Clark, linebackers coach Anthony Campanile and safeties coach Steve Gregory all return to Boyer’s and McDaniel’s defensive staff.

A major returning player is, of course, defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah, who has led the Dolphins in sacks the past two seasons. Not only has he gotten to the passer, but he’s also set a mark of excellence in the passes defended category. His 12 batted passes were the highest in the NFL in 2021 and most by a defensive lineman in a single season since 2016. In total since 2016, Ogbah ranks second in the category among defensive linemen, behind only Carlos Dunlap.

Remarkably, Ogbah had a streak of seven straight games with a batted pass, which, according to FOX,  is the longest streak by an NFL defensive lineman in more than 20 seasons.

On the other side of the pass-rush, second-year rising star Jaelan Phillips looks to build off his 8.5 sacks, which was a Dolphins rookie record. Phillips had a stretch in 2021 where he became the first NFL rookie since Julius Peppers in 2002 to record at least six sacks in a three-game span. Phillips ranked behind only Micah Parsons last season in sacks, as the Dallas Cowboy recorded 13.

Andrew Van Ginkel, who finished with four sacks in 2021, actually was among the league leaders in quarterback knockdowns, ranking eighth, and set his teammates up on blitzes, finishing second in the league. Van Ginkel was sent on 115 blitzes last season, behind only Tampa Bay’s Devin White. In an interesting statistical trend, in Van Ginkel’s top seven games in terms of the amount the Dolphins sent him on a blitz, Miami was 7-0.

The Dolphins also add veteran pass-rusher Melvin Ingram, who spent 2021 in Pittsburgh as well as Kansas City. While the best years from his San Diego/Los Angeles Chargers days could be behind him, he’s just a few seasons removed from a Pro Bowl appearance (2019) which capped a three-year run of earning that honor. He brings 51 career sacks to a fearsome Miami front line, which also includes Christian Wilkins and Zach Sieler.

Wilkins had a tremendous 2021, leading defensive linemen with 89 tackles, a mark he tied with Steelers’ All-Pro Cameron Heyward. That mark was actually the most by a defensive lineman since 2013, and it was the most tackles by a Dolphin at the position since Jeff Cross recorded 93 in 1993.

Jerome Baker and Elandon Roberts will man the inside of the Dolphins’ linebacking corps, giving Miami a formidable front-seven rotation mixed with young talent and veterans nearing or in their prime.

Speaking of prime, it’s arguable that Xavien Howard is one of, if not the best cover cornerbacks in the NFL. Since being selected by Miami in the second round of the 2016 draft, Howard leads the league with 27 interceptions, despite missing a total of 25 games due to injury in that span.

Opposite Xavien Howard long-term this season is PUP-listed Byron Jones. When healthy, he pairs with Howard to form perhaps the league’s top cornerback duo. Listed as cornerback two on this week’s initial depth chart is Nik Needham, who will return to his natural boundary corner position in Jones’ absence. Needham shifted to slot cornerback last season and adjusted into one of the league’s rising lock-down slot corners. According to PFF, Needham’s 272 slot coverage snaps in 2021, all without allowing a TD, were the most among all cornerbacks.

Rounding out the secondary, and defense as a whole, are the young safety duo of Brandon Jones and Jevon Holland. Miami selected Jones in the third round, 70th overall, of the 2020 draft and Holland in the second round, 36th overall, in 2021’s selection process. They started 11 games together last year, and Jones led all NFL defensive backs with five sacks. Holland was among just five safeties who graded at 75 or better in both passing and running plays last season, according to PFF.

Holland finished 2021 with 68 tackles, ninth among NFL rookies, and his 10 passes defensed were tied for fourth. He was the only AFC player with multiple sacks, interceptions and fumble recoveries last year.

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Dolphins excite season ticket holders Sunday on Member Day

Some fan reaction to the thrilling practice.

The Miami Dolphins hosted a packed house of season ticket holders on Sunday for an open practice at Baptist Health Training Facility. Not only was the crowd entertained with on-field action, but following practice, there was plenty of interaction and autograph opportunities for the faithful fans.

There has been hype before for the Dolphins heading into a season, but it’s arguable that there’s never been a summer atmosphere like recently displayed in South Florida.

They’re loaded with talent on both sides of the ball, and expectations have never been higher.

The Dolphins prepare for joint practices this week, as they head to Tampa Bay to face the Buccaneers. The teams will face off on Saturday to kick off their preseason schedules.

However, before we look ahead, let’s look back at what the fans who had an opportunity to witness practice took to Twitter to document, during what seemed to be a great day in Miami fandom.

Mike McDaniel speaks on Dolphins’ penalties, joint practices and more

Here are some of the important moments from the coach’s media availability.

Prior to starting his team’s Friday practice, Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel met with the South Florida media.

In what has become a show within a show, the McDaniel pressers have been entertaining, informative, educational and, at times, hilarious. The personality of this young rookie coach shines through in his meetings with the media, and the most recent is no different.

Early in the questions, preseason management came up as to how the young coach will approach the upcoming exhibitions and avoid injury.

“I think it’s a tough balance; an inexact science that you try to handle on a case-by-case basis and what the team needs, understanding that every time you’re playing football, there’s always a risk in that,” he said. “There’s an inherent risk, but there’s also, preseason is a valuable time to hone your skills and having 11 people work together for the regular season. So realistically I don’t try to shortchange.”

The Dolphins will have joint practices with the Tampa Buccaneers next week, leading into a preseason game against the 2020 Super Bowl champions. McDaniel explained how he’s not getting too far ahead in the preparation process.

“We have three practices before we head off to Tampa and practice against them, and I try not to get ahead of myself and say, ‘Okay, this person, first of all, is anointed the starter. Second of all, how much are they going to play,’” he said.

McDaniel further described his process in an almost zen-like fashion, saying, “I think it’s important to wait until you get there before you really decide exactly how long each individual player will play because there’ll be starters that end up playing in Preseason (Week) 1.”

The inevitable follow-up question to anything Tampa Bay-related came quickly after, as McDaniel was asked about how the NFL’s recent ruling and the allegations against owner Stephen Ross may be impacting the team or those involved on the field.

“You said a key thing in that statement where you’re not sure if it involves the people on the field so that right there, the most important thing as a head coach is that that’s your entire focus,” he said.

McDaniel went on to stay on-brand and essentially redirected the question in his existential way saying, “So, you can say a lot by saying a lot or not saying anything at all. We have an incredible challenge in front of us as the 2022 Dolphins. I think the players are owed complete and utter focus on that, so I think there’s power in not giving legs to something that doesn’t really affect those 2022 players that really deserve full and undivided attention.”

Moving on to questions on direct player availability, McDaniel was asked if there’s any concern with veteran cornerback Byron Jones and his status leading into the regular season.

“No,” he said. “The concern is with him continuing to progress. Right now that isn’t a concern for us, but it takes a full commitment each and every day for that to hold true, so right now we’re confident in how he’s rehabbing. If there’s a setback, then we’ll be concerned, but until then, we feel pretty good about it.”

Sticking in the secondary, McDaniel had a chance to talk about second-year safety, Jevon Holland. A reporter mentioned that it’s been noticeable that  McDaniel spends a good amount of time conversing with his young rising star.

“It has been really, really cool watching Tua (Tagovailoa) and him compete,” he said. “And that’s an odd thing to say, like in regards to a safety versus a quarterback, but he plays all over the place, he communicates the defense from the call from the sidelines and he’s a student. I think Tua respects that, and they have kind of a nice competitive bond going.”

Holland has been showing leadership skills and is seemingly becoming a quarterback on the defensive unit.

McDaniel continued to talk about Holland’s football IQ saying, “It speaks to how football smart he is, how to – the things that he does on the football field are super exciting for the Miami Dolphins moving forward. He is athletic and has a lot of skills, but none of that even matters if he doesn’t have a brain for football and a commitment to football like he does.”

On the offensive side of the ball, lineman Michael Deiter has been unavailable, and McDaniel had a chance to provide clarity.

“He’s feeling better. We’re trying to be pragmatic and not be greedy, so expect him sooner than later.” McDaniel said before getting more specific. “It’s not sometime this week. We’re taking it day-by-day intentionally, but also trying to battle him because he is competitive as all get out.”

Expanding on the center position that Deiter could re-enter when he returns to action, players like Connor Williams, Adam Pankey and Cole Banwart have been handling the snaps in the early goings of training camp.

“We have bullets everywhere, so we’re – adversity is an opportunity,” McDaniel said of his other options. “There’s been some great snaps for a couple other players because of his [Deiter’s] injury.

“I really challenge guys to take advantage of opportunities and utilize those practices to their benefit. There’s never too much versatility an interior offensive linemen can have, so that’s why we’re pretty comfortable being pragmatic.”

The Dolphins have a weekend of fan-attended practices before heading into a week of preparation for Tampa Bay.

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Dolphins’ Jevon Holland taking on leadership role in second season

The head that’s on this young man’s shoulders is impressive.

The Miami Dolphins are well into 2022 training camp, and second-year stud safety Jevon Holland seems to already be a seasoned professional and team leader.

Seen leading the defensive team stretches, which could be indicative of a leadership designation via post-training camp captain vote, the versatile defensive back is coming off of a tremendous rookie season.

Holland played it down when asked about it.

“One of our strength coaches isn’t here, so I was like I’ll do it,” he said. “That’s basically it. There is nothing to it. It’s cool. I can just guide everybody. There is nothing crazy. It looks like it has a different meaning, but it’s really just our strength coach isn’t here so I was like I’ll do it.”

Holland isn’t just proving to be one of the Dolphins’ better defenders, but he’s also gaining a reputation of being a top league safety overall, despite being just 22 years old. He proved he could excel in coverage, rush the passer in blitz schemes and lay vicious hits on ball carriers during his rookie season.

Entering 2022, Holland is one of the young core leaders of this team and met with Miami media on Wednesday.

Right off the bat, he led with a confident answer to his thoughts on the defense so far.

“I think the defense is shaping up very well,” he said with his normal swagger.

Holland and fellow safety Brandon Jones form a dynamic duo to anchor the defensive backfield that could be one of the better pairs the Dolphins have had in years. The former Duck was asked about each of their roles on the defense and how they lean on each other.

“Without a doubt, growing with a team and coming into a second year in the same type of room, it helps a lot because of the chemistry you have, a connection, collective thought process, hive-mind type thing,” Holland said. “It’s definitely great, for sure.”

He was also asked about his position essentially being the quarterback of the defense, and he went on to share his thoughts in detail.

“I think it’s about confidence and understanding the defense,” Holland said. “I know, as a safety, that’s kind of the guy pushing to be the quarterback of the defense, as a lot of people might say, or the middle linebacker. One of the two.”

Holland then added a teammate into the mix.

“But me and ‘E-Rob,’ [Elandon Roberts] we try to bring everybody in a collective mind,” he said. “I don’t necessarily do it because I have to. I do it because I want to, and I want everybody to be on the same page so that we’re an oiled machine.”

He started his NFL career off with a bang and was asked if there was a certain point where he felt he took more of a leadership role.

“Yeah,” Holland responded plainly. “Coming in, of course, I felt like I had to earn my stripes. My biggest thing was understanding the defense so that we all can be on the same page.”

Adding to his selfless and leadership mentality, he went on to say, “It was never for personal gain. It was always because I want everybody to be on the same page, and if somebody doesn’t know something and they look back at me, I don’t want to be standing there not knowing what they have to do. I want to be able to communicate to them so that everybody is on the same page so that we’re all moving forward together.”

Whether by volunteering or by potential team designation, it’s clear that the Dolphins have a young leader at a position of mass importance on a defensive unit that could challenge to be among the very best in the league.

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Dolphins WR Preston Williams entering make-or-break year in 2022

With the wideout depth this year, his spot is far from guaranteed.

Following a week of rookies only, the veterans reported to camp Tuesday morning for the Miami Dolphins, and their freshman head coach, Mike McDaniel. On Wednesday, they hit the field.

Predicting Miami’s success this season is no easy task, as there are still many questions and variables for the team, despite a terrific offseason of signings and trades that bolstered the roster with star power.

Wide receivers Tyreek Hill and Cedrick Wilson Jr. were added to a roster that has youthful talent at the position in Jaylen Waddle entering year two. Elite left tackle Terron Armstead, formerly of the New Orleans Saints, was signed to anchor an offensive line of young prospects, four of whom were drafted in the last three seasons by Miami.

While this is the first Dolphins training camp for Armstead, Hill, Wilson and a slew of other new acquisitions for Miami, there are several current players in the last year of their contract or on a newly inked one-year deal. These players will be fighting to make sure this is not their last training camp in aqua and orange.

Preston Williams is perhaps the most notable bubble receiver on the Dolphins’ roster. With the signing of veteran Mohamed Sanu, yet another name is added to the long list of targets vying for the six or seven spots on the 53-man roster. This creates a tougher road for the fourth-year undrafted free agent.

Williams’ main problem in his young career has nothing to do with his ability. The issue has always been availability. The story has been told, and after three seasons and only 24 games played, there’s a make-or-break urgency to 2022’s training camp for the player once dubbed “The Unicorn.”

Glimpses of freakish athletic ability from the 6-foot-5, 220-pound, all-around athlete had been outweighed by numerous injuries to begin his NFL career.

While his rookie year began with promise, he quickly became Miami’s most targeted receiver in 2019. However, an ACL tear midway through the season during a punt return against the New York Jets, a game in which he already scored two receiving touchdowns, halted his start. Williams finished with 32 receptions, 428 yards, and three touchdowns in eight appearances. That’s not too shabby if you project what his full potential could have been statistically if 16 games were played.

In 2020, Williams returned from his ACL injury, and his season started slow until he had his first career 100-yard game in a Week 5 blowout win against the San Francisco 49ers. He added a touchdown in that contest, and across from Miami’s sideline was a 49ers offensive assistant coach who would become the Dolphins’ leading man. Perhaps McDaniel remembers the performance.

Following that game, Williams tallied two more scores in the next three weeks, one of them leading to his other significant injury. In what truly could be called an odd occurrence, Williams dove into the end zone for a touchdown, while being tackled by the foot, and that undoubtedly caused his injury, which could very well have been added to in the moment of celebration.

As silly as that sounds, and regardless of the past injuries and drop issues, Williams was back returning kicks on training camp’s first day.

This means that a new offensive regime is still finding opportunities for him, which could be indicative of the organization’s confidence in his ability, while all hope that he can consistently provide availability.

Williams will get work this summer in two phases of football in order for him to extend his newly signed one-year deal worth around $965,000 in base salary with a $100,000 signing bonus, according to Spotrac.

Joining him on return workouts were Hill, Waddle and CFL import DeVonte Dedmon.

Williams carries a cap hit of just $1.29 million with a $275,000 potential dead cap hit. There’s a nothing-to-lose approach to Miami giving him one last shot at a productive and continual role within their offense, or as it seems, the return game.

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Dolphins’ stats to remember as 2022 training camp begins

These are some building blocks for 2022.

The Miami Dolphins officially open their training camp, and Wednesday was packed with early action starting with a fun-filled media session that included a group selfie, believe it or not.

Coach Mike McDaniel has started his tenure and opened his first camp, and showed the hospitable ways of the Dolphins franchise by participating in a group photo with him and the South Florida press, reminiscent of that Oscar’s selfie from a few years back.

Nevertheless, football is here, and before truly looking ahead to the 2022 season, let’s close the books on some numbers and accomplishments from the Dolphins last season, as well as some historical numbers.

Why the Dolphins RB room will be the group to watch this summer

With a bunch of veterans and a UDFA, there will be competition.

Now that we’re in the month of July, the smell of football is in the air and hitting like aromas from a July 4 barbeque. While there are still a few weeks until the Miami Dolphins open up Mike McDaniel’s first NFL training camp as a head coach, there’s a solid chance several players are not in vacation mode at the moment.

With an influx of talent in all areas and phases of football, a number of Dolphins could be in jeopardy of losing their role. Not only that, but some rooms also seem over-occupied at the moment, and cuts or trades could very well happen as Miami prepares to trim their roster through the summer and preseason.

When looking at the offseason acquisitions in South Florida, a certain room added three veterans through free agency, as well as an undrafted rookie. They joined a trio of contracted Dolphins in Myles Gaskin and Salvon Ahmed as well as practice squad seventh-round 2021 draft pick Gerrid Doaks.

Ironically, the two Washington Huskie friends in Gaskin and Ahmed could be the ones with their work cut out for them. The emergence of rookie UDFA ZaQuandre White impressing in camp could make one or both expendable. Gaskin was a seventh-round pick in 2019, and Ahmed was an UDFA originally signed by San Francisco, but he ended up in Miami in 2020.

Gaskin could hold trade value if Miami is to go that route, and that wouldn’t be surprising at all based on general manager Chris Grier’s track record. If there’s a draft pick to potentially recoup, Gaskin would be the asset to send, leaving a three-way battle with Ahmed, Doaks and White to earn that fourth running back role.

Gaskin can be a very solid pass-catching back and has proved that so far in his career. Gaskin caught 49 passes for Miami last season for 234 yards and four receiving touchdowns. 2021 did see his lowest career output in both yards per carry (3.5) and yards per reception (4.8). Inversely, last season Gaskin averaged 4.1 yards per carry on the ground and 9.5 yards per catch.

Ahmed showed flashes in limited action in 2020 and 2021 but regressed in his production. As a rookie, he rushed for 319 yards on 75 carries, good for a respectable 4.3 yards per attempt. He found the endzone three times and added 11 receptions in just six appearances.

In two occasions in 2020, Ahmed recorded 20+ carries. He gained 85 yards and 122 yards in those games, scoring in each contest. The Dolphins beat the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 10 and New England Patriots in Week 15 with the help of Ahmed.

2021 was a different story, as Ahmed never went over eight carries. His yards per carry was 2.8, and he only rushed 54 times while seeing offensive action in 11 games.

This doesn’t bode spectacularly well for Ahmed or Gaskin, as the Miami rushing attack in 2022 could be brand-new, with potentially four or five backs yet to record an official rush for the Dolphins. Raheem Mostert was a Dolphin in 2015, but in his one game, he didn’t record a touch.

The Dolphins could run with Mostert, who had sparks of spectacular play while a 49er with McDaniel, as well as Chase Edmonds and Sony Michel as their three-headed committee. Mostert has electric speed and could be the game-breaker Miami sorely needs, while Edmonds could be the most relied upon back in both the rushing and receiving components. Look for Michel to be the short-yardage and goal-line back.

It will be interesting to see the battle between Doaks and White, as there’s no certainty there. Both could either make the team or practice squad. The running back room is certainly one to focus on this summer in training camp. McDaniel, who specializes in the running scheme, just may be the perfect evaluator.

Rookies report to training camp July 19, and fans will be able to watch practice live for a number of sessions.

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