Tag: Verone McKinley

Dolphins swap defenders on the practice squad

Miami has moved on from a DB and signed a DL.

The Miami Dolphins have been making moves all season, and heading into Week 14, they continue to do just that.

On Wednesday, Miami swapped players on their practice squad, as they released defensive back Verone McKinley III and signed defensive lineman Justin Ellis.

McKinley, 23, was originally signed as an undrafted free agent out of Oregon in 2022, and he split time between the active roster and the practice squad as a rookie. In his first season, he recorded 16 tackles, one interception and a pass defensed in 10 games. He’s yet to appear in a game this year.

Ellis, 32, worked out for the Dolphins on Tuesday. He was selected by the Oakland Raiders in 2014. He spent six seasons with the black and silver before joining the Baltimore Ravens for three years and the New York Giants for one. In 117 games, he’s recorded 182 tackles (eight for a loss), five quarterback hits, three tipped passes and 1.5 sacks.

This move should mean good things for the health of safety Jevon Holland, as well as the other safeties on the roster, but it could also mean that someone on the defensive line is a little nicked up.

Verone McKinley shares importance of having Jevon Holland with him in Miami

The two even lived together for a time this year.

Making the leap from the college game to the NFL is never easy, but it becomes less difficult when you have some a former teammate to rely on.

That was exactly the case for undrafted safety Verone McKinley, who the Dolphins signed last offseason. McKinley spent his collegiate career with the Oregon Ducks, and he shared that defensive backfield with Jevon Holland.

Now both in the NFL, the safeties were once again backfield mates, and McKinley even got some extra opportunities when Brandon Jones went down with a torn ACL.

The two have continued their close bond from Oregon while in South Florida.

“We don’t live that close to each other — 15, 20 minutes, apart,” McKinley told Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. “But he lived with me when he was renovating his house. We’re here [at Dolphins headquarters at Hard Rock Stadium] all the time together and do stuff outside the facility. It’s been a blast.

“Just from the jump when you have kind of your best friend and somebody you’ve spent a lot of time with, it makes it a little easier. Just understanding Miami, how the NFL works, our system, has definitely been a big help.”

McKinley said he has watched a lot of tape with Holland outside of team meetings.

“After games, even throughout the week, early on when I wasn’t playing, I was still watching film so I could learn what we’re doing. We’re together all the time.”

There are few players on this defense who would be better to learn from than Holland, who has become a rising star in just two seasons in Miami Gardens. McKinley’s performance as an undrafted rookie may have earned him an active roster spot in 2023 rather than a practice squad spot.

If he keeps learning from his good friend, there’s a chance he could do even more.

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Grading the Miami Dolphins safeties after their 2022 season

How did the safeties fare in their first year under Mike McDaniel?

The Miami Dolphins had a rollercoaster of a 2022 season that resulted in another 9-8 record, their third straight winning season. However, this time, it was enough to grant them access to the postseason.

While the team has probably finished their assessments of the year and moved on to the planning phase of their offseason schedule, we still have some evaluations to do.

At this point, we’ll continue to look through the Dolphins roster and break down the position groups, reviewing how they performed in their first season under head coach Mike McDaniel.

We’ve already hit on the:

Today, we’ll look at the safeties.

Dolphins player profile: S Verone McKinley III

He could be getting some shine at some point this season.

Following a massively successful offseason with numerous acquisitions and strategic contract moves, the Miami Dolphins put the icing on the cake with a slew of low-risk, high-potential undrafted free agents.

The 2022 UDFA class has 13 now-signed members who will fight for a roster spot or a place on the practice squad. The junior varsity group had been the starting point for a number of now full-time Dolphins, such as Nik Needham and Robert Jones.

This draft class for Miami was light thanks to the trade with the Kansas City Chiefs that netted the Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill. While Miami only selected four players in the draft, they supplemented those picks with over a dozen free agents, some of who are expected to make a run at the 53-man roster.

On the top of that list, is a player that arguably should’ve been drafted – Oregon safety Verone McKinley III.

All he did in 2021 was tie the national college football lead in interceptions with six. He was also given first-team All-Pac-12 and first-team All-American honors.

McKinley was a collegiate teammate of Jevon Holland, the Dolphins’ second-year safety star. Holland had a glowing reference for his secondary defensive mate.

“His talent’s going to rise to the top,” Holland told Miami reporters during a May press conference. “He fits right in with the culture of the team.”

McKinley is similar to Holland in terms of playstyle, being equal parts hitmaker and pass-defender. Last season, he recorded 77 total tackles and six passes defended.

The former Duck is aware of his opportunity.

“Learning all the safety spots and just growing,” he said during OTAs. “Safety, nickel whatever. Just trying to be a sponge, essentially. Come in, learn the defense and learn special teams as well.”

There’s a lot of hype around McKinley’s potential, and he already comes in with a ready-made nickname, “The General.” Ironically, the nickname was given in 2020, the year Holland opted out of the college football season, and McKinley was the one to step into the leadership role.

These two are once again part of the same battalion, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see them on the field together at one point during the 2022 season. McKinley could be an ultimate depth defensive back for Miami at safety, as Miami already has a number of viable options with Holland, Brandon Jones and Eric Rowe.

Regardless of the current group on the roster, his talent is too great to let slip to the open market, so with a draft class of only four players, it’s rather safe to just assume “The General,” is a de facto member of that squadron.

McKinley will continue trying to prove throughout minicamp, OTAs and eventually training camp, leading into a trio of pre-season games before the long haul of the 2022 season, a season that should see McKinley in orange and aqua as a member of the active roster.

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Dolphins safety Verone McKinley explains nickname that could help him make the roster

He’s called “The General.”

The Miami Dolphins added a ton of new players to their roster this offseason, including four drafted rookies and 13 undrafted free agents.

One of those new, young faces around the building is safety Verone McKinley III. McKinley wasn’t selected in this year’s draft after a decent career at Oregon where he played alongside Jevon Holland before Holland opted out and was drafted.

Now, the two are reunited in Miami, but something else from college could be making the trip as well – McKinley’s nickname. At Oregon, the safety became known as “The General,” and the reasoning behind the nickname is probably one of the reasons the Dolphins were interested in bringing him in.

“So, ‘The General’ came about around 2020,” McKinley said after rookie minicamp this past weekend. “Jevon had opted out and somebody needed to step up. So, throughout camp and in the season, I was somebody who could control the defense, get guys lined up, know what everybody’s doing and be able to make adjustments kind of like a General. It started to grow throughout practice, different guys like ‘oh that’s The General.’ It was just something that blew up and then this year just after the Ohio State game it really just took off. That’s just something I kind of pride myself on knowing what to do, knowing what everyone does and having that responsibility knowing that I want on my shoulders and being able to let guys know that they can trust me.”

The Dolphins have a lot of nicknames going around right now, but McKinley’s speaks to his leadership ability and football acumen. If he can show that on the practice field throughout the summer, “The General” may be able to carve out a roster spot for himself.

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Oregon S Verone McKinley signed by Miami as undrafted free agent

Oregon’s Verone McKinley went undrafted, but he quickly signed with Miami and joins Jevon Holland in South Beach.

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He didn’t hear his name called during the 2022 NFL Draft, but that doesn’t mean that Verone McKinley III won’t get a chance to prove himself at the next level.

Now that the draft is over, McKinley has been signed by the Miami Dolphins as an undrafted free agent. He will now go through training camp with the Dolphins and work to earn a roster spot going into the fall.

In four seasons with Oregon, McKinley had 11 total interceptions and two forced fumbles. He led the nation with 6 interceptions in the 2021 season, and 172 total tackles in his career with the Ducks.

Now as a member of the Dolphins, McKinley will have a chance to  join former Duck Jevon Holland in the Miami secondary.

Contact/Follow us @Ducks_Wire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oregon Ducks news, notes, and opinion.

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The most underrated prospects in the 2022 NFL draft class

Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar reveals his most underrated prospects in the 2022 NFL draft class.

When we media yahoos talk about “sleepers” in any draft class, it’s true what NFL teams will tell you — it’s generally a case of the media simply catching up to what those teams have known about those prospects for months. Perception versus reality means that what we’re really talking about are prospects we’re just getting around to after the top-tier players at every position.

So, maybe it’s better to say for the purposes of this exercise that the prospects you see here are the ones whose tape stands out beyond the recognition they’ve gotten. With days to hours left until the 2022 draft, these players are the ones you may not have heard of, or have experienced in passing but haven’t watched, or have watched and wondered where they might be drafted.

Any of these guys going in the first round would be a longshot, but they each have remarkable attributes that show their professional potential, and could seal their NFL futures.

Oregon’s Verone McKinley is a ball hawk with local ties, will Cowboys come calling?

McKinley has North Texas roots and big-time ball skills. Tyler Browning (@DiabeticTyler) takes a look at the Oregon safety and his pro prospects.

The Cowboys have been dancing around the safety position for years, but their free agency moves make it seem like they are finally ready to address it in a crucial way. Could that extend to the draft as well? Oregon safety, Verone McKinley is a native Texan, and grew up not far from the Dallas Cowboys’ headquarters. He attended Hebron High School and earned four-star honors coming out. Strangely though, he wasn’t listed as one of the participants in Dallas Day this offseason.

His first significant playing time came in his red-shirt freshman year and he put together quite the campaign. He finished the year with FWAA Freshman All-America team and The Athletic Freshman All-America second-team honors. His career seemed to stall after that in terms of accolades but he developed some ball skills registering an interception, two pass deflections, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery in his second year. His junior season with six picks proved he’s ready to try the next step.

Lions 2022 NFL draft: A safety for every round

Safety is arguably the biggest need on the entire team, and the Lions will have intriguing options in each round of the draft to find one (or two) of them

The latest in the “prospect for every round” at one position moves to the defensive backfield, where the Detroit Lions are definitely in the market for a safety.

Entering April, safety remains the most urgent need on the entire roster. Bringing free agent Tracy Walker back solidifies one starting spot, but on a defense that is looking to often play three safeties at a time, the other two current projected starters are Will Harris and Brady Breeze, with special teams ace C.J. Moore the only notable challenger.

Projecting the Lions current 53-man roster

The good news is that this is a very good draft class to need a safety — or two. There are several prospects who can step right into Aaron Glenn’s base split-safety scheme, or work into one of the 3-safety roles with long-term upside better than what Detroit currently employs.

The purpose here isn’t to advocate for or against any specific player. This is about presenting the options that are likely available to the Lions (and other NFL teams) at the position in each round. We’ll go through the options at each position, and we’ll also include projections for the fourth round, where the Lions do not currently hold a pick. Consider the fourth-rounder as the player the Lions would consider with the No. 97 overall pick at the end of the third.

Colts’ 7-round mock draft pre NFL combine

With the NFL combine just over a week away, here’s a 7-round mock draft for the Colts.

The Indianapolis Colts are still a few months away from the 2022 NFL draft but throughout the entire offseason we’ll be looking at which prospects they might consider.

The Colts are without a first-round pick due to the Carson Wentz trade so general manager Chris Ballard will have to work his magic in order to continue improving the roster.

Since we haven’t even gotten to the NFL combine yet, a lot is going to change over the next few months. We’ll get more information and learn more about these prospects, but it’s still a good idea to run through some simulations.

Using The Draft Network’s mock draft machine, here’s a seven-round mock for the Colts: