admin
The Miami Dolphins wrapped up 2025 minicamp and head coach Mike McDaniel is coy regarding his cornerbacks.
Meeting with media on Thursday, McDaniel didn’t tip his hand as to who may be in the lead for the Dolphins’ boundary corner jobs.
“Going into the five weeks off, I’m not going to hedge my bet on any particular individual. Not to say that there wouldn’t be a leader in the clubhouse, I’m more looking to see what—this offseason has been tremendous.
“I think that there’s been some great, in particular, boundary corner work, because not only of the corners, but safeties, dime or weak side linebackers and the quarterback. Quarterbacks have really done some great two-man combination stuff that puts those guys in a bind and really puts their technique on blast. And what we ask every defensive play, it’s taken 11 people to be tied together. So I have seen really great growth, both because of the group but because of kind of the nucleus of the defense around them as well. The quarterbacks have given them some very, very good looks and stressed those situations. Iron sharpening iron is what we’re looking for,” McDaniel said.
That group consists of a slew of young players including veteran journeymen free agents, a third-year player needing to produce, a drafted rookie, and a few season’s worth of undrafted cornerbacks.
Knowing that Jalen Ramsey is on the way out, two boundary corners have jobs waiting for them, but who will claim them? Storm Duck, an undrafted free agent in 2024, could be leading the charge with fellow undrafted fan favorite Ethan Bonner, who once again had a strong camp.
Cam Smith, a second-round draft choice in 2023, could be headed for a make-or-break year.
“Cam is kind of like when I was speaking about the team this particular offseason. Cam is in a great spot, doing an outstanding job in where we’re at this offseason.
“His key is how is he going to build on it. His key is, all right, after these eight weeks, we feel very good about a ton of things that we’ve communicated that he’s been able to make gains on in his game and proving (he’s) very, very on it with the whole defensive scheme at a couple of positions.” He went into further details seemingly challenging Smith saying, “What does that mean moving forward? We’ll see what he makes of that. I think overall, there’s a lot of guys that can identify with, ‘all right, let’s do. Let’s not talk.’ Right now, he’s doing very well,” McDaniel said of Smith.
Battling Smith and those UDFAs will be rookies in fifth-rounder Jason Marshall Jr. and yet another undrafted free agent in BJ Adams.
Each possess good size with Marshall a shade under 6-foot-1 and Adams at 6-foot-3. Both bring physicality in their press coverage skills.
Speaking of size, don’t sleep on last year’s UDFA, Isaiah Johnson, who is also 6-foot-3 and has shown sparks of potential as a sleeper to crack the roster. Ethan Robinson is another rookie UDFA who will compete in camp.
Filling out the room are veteran additions Artie Burns, Ryan Cooper Jr., and Kendall Sheffield. Sheffield worked among the Dolphins’ top units and McDaniel was asked what has allowed him to join those groups so quickly.
“You try to interweave people, particularly on the backend who might have to communicate. There’s a lot of different variations of a secondary that can happen during the course of the year, more than like an offensive line, so you have to get guys to communicate.
“You’re pushing people and challenging people in a competitive atmosphere. Giving a guy some burn with a certain group one day, seeing how he reacts to that, seeing how the people that didn’t get the burn react, and then flipping it. You have to create pressure, because you don’t want the first time for people to feel pressure is when you guys are holding them accountable with box scores. You want that to be a situation where they are more comfortable to display their talents they’ve trained. And to do that, you have to find creative ways to shake things up. You’ll see a lot of versatility and movement in all of those lineups. Who knows? I might be out there for a down so the offense can score a quick touchdown,” McDaniel said.
It’s safe to say that McDaniel won’t claim one of those spots, but it is far from a certainty on who to bet on.
Should the Dolphins bring in any free agents or hang tough with their current group, the cornerback room will be perhaps the best battleground position of the summer in South Florida.
#Dolphins #exit #minicamp #ongoing #cornerback #competition
