Insight into one of the Miami Dolphins’ most robust training camp battles
Nik Needham played out of necessity as a rookie. He did enough in Year 2 to maintain his place on the Miami Dolphins’ pecking order.
But now it really gets serious.
As expectations for the team have risen, so has the competition.
Needham has a real chance to again serve as Miami’s nickel cornerback — which has become a starting job in the modern NFL — but to do so, he will have to outperform a suddenly deep pool of challengers.
Noah Igbinoghene, a first-round pick in 2020, wasn’t suited for the slot as a rookie, but that has changed. He had an excellent offseason program, and the Dolphins will want to find a way to get him on the field despite having Xavien Howard and Byron Jones at corner.
Plus the Dolphins added two legitimate veterans who can play the position: Justin Coleman and Jason McCourty, who both played for Brian Flores in New England.
“I’m happy to have those guys here,” Needham said during last month’s minicamp. “[Coleman] is a real cool dude. I’m trying to just focus on myself, put in time into my craft and then just whatever happens, happens. I’m just here to help the team. I’m not worried about playing any position or a certain position. I’m just here to help and do whatever they need me to do to win, for sure.”
Needham, who went undrafted out of UTEP and wasn’t even invited to the NFL Scouting Combine, has played bigger than his size (the Dolphins list him at 6-1, nearly two inches taller than what he measured in college) or 40 time (4.67 seconds).
That’s a reflection of his football IQ, developed by his father Steve Calhoun, a quarterback trainer who has worked with Super Bowl champions Russell Wilson and Nick Foles, among many others.
“He’s a big football guy, so just being around it at a young age,” Needham said. “He’s a quarterbacks coach, so I just get in the mind of an offensive player and he’s always breaking down film with offensive guys, so I’d just always look at that. I think throughout the years, I’ve developed more and more and become more instinctive, I guess, you can say that.”
The natural follow-up question: How does the son of quarterback whisperer end up on defense?
“We tried [quarterback] out one time but you know how that goes sometimes,” Needham said. “It just didn’t really work out. And I wasn’t tall. At quarterback, you kind of have to be a tall dude and have a good arm. I didn’t really have that. He just switched me to receiver and he trained receivers too, so I started to do that. I think that’s what helped with my feet a little bit.”
The Dolphins have plenty of quarterbacks and receivers on their roster. And after two years of relentlessly adding to the position, they have plenty of defensive backs, too.
Some are more experienced than Needham. Some are more athletic.
But that doesn’t ensure any will be above Needham on the Dolphins’ depth chart when the season begins on Sept. 12.
“He’s worked hard,” Flores said. “He’s tough, he’s competitive, he’s a team-first guy. He’s made improvements really since he’s got here, and he’s continuing to get better. He’s aggressive. He wants to be out there, he wants to compete and normally guys who put all of those things together, they improve. And he’s definitely made a lot of improvement.
“He’s continuing to improve and I’m very happy with where he’s at. He does everything necessary to continue to make improvement.”
