‘He can do it all’: Rookie Jevon Holland is growing up right before Dolphins’ eyes
There’s a sequence that sticks out in Maurice Jones-Drew’s mind when he remembers coaching Dolphins rookie safety Jevon Holland as a teenager. Holland was playing free safety on KT Prep, a 7-on-7 club football team based in the Bay Area in Northern California, and the opposing team’s quarterback was “dicing us up,” said Jones-Drew, a one-time All-Pro running back with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Jones-Drew warned Holland of the quarterback’s tendencies: he would move his eyes to the right to lure the safety then work his way back to the other side of the field and find a receiver down the seam, but Holland reassured him, “I got it, Coach. I got it.”
On the decisive final drive, the quarterback repeated the same move he had used all game — look to his right and then work his way to the other side. Only this time, Holland was waiting for him, securing an interception he turned into a pick-six.
“I’ve been baiting him all game to throw this thing,” Jones-Drew recalled Holland telling him.
If you’re around the Dolphins rookie safety or defensive backs coach Gerald Alexander long enough, that play is the manifestation of a saying often uttered by the two: “Where technique meets opportunity, splash plays happen.”
At the beginning of the season, Alexander used it as assurance of the momentum-changing plays awaiting Holland, the No. 36 overall pick in the 2021 Draft. In recent weeks, it’s embodied his play as he has settled into a full-time role and become an integral part of the defense’s midseason turnaround.
In last Thursday’s win over the Baltimore Ravens, Holland seemingly set the tone for the night with a crushing blow on Baltimore receiver Devin Duvernay along the sideline. He then proceeded to have his best game to date, recording five tackles, one sack and two pass deflections as the Dolphins upset the Ravens in prime time.
Holland has brought an uplifting spirit to the field and news conferences alike, but he has also quickly gained the respect of his teammates and coaches with a maturity rooted in his upbringing.
Holland was born in Coquitlam, British Columbia, where his father, Robert, played in the Canadian Football League in the 1990s and later coached, too (Robert also briefly spent time in the NFL with the San Francisco 49ers). As a kid, Holland played football, lacrosse and soccer, ironically not gravitating to the Canadian-favorite ice hockey. Holland’s older brother, Jamirr, briefly played in the CFL and his younger sister, Jada, plays basketball at UC Riverside.
When Holland was younger, his father would use the DVR and constantly rewind football games to break down plays. Holland joked that at the time he hated but it laid the foundation for his studiousness and attentiveness to detail.
Holland, 21, not only credited his family for paving the way for his athletic future, but his rapid maturation.
“I would have to say it’s my parents, really, giving me leeway to grow up, take care of my sister and drive her to school,” Holland said. “Little things like that kind of pushed me forward to grow up quicker than I am. Then having my brother, he’s four years older than me, he’s close in age. Close enough to where I can learn from him and his mistakes and the things that he does good and then far enough where I can correct them myself or avoid something. Same thing in football with my brother also.”
When Holland was 8, his family moved to Pleasanton, a suburb in the Bay Area, where his father is originally from. Holland’s father and brother both played defensive back, and so did he, but he also spent time at wide receiver in high school. He improved at both positions but stuck with safety because more schools were recruiting him for that spot.
Jones-Drew had heard about Holland as he was starring at Bishop O’Dowd — Holland was teammates with rookie guard Alijah Vera-Tucker of the New York Jets, whom the Dolphins play Sunday — and one of most highly touted prospects in the area but seeing him up-close was different.
“You can tell who has the ability to play in the National Football League and who doesn’t right away.” Jones-Drew said. “You can tell by the way they walk, the way they move. ...
“Obviously, his dad is the foundation of who he is and what he’s been able to do. And we just kind of came in and put the little icing on the top.”
With KT Prep, Holland played safety but would occasionally be asked to play corner and “lock up whoever the top receiver was and that would be done,” Jones-Drew said.
And then Holland would switch sides and play receiver and “he was one of our best receivers, if not the best receiver we had, too.”
On a stacked team that included Nevada quarterback Carson Strong, potentially one of the top quarterbacks in the 2022 Draft, Holland was “the cream of the crop.”
Before Holland opted out of the 2020 college season, Oregon coach Mario Cristobal even told Holland to prepare for a few snaps on offense, a testament to how Holland dynamic was in a program that routinely attracts the top athletes in the country.
“He can do it all,” Jones-Drew said.
When the Dolphins selected Holland in the draft, making him the top safety off the board, the defensive coaching staff was more aware of what they were getting than maybe any other team in the league. Alexander and defensive line coach Austin Clark both unsuccessfully recruited him to California and USC, respectively, when they were coaching in college.
Coach Brian Flores said after the selection that Holland was “one of my favorite players to watch,” noting his versatility. Jones-Drew called Holland the best player in the draft, which he admits was a bit of bias but rooted in the same reasons as Flores. Holland’s 50 pass-rush snaps as a safety are second only to teammate Brandon Jones, and the team has used him as a punt returner since trading Jakeem Grant early in the season.
“I think he’s mature beyond his years,” Flores said. “I think he’s smart. I think he’s obviously talented. These are all the things that we liked about him coming out. I think he’s very much so a professional. I think from an intangibles standpoint, he’s got a lot of things we’re looking for. You combine that with his athletic ability, his ability to do multiple things. If he keeps up with the way he prepares, the way he practices, the way he is intentional about getting better, he’s going to be OK in this league.”
But it was Holland off the field that Jones-Drew said separated him from his peers. The club team had a group chat and Holland was the leader of it, making sure everyone was at practice on time or resting before a game.
Jones-Drew referenced Holland’s outspokenness against racial injustice during nationwide protests after the murder of George Floyd and how it was a representation of his entire personality: someone who wasn’t afraid to speak up and ask questions, but never did it in a disrespectful manner.
“He just had everything that you were looking for in a player,” Jones-Drew said. “Very rarely do you see that perfect player that is going to be a dog on the field but has such great leadership off the field.”
Holland got his first start in Week 2 but since Jason McCourty sustained a season-ending foot injury in Week 4, he has started the last six games alongside Jones, rarely leaving the field. He recorded his first sack in a Week 7 loss to the Atlanta Falcons and then his first interception in a Week 9 win over the Houston Texans. During the last three weeks, Pro Football Focus has graded Holland out as the third-best safety in the NFL. During that time, his pressures (nine) rank first and his 8.3 passer rating allowed ranks fourth.
He was a focal point of the Dolphins’ unique game plan against quarterback Lamar Jackson, blitzing 21 times, the most of any defensive back since NFL Next Gen Stats began keep tracking in the 2016 season.
“If you go back and watch the training camp tape, he was a step behind,” linebacker Jerome Baker said. “And then every week it was like he got better and better. I remember the one practice he was a step behind – well at first he was a step behind and then he was deflecting the ball and then the next week he was actually catching the pick. And sure enough the following Sunday, he ended up actually catching a pick.
“He’s one of those guys that if he just keeps doing what he’s doing, he’s going to be one of the best safeties in this league. He’s young, but he truly just loves being out there with the guys and performing and just going hard. I’m just surprised [by] his leadership back there. He really took that to heart. When guys went down, he stepped up and he knew that we were going to lean on him a lot and he definitely stepped up to the challenge and his ceiling is going to be so high. I’m definitely happy for him and honestly I’m glad he’s on our team.”
On Twitter, Holland’s handle is “HollywoodVon.” It’s not a nod to the tourist attraction in California or the local city in Broward County, but his father’s nickname — “That’s just the way he played. He had blonde hair, flashy,” Holland said — that was passed down to him by his dad’s friends.
Considering the flashes he’s shown in recent weeks of being a potential star, it’s a more than fitting moniker.
This story was originally published November 19, 2021 at 3:50 PM.
