‘He’s got that it factor’: Nik Needham’s versatility a microcosm of surging Dolphins defense
It could have been anyone to make the play, and during a 20-3 road win against the New Orleans Saints in which eight Dolphins defenders contributed to eight sacks, it seemed like everyone did make a play.
It was cornerback Nik Needham, though, who set the tone for a dominating performance, reeling in a tipped pass by Andrew Van Ginkel and sprinting 28 yards the other way for the touchdown.
It was the first pick-six in the third-year player’s career and the latest accolade for one of the Dolphins’ best undrafted finds in recent memory.
Needham’s career arc mirrors that of a large portion of players in the NFL: going from undrafted anonymity and working into a prominent role. For Needham, that journey started in Orange County, California. He credits his father, Steve Calhoun, who played football at New Mexico, in the German Football League and now trains athletes, for introducing him to the game and preparing him for the road ahead, while his mother, Shannon Needham, provided much of the emotional support and was with him for every game growing up.
For the first three years of high school, Needham wasn’t on colleges’ radar. He played sparingly for two seasons at San Clemente High School, then transferred to an all-boys Catholic school. After another year without much playing time, Needham transferred to Buena Park High School, where his dad joined the staff as offensive coordinator.
“I probably was going through stuff from moving around, too, so my attitude was probably not the best,” Needham admitted. “... That was my first year playing varsity and really starting and getting an opportunity. I knew I wasn’t going to get a lot of offers because that’s what a lot of teams were saying: ‘Why did he only play varsity his senior year?’ That was just like the story of my life, so I just had to embrace it.”
Needham shined as a two-way player but still drew minimal Division 1 buzz. At a recruiting camp at the University of Oklahoma, he was a top performer in 1-on-1 drills and thought he would get an offer from the Big 12 program — but after the school found out about his 40 time, the interest waned.
Needham took the footage of his 1-on-1 reps and put it on YouTube with hopes of getting discovered. His father sent the tape to a friend who coached at the University of Texas at El Paso; within 90 minutes, Needham heard back with an offer. He knew nothing about the Group of Five program located between the US-Mexico border but he didn’t hesitate at the opportunity.
Dana Dimel didn’t become the coach at UTEP until Needham’s senior year — when he was well on his way to becoming the program’s all-time pass breakups leader and had grabbed the attention of NFL scouts — but knew of him dating to high school, when Dimel’s son was at the same football camp as Needham in Oklahoma.
“We remember watching him and saying, ‘Gosh, he’s probably the best player at this camp,’” said Dimel, who was Kansas State’s offensive coordinator at the time.
In a rebuilding 2018 season, Dimel praised Needham for setting a foundation for the new regime and an example for the underclassmen, specifically playing through a shoulder injury that could have hurt his NFL chances.
“He’s got that it factor that most guys either have it or they don’t,” Dimel said. “He might not be the fastest, he might not be the strongest, but he’s one of the best and that’s all that matters.”
Needham acknowledged the realities of a small-school player who wasn’t invited to any all-star games or the NFL Scouting Combine. He knew he had a future in the league but didn’t latch them to being selected in the draft.
After the 2019 Draft passed without Needham hearing his name, he received a call from Dolphins defensive coordinator Josh Boyer, then the cornerbacks coach. Needham appreciated Boyer’s straightforwardness and was drawn to his track record of developing less-heralded defensive backs, most notably Malcolm Butler as an undrafted rookie with the New England Patriots.
Needham didn’t make the initial 53-man roster but was promoted from the practice squad ahead of a Week 6 game against Washington and went on to start 11 of 12 games in the Dolphins’ first season under coach Brian Flores.
With the Dolphins signing Byron Jones and pairing him on the boundary with Xavien Howard, Needham started just six games in 2020 but still finished with 58 tackles, seven pass deflections and an interception.
Needham opened the 2021 season as the team’s top nickel cornerback, playing in the slot. When standout rookie safety Jevon Holland was sidelined by coronavirus protocols two weeks ago against the New York Jets, Needham found himself deeper in the secondary, dropping into split-safety and single-high safety looks.
It was the first time Needham, who has 55 tackles and a sack this season, had played safety but he flourished nonetheless, playing all 57 snaps in the 31-24 win.
A restricted free agent after the season, the Dolphins would just need to tender Needham with a high enough draft pick to ward off interest teams. His ability to adapt and move around the field is the type of attribute that Flores and Boyer search endlessly for in players. And Needham’s versatility is no surprise to Dimel, who joked that he wouldn’t be surprised to see the team put Needham back at punt returner in the near future.
“He’s kind of a Cinderella story,” Dimel said, “as he was a free agent then still came on and was able to make the team as a rookie. And each year, it seems like he’s getting more and more invested into the system.”
This story was originally published December 31, 2021 at 12:58 PM.
