Jason Marshall Jr. embraces more versatile role in Dolphins’ secondary

Jason Marshall Jr. wasn’t trying to flatten a Dolphins assistant coach during a tackling drill.

He just happened to bring a little more force than expected.

“I’m 200 pounds, so sometimes that happens,” Marshall joked.

The 23-year-old doesn’t mind getting his nose dirty and stepping up to make tackles,

And in a crowded-but-unproven cornerback room featuring veterans such as JuJu Brents, Storm Duck and Marco Wilson, the Miami Palmetto alumnus will have to lean into his strengths to separate himself.

During a team red-zone period, Marshall tossed a receiver to the side and shot downhill to make a stop just ahead of the line of scrimmage.

When asked about his ability as a run stopper, the second-year defensive back described it as a point of emphasis for him and Miami’s coaching staff.

“I’m very physical, I like to get in people’s faces,” Marshall Jr. said. “Teams are stretching to the perimeter to test if corners can tackle, so that’s very important. That’s something Coach Hafley talks to us about.”

While the vast majority of his snaps as a rookie came while playing nickel, the former Florida Gator has been bumped outside for most of minicamp, where he says he feels most natural.

“I feel comfortable. That’s my natural state, being on the outside,” said Marshall Jr., who totaled an interception and 23 tackles last season. “I was put at nickel last year and kind of had to adjust my game to that.”

He showcased that level of comfort while making an immediate impact as a starter at Florida, when he gave up the second-lowest completion percentage of any cornerback in the country at 36.8%.

Once ranked as a five-star recruit with a first-round mock draft projection, a season-ending shoulder injury in his final collegiate year hurt his draft stock and left him working to find his footing as a rookie.

And now with a season of NFL experience and his first career start now under his belt, Marshall Jr. has earned the attention of new Dolphins head coach Jeff Hafley, who is excited about the young cornerback stepping into a larger role.

“I studied him a lot in college. He can press, get his hands on people at the line. He can play the ball well down the field, had some instincts in zone and man coverage,” Hafley said. “I saw him go inside and outside, which is really hard to do.”