What a Dolphins player wants to see from Tua. And Miami contacts top local draft prospects
Count cornerback Byron Jones among Miami Dolphins players eager to see Tua Tagovailoa blossom in his second season.
“It’s exciting,” Jones said Thursday on an appearance on NFL Network’s “Good Morning Football.” “He’s going into his second year, and what we saw last year was great for him. But we expect a big jump. The kid has been working. He’s been a great kid. Really good head on his shoulders…
“I’m looking forward to seeing his jump. His contributions to the team have been great so far. But we’re looking for even something better this year. I can’t wait to see him just work his magic.”
Jones is the first returning Dolphins player to discuss Tagovailoa on the record this offseason. Others have shared views not for attribution, in my piece here and Armando Salguero’s here.
Jones said the Dolphins’ two predraft trades — which have left them with the sixth pick in this draft and an additional 2023 first-rounder — is “exciting. I got a text from a couple guys [after the trades happened]. I don’t watch much ESPN these days. Coach [Brian] Flores and [general manager] Chris Grier are putting a team together the right way. That’s one of the reasons that drew me to Miami, that we had so much capital to build a team the right way. I’m excited to see who they pick.”
But, Jones said, “I don’t watch the draft. I don’t have the patience to sit there for three hours and watch a slow-moving draft.”
Jones said he appreciates owner Stephen Ross holding an annual business seminar for players.
“We had 50 players show up to Day 1 of that business combine,” Jones said. “We’re much more than football players. The combine gives us that opportunity to grow.”
The best advice he received from Ross?
“Surround yourself with people smarter than you, delegate responsibilities to people who... have more expertise than you.”
FINS/AMERICAN HERITAGE
This is neat: Four players from Plantation American Heritage are all expected to be selected in this NFL Draft.
Though the Dolphins don’t need a cornerback high in this draft, they have done a Zoom session with Patrick Surtain Jr., son of the former Dolphins great and a projected top-15 pick.
The Dolphins also have done a Zoom meeting with Georgia cornerback Tyson Campbell, an excellent tackler who had five pass breakups and an interception last season. He’s projected to go sometime between the second and fourth rounds.
Also, the Dolphins scheduled a Zoom session next week with Auburn 6-0 receiver Anthony Schwartz, who had 54 catches for 636 yards (11.8 average) and three touchdowns in 10 games last season. NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah said “he could go in the fourth-round range, early in Day 3.”
And the Dolphins have evaluated Florida cornerback Marco Wilson, who had three interceptions as a junior. He’s the son of former UM defensive back Chad Wilson.
Under normal circumstances, all of these players would have been invited to the annual “local day” when NFL teams can invite prospects who attended high school or college in their geographic area to come to their facilities and work out in front of team officials and meet with coaches.
But there are no such “local days” during the pandemic.
So the access that South Florida players have with the Dolphins has been limited largely to Zoom sessions and brief interaction at some of their pro days.
The four American Heritage players all displayed their potential in America’s toughest conference.
Surtain and Wilson trained together at Exos, a performance training center in Phoenix, before the Alabama and UF Pro Days.
Those two and Campbell are now training with Chad Wilson, who does good work helping defensive backs (and others) during his offseason “All Eyes DB” football camp. (Wilson worked with Dolphins players Xavien Howard, Bobby McCain, Noah Igbinoghene, Eric Rowe and Elandon Roberts in past years.) Chad Wilson now gets to help prepare his son for the draft.
Surtain is the sure-fire first-rounder of the four American Heritage alums; his father — the former three-time Pro Bowl Dolphins cornerback — is the head coach there.
Among defensive players in this draft, Surtain “might be the cleanest guy,” Jeremiah said. “Real chance he’s the first defender picked… High floor, high ceiling.”
Here’s how NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein assesses the four American Heritage prospects:
He said Surtain is a “lockdown, press-man cornerback with elite size, length and talent to match up with any brand of receiver from any place on the field. Surtain possesses elite physical and athletic traits with the rare combination of length and short-area quickness... He’s been well-schooled at home and at Alabama. He’s wired like a future All-Pro cornerback.”
Zierlein said Campbell has “undeniable physical traits and athletic tools. Campbell’s traits outweigh the lack of polish and could lead to a solid NFL career.”
Zierlein calls Schwartz a “prospect with legitimate track speed and rare acceleration who is more of a catch-and-run specialist right now. He hasn’t played in the most stable passing attack at Auburn, so there might be some meat on the bone for him as a pro. He’s unlikely to ever develop the desired ball skills of an NFL wideout, but even as a field stretcher or diversionary piece, he will offer value.”
And Zierlein said the 5-10 Wilson “has the traits and athleticism of a Day 2 starter” with “speed, strength and athleticism.”
The Dolphins have drafted only a few players from South Florida high schools in the past decade: Deerfield Beach’s Jason Strowbridge (via North Carolina) last year and former UM standouts Lamar Miller (Miami Killian) and Olivier Vernon (Miami American) in 2012.
Flores had one opportunity to see the UM players in person, when he attended the Canes’ Pro Day last week. UM defensive ends Greg Rousseau, Jaelan Phillips and Quincy Roche all remain in play for the Dolphins; Rousseau and Phillips are projected first-rounders, while Roche could go in the third or fourth rounds.
▪ About 150 of the top NFL draft prospects were in Indianapolis on Thursday receiving physicals from NFL medical staffs. This is the only opportunity before the draft for team doctors and trainers to meet with draft-eligible players.
That’s something teams could typically do with a maximum of 30 players — and unlimited local players — during predraft visits to team headquarters. But the NFL has banned “30 visits” this year because of the pandemic.
My three-part series on edge rushers in play for the Dolphins will continue with part 2 on Friday. Here’s part 1 from Wednesday, on UM standouts Greg Rousseau and Jaelan Phillips and two others.
Here’s my Thursday Miami Hurricanes 6-pack with lots of football news and basketball roster developments.
This story was originally published April 8, 2021 at 2:03 PM.
