Make or break camp for Noah Igbinoghene in 2022
By Brian Miller
Noah Igbinoghene is on his last legs so to speak and this year’s Miami Dolphins training camp could be his last if he can’t turn the corner.
If you listen to players on the Miami Dolphins roster, they will tell you that on defense, no one is working harder than Igbinoghene. He has spent the off-season practices working to get better. One of the first to arrive and one of the last to leave. Maybe he is realizing what fans have been thinking, this could be the final year in Miami.
Drafted with Miami’s third first-round pick in 2020, Igbinoghene has not been a good addition thus far. I’m sure if you ask him, he will tell you the same thing. Whatever those reasons are only he and the coaches truly know.
He has two seasons left on his rookie contract and that might be the only thing that saves him from release. In his two seasons so far, Igbinoghene has started three games. He has two passes defended and a combined tackle total of 19. He does have two fumble recoveries both coming in his rookie season.
Last year, Igbinoghene was active for only seven games and started one of them. Was he in the Brian Flores doghouse or was something else going on? It is not acceptable to be a first-round pick and not able to get on the field two years into the league.
That brings us to 2022. There is a new vibe around the team thanks to Mike McDaniel. It’s looser and more about teaching than direction. That is something that could benefit the physically gifted and talented CB who transitioned from WR in college.
The Dolphins knew that he would be a project but still invested a high draft pick in him. So far, that hasn’t worked out well but this could be the year that it begins to change. If Igbinoghene can’t make strides in camp this year, he could be looking at an early free agency in 2023.
Will he make this year’s roster? I think he will but not because of the investment. I get the feeling it is going to click for him in camp and he is going to earn the spot.