The Miami Dolphins were in dire need of a premier cornerback this offseason. Since they couldn't pay for one in free agency, they tried their luck in the draft and scored big with San Diego State's Chris Johnson at 27th overall.
Johnson was the second cornerback off the board, and it was frankly surprising that he didn't go higher. His competition level in college was a concern, yet Johnson played about as well as he possibly could have, yielding a mere 16.1 passer rating.
With a new head coach in Jeff Hafley, who specializes in secondary play in particular, Johnson is ideally positioned to launch into a great rookie season. However, he is making a rather significant adjustment right away — and will be put to the test in his NFL debut against one of the NFL's very best offensive playmakers.
How Miami Dolphins HC Jeff Hafley can position Johnson to win highly anticipated Week 1 duel vs. Bowers
Chris Johnson predominantly played boundary cornerback in college, yet on the Dolphins' depth chart, he's listed as the starting nickelback. That means he's bound to draw a whole lot of Las Vegas Raiders tight end Brock Bowers when they meet in Week 1.
Forget the road environment. Forget the nerves of a first NFL game. Having to face Bowers in a vacuum is intimidating enough. And to be real, Miami is putting a lot on Johnson's plate.
But Johnson won't have to do it all alone. The Dolphins' cornerback personnel is admittedly thin, yet they have made a couple of savvy decisions of late that will only aid Johnson's efforts to lock Bowers down.
First off, releasing Tyrel Dodson paved the way for Jacob Rodriguez to start. Rodriguez is a big-play magnet who has an uncanny ability to punch the ball out and force fumbles. He's also a phenomenal athlete who excels in coverage. As a converted former quarterback, Rodriguez is great at diagnosing route concepts and breaking to make a play on the ball.
Then there was the call to make rookie fifth-rounder Michael Taaffe the starting free safety. Pardon me while I pat myself on the back for predicting this back in late May. My guy Brian Miller didn't think Taaffe was a lock for the 53. LOL.
Taaffe has so many reps playing big-time football at the University of Texas, and the Dolphins smartly recognized that playing him to fast-track his pro development was better than trotting out anyone from their pathetic collection of stopgap vets.
So what do Rodriguez and Taaffe have to do with Johnson's ability to cover Bowers?
Well, if Hafley schemes things up right, Rodriguez will absolutely have some reps across from Bowers. Taaffe is a savvy, cerebral player who can not only help out over the top when the Raiders take shots to Bowers downfield, but he can also join the party on double teams in bracket coverage.
Hafley leaned a lot on Cover 3 last year as Green Bay's defensive coordinator (32% of snaps). He only ran Cover 2 18% of the time. I'd expect Hafley to toss in some more non-traditional Tampa Cover 2 looks since Rodriguez has the range and coverage chops that neither Dodson nor even reigning first-team All-Pro Jordyn Brooks has.
That could be enough to throw the Kirk Cousins-led Raiders' passing attack off their game. Although Captain Kirk saw plenty of that during his time in Minnesota with Brian Flores, Las Vegas may not be expecting it from Hafley.
Another thing: The Raiders don't have the dudes at wide receiver to really capitalize on the Dolphins' suspect cornerback corps. New head coach Klint Kubiak will for sure run a ton of 12 personnel (two tight end formations) with Bowers and Michael Mayer.
Kubiak loves to run the ball. Are Bowers and Mayer fantastic blockers? I'm not so sure. It's also a brand-new scheme, and feature back Ashton Jeanty's status is in question for Week 1.
So you see, there are many ways for this to come up aces for Johnson, Hafley, and the Dolphins' motley crew. At least for Week 1.
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