One Miami Dolphins fact that may surprise you is as follows: they've only had five Pro Bowl cornerbacks since 1983. I swear that isn't fake news. Look it up.
Did you use the Google machine as it's meant to be? Great. Now you're acquainted with just how low the bar is for first-round pick Chris Johnson. The good news is, he has all the makings of...making...that exclusive Dolphins defensive back club into a sextet, joining the likes of Sam Madison, Patrick Surtain, Brent Grimes, Xavien Howard, and Jalen Ramsey.
Why do I say this? Well, look no further than what Johnson had to say about new Miami head coach Jeff Hafley in a recent interview.
Jeff Hafley's secondary expertise is a major asset for Miami Dolphins CB Chris Johnson
In speaking with Dolphins personality Travis Wingfield, Johnson alluded to how invaluable it's been to have Hafley as his coach and how the latter sits in his position group meeting rooms.
"It's just great to have a direct pipeline to the head coach, because a lot of times, you're in your position room, you ask your coach about something and he's like, ‘Okay, I need a minute. I’ve got to ask the head coach about that.’ But the head coach is right there with us, so, instant feedback."
Hafley just so happens to be steeped in experience in coaching defensive backs/the secondary. Fifteen years between the college and pro ranks, if I'm not mistaken. Or a decade and a half thereabouts.
That's already paying major dividends for Johnson as he deals with the weight of the expectations that come with his draft status, and as all eyes are on him for training camp as a shoo-in starter:
"I've been around a lot of offensive-minded head coaches. So, they're kind of more watching the offense, but I feel like Coach Haf, you can genuinely see that he's paying attention to both. […] If you mess up on a play, literally before you get back done, he's already telling you something about the play, because he was sitting there watching it."
Unlike the typical modern NFL trend of hiring the latest offensive mastermind, Miami zagged where the rest of the league zigged and scooped up the former Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator to replace Mike McDaniel.
So as you can see, the Johnson-Hafley dynamic is off to a rip-roaring start. Will that translate to a bunch of wins for the Dolphins in 2026? Most likely no.
However, personal anecdote time, Johnson was one of my favorite players in this entire draft class (29th on my big board despite smaller-school status). I do believe the Dolphins got great value on him with the 27th overall pick, roundaboutly obtained thanks to the semi-infamous Jaylen Waddle.
Johnson was a famously phenomenal zone coverage corner at San Diego State. He registered a 91.9 PFF grade out of a perfect 100 in 2025 (Unobtanium) and missed on only three of his tackle attempts. That speaks to how sticky Johnson is even when he's not specifically tasked to play man-to-man. Hafley's scheme is very much zone-centric.
As the Dolphins try to fit together the puzzle pieces of their defensive backfield, and some semblance of a competitive team this year, Johnson is being cross-trained as both a boundary cornerback and a slot corner.
It remains to be seen how the whole cornerback group shakes out, a la who's who in the zoo/who lines up where on any given down. What's great about Johnson is that the moment he was drafted, he was the best cornerback, inside or outside, Miami has on the roster. He will have plenty of opportunities to take his lumps as a rookie, and hopefully, under Hafley’s tutelage, he will emerge as a Dolphins franchise cornerstone.
…And yes, the sixth Pro Bowler at cornerback the organization has had in the last four-plus decades.
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