Despite spending all offseason and the first two-plus weeks of training camp as a free agent, new Miami Dolphins cornerback Mackensie Alexander has a chance to be an important member of the team’s defense.
Miami signed Alexander this week to bolster its lackluster cornerback depth after Trill Williams was placed on injured reserve. However, conversations to bring Alexander on board started much earlier.
Agent David Canter, who also represents fellow cornerback Xavien Howard, started having conversations with the Dolphins about Alexander around the time Howard signed his new extension in April.
How Does Mackensie Alexander Fit?
Now that he’s with the team, Alexander is focused on learning the Dolphins’ scheme and finding a way to fit into their defense.
“It’s pretty good,” Alexander said. “There are some things I wanted to do. Hopefully, there is an opportunity to do them here. I want to go out and just compete and be the best teammate I can and come out and help my team win the best I can. Everybody has goals they want to do individually, but it doesn’t always work out like that. You gotta find your system and find your role and play it and do what coach tells you to do and enjoy the process.”
Alexander should get plenty of opportunities to prove himself with the Dolphins. Besides Williams’ injury, Byron Jones is still on PUP, and the team’s backups like D’Angelo Ross, Noah Igbinoghene and Elijah Hamilton all struggled against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Keion Crossen has performed well, but if Jones’ recovery creeps into the regular season, there’s a chance Alexander could become the team’s third cornerback behind Howard and Nik Needham, who usually plays in the slot.
Alexander’s best statistical season came in 2018 with the Minnesota Vikings. He recorded 43 tackles, 10 passes defended, seven tackles for loss and four sacks. That season, Alexander only allowed 47.2 percent of his targets to turn into receptions, which ranked second among qualified Vikings, according to Sports Info Solutions.
However, Alexander’s numbers have fallen off since then. His completion percentage allowed was 56.9 last season, and he finished with a PFF coverage grade of 41.1 — a career low. He also recorded just five passes defended and zero interceptions while allowing three touchdowns.
His best play has come from the slot, but given Miami’s current uncertainty at cornerback, Alexander could play inside or outside, something he mentioned he was comfortable doing.
“Wherever coach allows me to play, and whatever he wants me to do, that’s where I’ll be,” Alexander said.
Regardless of where Alexander lines up, it's possible he’ll play some important snaps for the Dolphins this season.
Alexander’s Florida and Dolphins Connections
While it might be tough for a player to assimilate with a new team this close to the regular season, Alexander has some familiarity with the area and teammates that could help his transition.
“So there are quite a bit of guys that I know here,” Alexander said. “So it's not a bad transition. It's kind of been pretty smooth for me. I just gotta learn like the facility and coaches and stuff like that. So, just getting everything down and all that, but I got great teammates. I mean, they're all helping me telling me where to go and stuff like that.”
Alexander was born in Naples, Florida, and attended Immokalee High School. He also has a previous relationship with both Christian Wilkins and Howard.
He and Wilkins overlapped for one season (2015) at Clemson, and Alexander joked they would try to get Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney to come take a picture with them during practice.
As for Howard, the two were second-round picks in the same 2016 draft class and have stayed in contact for the past couple of seasons.
“We’ve been talking for the past two years,” Alexander said. “This is a relationship that we’ve had, and we’ve got a bond before I got here. He was probably one of the first guys that called me. He was probably here while I was working out and stuff like that, so he wanted me here.”
Alexander having a strong relationship with Howard will be helpful if he ends up playing a lot of snaps this season, whether Alexander ends lined up next to him in the slot or playing across from him on the outside.
Either way, that certainly would make for a nice homecoming for Alexander.
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