Dolphins safety Jevon Holland primed for breakout season

The NFL season is right around the corner and with a new season always comes the potential for new household names. A player who could make that leap in 2023 is Miami Dolphins safety Jevon Holland.

Holland burst onto the scene as a rookie, earning recognition as one of the top rookies of 2021. He posted an 84.6 grade from Pro Football Focus that was third best amongst all safeties in the league. 

He's been a consistent force in Miami's secondary, compiling 165 total tackles, four interceptions, four sacks and 17 passes defensed across his first two professional seasons. He did see his PFF grade drop in 2022, but the addition of new defensive coordinator Vic Fangio has Holland primed for a breakout season.

The two-high safety look Fangio often runs allows players with range like Holland's to get the most out of their game. In the previous scheme, Holland was often the sole safety deep in coverage, with man coverage and tons of blitzing in front of him. The Dolphins defense under former defensive coordinator Josh Boyer utilized single high coverage for over 60 percent of their snaps last season and Holland was on his own a lot because of it. Being on an island often provides ample opportunity to be burned in the NFL, but Holland largely held his own.

Fangio's defense is safety led and has produced multiple Pro Bowl safeties. In 2018 his defense helped Bears safety Eddie Jackson to the best season of his career where he earned Pro Bowl and first team All-Pro honors. Holland has a similar skill set to Jackson. 

Coverages designed to confuse offenses as much as possible, coupled with a fierce defensive front , will allow Holland to survey the field more, as well as be moved around more freely.

An anonymous personnel director recently had this to say about Holland.

“Every time you watched Miami on cross-tape, you see No. 8 and say, that’s a real guy, the next one they pay,” they said. “He does everything — range, can play around the box, tackles. Ultimate chess piece.”

A chess piece that Fangio will move all over the field. Holland played both nickel corner and safety in college and while he's been exclusively a safety in the NFL, that experience is something Fangio figures to utilize. It's a role that was more than likely reserved for Jalen Ramsey, but Holland figures to step in as the Swiss army knife until his teammate is back in the lineup. 

And it's the type of usage that could turn Holland from a household name in Miami to a household name nationally.