One of the Dolphins’ dark horse contenders for a role in the secondary returning just in time for joint practices in Detroit
One of the Dolphins’ dark horse candidates for playing time from the 2025 NFL Draft will return to practice after an extended absence.
The Miami Dolphins‘ secondary will still be commanding plenty of eyeballs as the 2025 regular season creeps closer. There’s plenty of questions that remain for a group that has been completely remodeled this offseason. There is no more Jalen Ramsey, no more Jevon Holland. Even the lone starter who was brought back from last year’s group, Kader Kohou, is out of the picture due to an injury.
There appears to be plenty of intriguing depth at safety and the group is tied together by new addition Minkah Fitzpatrick. But the pecking order in that room is still very much up in the air beyond the former All-Pro. And the competition is about to rev up even higher — as the Dolphins are set to welcome back one of the dark horse contenders for playing time to practice.
Head coach Mike McDaniel announces youngsters returning to practice
The Dolphins have spent the bulk of training camp without fifth-round rookie safety Dante Trader Jr. participating in practice. But, according to Mike McDaniel during today’s press availability, Trader Jr. is expected to suit up for the team in joint practices with the Detroit Lions this week. His return coincides with third-year cornerback Cam Smith, a former second-round draft choice who is facing increasingly daunting odds to make the team.
Trader Jr., as a draft choice this year, should be safe for a 53-man roster spot. It’s worth noting that multiple assistants mentioned him by name last week during press availabilities despite his absence from the practice field. Commanding space in a coach’s mind despite not practicing for two weeks would seem to offer some clues to expectation this season.
“We have a bunch of young players. Dante Trader Jr. was doing really well too for us, and we’ll try to move him around a bunch of different positions just because of the type of athlete that he is,” said special teams coordinator Craig Aukerman before the team’s 11-day road trip to Chicago and now Detroit. He was joined by defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver in spotlighting Trader Jr. when asked about the versatility on the back end.
“You got (Minkah Fitzpatrick), (Ifeatu Melifonwu), Ashtyn Davis, Elijah Campbell has played nickel here in the past. We’ve yet to see what exactly Dante Trader Jr. can do too. Those guys in the safety position that have that multiple skill set that can do a bunch of jobs, that’s going to create some angst in the offenses, because they’re not going to know who’s in, who’s doing what, particularly when we have three of them on the field at the same time.”
— Defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver on his safety room’s versatility
The return for Trader Jr. is a timely one, as he was teetering on the brink of losing too much time this preseason to be ready to claim a possible role for the start of the season. Now, he has about a month of work ahead of him to get ready and potentially lay an undeniable claim to a contributing role on the team.
It would be a big win for a Dolphins roster that needs young players in every room to step up. Trader Jr. seems destined for a big opportunity on special teams. But there’s reps in the safety room for the taking if he steps up to the plate. We’ll find out just how ready Trader Jr. is — starting this week in Detroit.