The Dolphins have officially become the latest NFL team to jump on a growing trend in search of defensive reinforcements
Miami becomes the latest team to jump on this growing trend.
There are a number of typical ways a position room can get some reinforcements throughout the NFL season. There’s free agency and trades, and then there’s players returning from injury. But none of those sources of talent are at the root of the Miami Dolphins’ latest addition to their linebacker room, as was disclosed by Dolphins linebackers coach Joe Barry on Thursday morning.
No, instead, the Miami Dolphins have officially tapped into a well from within to add a new linebacker. Former safety Jordan Colbert is being considered a linebacker by the team.
Second-year safety Jordan Colbert is being viewed by the Dolphins as a linebacker
Colbert, who made the Dolphins’ 53-man roster at the end of the preseason before being bumped down to the practice squad and then shuffled back up last week, played 97 snaps defensively in the preseason for Miami. A second-year safety out of Rhode Island, Colbert is a heat-seeking missile as a pursuit player and capable of hitting like a ton of bricks.
He logged 30 of his defensive snaps in the preseason in the box as a linebacker, while also offering a handful of reps as a stand-up player on the line of scrimmage.
Jordan Colbert’s Pro Day results from 2024 Rhode Island Pro Day
- 6-foot-1 & 7/8ths and 214 pounds
- 4.60-second 40-yard dash
- 6.80-second 3-cone drill
- 39.50″ vertical jump
- 10’05” standing broad jump
The Dolphins are the latest team to pursue such a transition. And they should, given the success stories we’ve seen for players like Jamien Sherwood (Jets) and Divine Deablo (Raiders, now with the Falcons). Big, long, rangy safeties making the transition to linebacker is a growing trend in recent years as the league has become more of a “pace and space” endeavor.
Colbert has the burst, hitting power, and aggression to make this work. He ran a 4.60s 40-time with a 39.5″ vertical leap, 10’05” broad jump, and a 6.80s 3-cone drill at his Pro Day at Rhode Island in 2024.
Those are elite linebacker numbers, although they’re coming in a small linebacker body. Miami appears to have caught the scent of this transition this past offseason and in the preseason. And now, they’ve gone on the record to make it official, courtesy of Joe Barry.
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