Maryland coach raves about pair of Dolphins draft picks

USA Today

3 days ago

Maryland coach raves about pair of Dolphins draft picks
The Miami Dolphins drafted a pair of Maryland Terrapins in the fifth round of the 2025 NFL draft this past April. According to Maryland head coach Mike Locksley, the Dolphins got a pair of tremendous leaders in safety Dante Trader Jr. and defensive lineman Jordan Phillips.
"Here in our program we really do encourage our players to learn to be pros as quickly as they can," Locksley told Travis Wingfield on the Dolphins' "Drive Time" podcast. "We define being a professional as, it's 24/7 as opposed to a job, which is eight hours, nine to five, whatever that eight-hour window is." Locksley continued, "Both those guys were 24/7 guys you know from a recovery standpoint, understanding the way to take care of their bodies, proper sleep, morning routines, you know, with guys like Dante and Jordan they both were early risers, that studied the game."
Trader, who was even more recruited in the college ranks for his lacrosse skills, has the "it" factor that a defense needs, according to Locksley.
"There's no doubt [about] Dante and his aptitude and his football intelligence," Locksley said. "He was a guy that, if you can teach it, then you can execute it. And he's one of those guys that I see all the time grabbing the young safeties, the young corners and imparting the wisdom that he gained from not just his successes but failures as well as a young player."
Phillips has multi-sport experience too. The defensive lineman was a wrestler and Locksley says that background makes a difference on the football field.
'Because of wrestling, he understood body-under-body, pad-under-pad, and that's how you eat up double teams, that's how you maintain the line of scrimmage the low man typically wins,' Locksley told Wingfield. "He did his job in our system, and I know coming into this draft some of the knock on him was the lack of production, because what we asked him to do was eat up double teams powerfully, and knock the line back, and it affected the run game quite a bit.
"They don't get a credit for that production because it doesn't have a tackle, doesn't say TFL [tackle for loss], but when other people are making TFLs because he's pushed the 'A-gap' three yards deep, people that know football understand what that brings to the table."
Safety and defensive line are positions where a rookie could potentially see significant snaps for the Dolphins. Miami has several safeties who will battle for the top two spots on the depth chart. The defensive line was an area of major concern heading into the draft, and Phillips was one of three rookie defensive linemen selected among the Dolphins' eight total selections. With a thin room behind veteran Zach Sieler, Phillips and his draft classmates on the line will be thrown into the fire early.
While Phillips and Trader Jr. were Day 3 picks, their collegiate coach is convinced both former Terrapins will make an early impact for the Dolphins.
"It couldn't have been to a better organization for both those guys, and I think it's a great fit," Locksley said.