Miami Dolphins: Jevon Holland pick is getting majorly slept on

The Miami Dolphins have no shortage of high-impact players coming into their program in the 2021 offseason. Thanks to the Laremy Tunsil trade with the Houston Texans, the Dolphins have been reaping the benefits through a couple of absolutely loaded draft classes and the 2021 group was no different.

Over the last three years, the Miami Dolphins have had six first-round picks, four second-round picks, and three third-round picks. They have been balanced on both sides of the ball and in the 2021 NFL Draft, they used their highest second-round pick on former Oregon Ducks safety Jevon Holland.

That particular selection has been one of the most majorly slept-on picks in the entire 2021 Draft class, but why?

Holland seems to check all of the boxes, including one pretty important one that very few have talked about.

Not only was Holland the Dolphins’ highest selection in round two of the draft, but he was the first safety off the board in the entire 2021 class.

With so much uncertainty surrounding the 2020 college football season, Holland was one of the star prospects who decided to opt out. He was not the only prominent Oregon Ducks player to do so, either, as offensive tackle and eventual top-10 pick Penei Sewell opted out, cornerback Thomas Graham opted out, and safety Brady Breeze did as well.

Holland’s opt-out was a bummer for football fans after he racked up 110 total tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, 19 pass breakups, and a whopping nine interceptions in just two seasons on campus for the Ducks.

A shade under 6-foot-1, 207 pounds, Holland has pretty ideal size for the safety position and is a tremendous athlete. He ran a 4.46 in the 40-yard dash, had a 35.5-inch vertical jump, 19 bench press reps, and a 10’6″ long jump.

The production is there, the athletic metrics are there, the size is there…NFL teams must have really not loved the opt-out for some guys because a player with Holland’s body of work probably should have gone even higher than 36th overall.

He will not only get a shot to compete for a starting job with the Miami Dolphins, but it’s likely he will be expected to be a starter in 2021.

And when I say “starter”, I mean that he will play starter snaps. Who knows what the Miami Dolphins’ 2021 depth chart is going to look like on paper at this point? The presence of veteran Eric Rowe, as well as another recent high draft pick in Brandon Jones, means that Miami is likely to rotate guys around and have them play a number of positions.

The good news for Holland is that he’s experienced at a few different spots defensively whether he’s playing the slot, box safety, or deep free safety.

The options will be there for Brian Flores to get him on the field a lot in 2021 and Holland should prove himself to be up to the task.