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http://www.miamidolphins.com/news/a...dvantage/01c7363f-32c0-41a0-8620-afcaca34c3a8[h=3]
Listed on the Dolphins roster at 6-2, 201 pounds, Howard has the kind of size defensive coordinator Vance Joseph likes in his cornerbacks.[/h]As folks around the United States celebrated the Fourth of July with picnics and fireworks, Xavien Howard also celebrated his 23rd birthday.
Howard celebrated his first birthday as an NFL player, fresh off what was a promising offseason program for the Dolphins rookie cornerback from Baylor University.
Selected in the second round of the 2016 NFL draft in large part because of his ideal length, Howard also showed playmaking ability in the spring practices open to the media. One play in particular stood out, the one where he ran down the sideline stride for stride with 2015 first-round pick DeVante Parker, leaped as the football arrived and came down with an impressive interception.
“He’s a tough guy to go against,” Head Coach Adam Gase said after that practice. “When I look at all three of those guys (Howard), Byron Maxwell, Tony Lippett, being as long as they are and the fact that all three of them love challenging the wide receivers, it makes it hard on the guys on offense.
“Just seeing him today, his ball skills are really impressive. He picked one off today where I was surprised that he came down with it, because it was a tough position for him to be in and to catch the ball. That just shows you he has got really good ball skills.”
Howard used those playmaking skills to record nine interceptions the past two seasons at Baylor before he entered the draft as an underclassman.
Howard split first-team practice reps in the spring with Lippett, the 2015 fifth-round pick, and they’re expected to do battle for the starting cornerback job opposite Maxwell, the veteran acquired in an offseason trade with the Philadelphia Eagles.
While saying he has high expectations for himself, Howard said he was a lot more concerned in the spring about learning the defense as well as the intricacies of playing cornerback in the NFL.
“I’m tough on myself about it, but (it is) really (about) learning — learning new stuff that’s going on and taking one day at a time and learning from the other guys,” Howard said. “I’m just coming in here to make plays and hopefully be a starter. I love that they’re talking about it, but I’ve got to live up to my expectations that I have for myself.”
Listed on the Dolphins roster at 6-2, 201 pounds, Howard has the kind of size new defensive coordinator Vance Joseph likes in his cornerbacks.
The next step for Howard will be using that size to his advantage against NFL receivers.
“He has showed us that he has great movement skills,” Joseph said. “He has long speed. He has ball skills. He has great lateral quickness. Obviously, being a rookie, he knows nothing about playing the position on this level but talent-wise, he’s what we thought he was going to be.
“At the combine, I walked by him a couple times. I knew he was going to be long when he came in for his draft visit. He was a bigger man (than) I thought he was going to be. He has long arms. He has big shoulders. He is built like a safety, but he has corner skills. And that’s important not just to be big, but to have corner skills.”
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