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Roughly a month and a week from now, the 2016 Miami Dolphins training camp will commence. Competition will be plentiful. Gather around the campfire. It's story time. Today's story: the epic battle of Jelani Jenkins and Neville Hewitt. Remember to pass it to the left.
Jelani Jenkins vs.
Neville Hewitt might be the first battle in the series where there is a presumed favorite. And yet, at the same time, the "underdog" in this battle is one of our collective favorites as a developing young player. Is it really cut-and-dry, or will this be a true competition? It'll be very interesting to see how Adam Gase and his staff sort through some of these competitions: do veterans become the automatic place holders until proven otherwise, or will it truly be "best man wins" no matter what?
Why Jelani Jenkins Will Win:
He's started 27 games for us in the last 2 years, not to mention he is heading into a contract year. Although injuries played a role, Jenkins' play in 2015 still declined compared to his "breakthrough" campaign of 2014. There's no question that the combination of earning a new contract
and showing the Miami Dolphins (and everyone else in the NFL) will motivate Jenkins to prove that 2014 was the truth, not the outlier.
He's 24 years old and heading into the prime of his career. He has good size for a LB (243 pounds) who excels better in pass coverage than run stopping, and by virtue of having the size, can improve technique to use his strength better in run defense and play with better leverage.
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Why Neville Hewitt Will Win:[/h] In terms of the younger cohort of players, next to
Tony Lippett, I'm the most excited about Neville Hewitt. It's entirely possible that Hewitt loses the starting position and receives ample snaps as a nickel LB. Considering how much NFL teams play nickel in the defensive landscape, Hewitt and Jenkins might even be on the field at the same time on occasion.
Nonetheless, Hewitt doesn't want part-time snaps, he wants to start at WLB. If anything, the recency effect is holding true, and we remember that terrific game he had Week 17 against the
New England Patriots* last year. In pass coverage, PFF ranked him very highly (17th in the NFL) in 2015. His off-season goal was to get stronger. If he can put together a thicker frame and be able to shed blocks better, while maintaining his ability to cover, Hewitt could continue to steal snaps, if not steal the competition outright. He showed potentially elite coverage skills last year, in my opinion.
Considering his late season performance, plus Jenkins' subpar 2015 year, it could catapult him ahead in the race by the end of training camp. If we're already leaning towards letting Jenkins go after this year (barring an insane year by Jenkins), it might make sense to have Hewitt take more snaps. Hewitt, although he had more opportunity, also displayed more potential in his rookie year than Jenkins. Hewitt has been an underdog ever since he was an undrafted free agent, and he just strikes me as a guy who plays with passion and with a chip on his shoulder.
