The Miami Dolphins hit the field on Friday for another round of organized team activities. This OTA will be the last session until their mandatory minicamp from June 6-8 before players are off until training camp in July.
Hitting the practice field at Baptist Health Training Facility, and orange-clad in reward-type recognition, was linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel.
As OTAs were approaching, it was reported that Van Ginkel was asked by new defensive coordinator Vic Fangio to play a bit of inside linebacker to add to his outside role.
Apparently, this move has been working in the early goings, as Van Ginkel repped the prestigious orange practice jersey, which has been given to a lone representative during workouts and is certainly to be viewed as an individual accolade.
A perk to the orange practice mesh would be selecting the day’s training music. Van Ginkel’s playlist is something that could be rather unique Friday morning, and that could be metaphorical to his potential this season.
Van Ginkel can be a unique linebacker for Fangio, utilizing his edge-rushing ability to blitz when needed on the outside and spell stars like Bradley Chubb and Jaelan Phillips. In fact, when Van Ginkel has blitzed the quarterback eight times or more in single games throughout his NFL career, the Dolphins have won 10 out of 11 of these occurrences.
Adding to his outside skills, a move inside can help keep Van Ginkel on the field more and in a rotation with players like Jerome Baker and newcomer David Long.
Putting Van Ginkel in each of these groupings should spike that 2022 snap count of a measly 29% back to the 71% range that he was on the field for in 2021.
While Long and Baker are your “starters” on the inside, Van Ginkel will be in the mix both inside and outside, and his awarding of the orange practice jersey is a telltale sign that the experiment is progressing properly.
The former Wisconsin Badger re-signed with Miami in March, while a number of other teams were interested in his services, as he inked a one-year $2.65 million deal with the Dolphins in the offseason. In his four NFL seasons, Van Ginkel has registered 181 total tackles (23 for a loss), 38 quarterback hits, 11 sacks and a pair of memorable touchdowns.
Van Ginkel will be a versatile force for Fangio and this defense, as he could handle pass-rush, run-stopping and coverage duties when called upon. He has also tallied 13 career passes defended and even led Miami in special teams tackles last season. It’ll remain to be seen if he’s still utilized on that coverage unit this season, especially with his now-added inside usage.
Van Ginkel is clearly going to be on the field more than he was last season and will be a very viable asset for Fangio as yet another “chess-piece” type of player for the defensive guru.
