In 2021, the Miami Dolphins defense was impressive down the stretch.
The unit held opposing teams to just 15.6 points per game in their final eight matchups, and a big part of that was the emergence of rookie safety Jevon Holland.
Earlier in the season, when the defense was struggling to find their groove, Holland was just getting his feet wet in the NFL. When he ascended into a starting role and made impact plays was when the group really took off.
During Wednesday’s media availability, defensive tackle Christian Wilkins was asked about Holland’s performance in his rookie season.
“Jevon has a chance to be pretty good in this league,” Wilkins said. “Just how he comes into work each and every day. That was the biggest thing that I learned. He even took a year off of ball before he got drafted and everything and still came in kind of ready to play and was able to do some really good things for us early on and it’s just impressive to watch. He’s athletic, he’s big, and something that surprised me more than anything is just how cerebral he is back there. Like making the calls, doing some of the things you have to do at the safety position in our defense was really impressive. He’s kind of a kid who just loves playing ball, too, so it’s fun to watch. He brings that nice young spirit, too. He’s a good teammate.”
Wilkins isn’t much older than Holland, as he’s about to enter his fourth year in the league, but even someone as talented as Wilkins is, is still impressed by the things the safety was able to do in his first season.
