If you had to guess which Miami Dolphins rookie was the highest scored by the folks over at Pro Football Focus, what would your first guess be? WR Preston Williams? First round pick Christian Wilkins? Not bad guesses, but also incorrect. As it turns out, Pro Football Focus has really, really liked what they’ve seen thus far this season from undrafted free agent cornerback Nik Needham.
To what degree?
Needham actually checks in at this point in the season as one of Pro Football Focus’ five highest graded rookies in the NFL. Not among undrafted free agents, not among cornerbacks — all rookies.
And make no mistake, the growth and development seen from Needham this season has been super impressive to watch. The Dolphins deserve credit for the patience they’ve illustrated with the rookie, as he was pretty inconsistent and struggled significantly in stretches of the preseason and early on to open the regular season campaign. As of late? He’s had three consecutive really good performances and seems to get better and more comfortable each week.
Does the development of Needham ease the urgency to draft a cornerback to start opposite Xavien Howard? Perhaps a bit, but the Dolphins at this point should be focused on adding talent across all positions, regardless of team need. And as the recent surge in injuries in the secondary can remind us, there is no such thing as too many talented defensive backs.
But for Miami, they can log Needham and his development as a player thus far this season down as a win — and hopefully that development continues for the rest of the season and Needham can be a fixture in the secondary for seasons to come.
