RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 1 sourcesThe Miami Dolphins are three days into their training camp , and on Friday, second-year safety Dante Trader Jr. spoke with South Florida reporters. Trader discussed several topics, including new coach Jeff Hafley, his rookie teammates in the secondary and his training with linebacker and team leader Jordyn Brooks.
Trader enters his second season with high expectations, and despite just one year under his belt, he can already be viewed as a veteran on a young and very fresh-faced Miami roster. He was asked about the challenge heading into year two and being one of those established players on a youthful roster, and he said, “Just using what I learned last year, especially from the ebb and flows of my season and allowing my teammates to gain knowledge from that experience. If it's anybody in my room or the young rookies that are in there, I've been through similar things. The good, the bad, the ugly, everything.”
He continued to say, “I have a story to help them mitigate their downfalls and their stresses just to alleviate anything I could. So just using that and then on top of the vets I was with last year and this year, using everything I can to help coach up the guys next to me and everywhere in my position group.”
The safety position group is comprised of a journeyman veteran in Lonnie Johnson Jr., free agent Zayne Anderson who has just 145 defensive snaps in his five-year NFL career, 2026 fifth-round draft pick Michael Taaffe, undrafted rookie Louis Moore, and Major Burns from the UFL, making Trader the de facto leader of the room.
As for the secondary as a whole, Trader was questioned if he reached out to 27th overall pick, rookie cornerback Chris Johnson, in a way he described earlier, and he said, “All the time, from football, just schedule, body things, maintenance and sleep schedules and how do you study, everything like that.”
Trader added, “So I've helped ‘CJ’ and I've helped Taaffe, I've helped all the guys in my room with everything they need, and they ask for it because they're really open. They don't have no ego, no pride. They openly ask anything, and we love it so we can help him.”
He went on to detail some advice he has given the rookies, and Trader elaborated with, “Use the talent that you got and that you got here with. I was going with Taaffe, I'm like, bro, you got a lot of instincts. You got a lot of smarts, let it go. Let it go. Don't overprocess, don't overanalyze as smart safeties can do. Just go make plays, and y'all see him now.” Going on about Taaffe, he added, “I'm like, that's you. That's the ‘Mook’ from Texas. Go play and go be that. We’re all going to need that type of play all year round.”
Next up in the questioning was regarding how Hafley’s defense puts him and his fellow defenders in the right place, and Trader described, “I would say eyes on quarterback. There's a lot of eyes on quarterback. Who gets paid the most? Who's the most key guy on the field? It's the quarterback. Who's the guy you don't want when you’re on your own team to touch? The quarterback. So we’re having our eyes on the guy that's going to give us the ball.”
Specifically on the scheme, Trader said, “Just this system alone allows me to play top down everybody on the string. As you see, all 11 to the ball. We're going to close up the run game with our big guys up front and then our edge pressure on the edge. So just being able to close those lanes and then keep and limit explosive (plays) with Cover 3 shells and posts and things like that.”
With Hafley’s expertise and experience in coaching the secondary, Trader spoke about his new coach’s technique in teaching his defense to defensive backs, and he answered, “I would say DB is DB. Everybody has their own spin, but I'd say just the more attention to detail for every coverage. One thing about him, he's going to have one way on the paper, he's going to look at it, change the call. ‘Let's see it on this way. Ah, let's tweak it.’
Trader then said, “He's changing it all the time to help it suit everybody on the field and whatever's going to make us stop the offense on that on that given day. It's changing every day, so that's really the good part and tough part at the same time.”
The conversation shifted to Trader talking about his time working with Brooks, and he told reporters, “Yeah. This offseason, I was with Jordyn Brooks. Wherever Jordyn Brooks was, I was. I was over at his house every day. We’re doing two-a-days, we’re training. We had a plan for everything in our game, our techniques, our run fits, our strike, and our shed and pulls. When we make plays, we laugh now. It's like ‘we've been working on that. We've been doing that.’ We've been with each other so he's been giving me the keys to the league. He’s All-Pro."
The recently extended team captain has been a source of guidance, as Trader added, “he's had advice over the years. He's given me things to help me speed up my process. He’s like, ‘Hey look, Trade, I wish I knew this year two. I wish I knew this and did this so,’ and then you see it on the field. When me and him are not in the right spot, we’re demanding it from each other, and it’s the same vice versa, and you've seen that today on one of those plays.”
With tutelage from Brooks and being a mature-beyond-his-years voice in the safety room, Trader has all the potential in the world to be a factor on the field, as well as in the locker room as a potential leader or even captain of this young team looking for voices to follow.
This article originally appeared on Dolphins Wire: Young Dolphins DB reveals new mentor after Minkah Fitzpatrick trade
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