In February, there were reports that the Dolphins were floating defensive end Dion Jordan’s name in trade talks with other teams.
The Dolphins moved quickly to deny that they had any interest in trading the third overall pick of the 2013 draft a year after trading up to secure his rights and coach Joe Philbin repeated that denial more recently. Philbin said that Jordan is very much part of the team’s plans and that they are expecting a “significant jump” for Jordan heading into his second season.
“We think once we get him acclimated better to the position he’s playing, we give him more [repetitions], quality reps that he really didn’t have last year, he’s going to make nice development,” Philbin said, via Chris Perkins of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
One reason to expect noticeable growth this offseason is that Jordan was unable to participate in much of last year’s offseason activities. He had shoulder surgery before the draft and Oregon’s academic schedule meant that Jordan was barred from most of Miami’s OTAs by league rules. That left Jordan to play a more limited role, about 20 snaps per game, on defense as a rookie than anticipated.
There are no such obstacles this year, leaving the Dolphins with reason to believe they’ll get more from Jordan in Year Two.