What must change for Dolphins’ promising Holland/Jones safety duo to reach its potential

Dick Anderson and Jake Scott, two of the defensive stalwarts on the undefeated 1972 team, remain the best safety tandem in Dolphins history, and that might never change.

But for Jevon Holland and Brandon Jones to make a case to someday be in the discussion for second place on that subjective list -- which includes Lyle and Glenn Blackwood, Yeremiah Bell/Reshad Jones and Jarvis Williams/Louis Oliver - two things must happen over the next several years:

▪ Holland must take the jump from very good NFL safety to an elite one, an evolution that some expect because of his ball-hawking skills, instincts and relentless drive to be great.

▪ Brandon Jones - one of the league’s best pass-rushing safeties - must become much better in pass coverage.

Jones, entering his third year in the league, led all NFL safeties with five sacks and 17 quarterback pressures last season. He’s fast and a sturdy tackler.

But metrics sites rate him among the league’s bottom third safeties in coverage skills. And that must change for Holland and Jones - as a tandem - to be mentioned among the league’s better safety duos.

Does Jones have the skill set to improve in coverage?

Yes, new safeties coach Steve Gregory said.

“He’s athletic, he’s fast, he’s smart,” Gregory said. “There’s no reason why he can’t do all the different things a DB needs to do on a down in, down out basis. Be able to cover guys, be able to cover tight ends, play the deep part of the field, be able to blitz, be able to play zone coverage. All of those things should encompass what he has the ability to do from a tool set standpoint.”

At this point, No. 3 safety Eric Rowe remains the more reliable option defending tight ends and running backs, though his coverage numbers fell off last season.

What’s worrisome with Jones is that the coverage issues date back to Texas.

In his final season with the Longhorns, he was targeted 46 times and allowed 34 completions for 330 yards and six touchdowns when he lined up in the slot, per Pro Football Focus. That’s a 133.2 passer rating against.

As a Dolphins rookie in 2020, he permitted 23 of 28 targets against him to be caught for 202 yards and a touchdown - equal to a 108.6 passer rating in his coverage area.

Last season, also per PFF, Jones was targeted 25 times in coverage and allowed 22 completions for 305 yards, one touchdown and one interception. That’s a bloated 114.2 passer rating against him.

So in his NFL career, 45 of the 53 passes thrown against Jones have been caught.

Jones believes he has pinpointed his primary problem - “eye discipline” - and said he works daily with Gregory on the coverage aspect of his responsibilities.

“I get with him every day before practice and we work every aspect of it, from the top of the route from on the line of scrimmage to how to use my hands, how to move my feet,” he said. “And eye discipline. That’s something huge for me that I’ve noticed. My eyes are raised a lot in man coverage which messes me up. Really focusing on [fixing] that.”

The Dolphins hope to reach a point where Jones is at least close to being as effective in coverage as he is as a blitzer and open-field tackler. If the Dolphins opt to blitz Holland - who is also a very good blitzer - they must trust that Jones will hold up in the back end.

“Brandon, in particular, there are definitely elements of his game we’re trying to get better from coverage to the deep part of the field, and even improving his blitzing,” Gregory said. “That goes for all our players. We want them to be as versatile as possible so you’re not pigeonholed into only being a one-trick pony. The more versatile we are, the more chess pieces can fit in different places, it makes it harder on the offense.”

The coverage shortcomings are the primary reason that PFF rated Jones 84th among 94 qualifying safeties last season, compared with fourth for Holland and 25th for Rowe, whose pectoral injury has left his status in question for Sunday’s opener against visiting New England (1 p.m, CBS).

Holland, conversely, allowed an 88.6 passer rating in his coverage area – with just 12 completions in 22 targets for 208 yards, four touchdowns allowed and two interceptions. So according to PFF, Holland allowed three more TDs than Jones.

Working on his craft has never been an issue for the studious, diligent Jones, who prepared reports on all 32 teams’ defenses as a personal project before the Dolphins selected him 70th overall in 2020.

Even “the stuff people think I do good needs work,” Jones said. “You’re never a great player. There’s always room to improve in every aspect.”

Jones hopes that he and Holland can be the Dolphins’ starting safety tandem for years to come.

“You would have thought we would have been friends forever,” Jones said of their bond.

“He’s a hell of a player; I love playing alongside him,” Holland said.