Nik Needham disagrees that playing safety and cornerback is a difficult task.

Nik Needham disagrees that playing safety and cornerback is a difficult task.

Nik Needham, who spent the majority of his five-year career alternating between boundary and slot cornerback, knows that his number could also be called to play safety. The Miami Dolphins are using the secondary as a musical chairs as first-year defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver assesses the team’s strengths and weaknesses.

Needham discussed practicing at both safety and nickel cornerback. “It’s not too different right now, because I think it was like three or four years ago when Jevon [Holland] and Brandon [Jones] were battling injuries, I stepped in and played a little safety,” Needham said. It was my first time truly playing it, so now I’m just sort of breaking it back in, going over some old safety notes I had. Jordan Powell and Jevon are two of the top safeties, so having them both helps as well. And nickel, well, that’s just football. It’s never really bothered me to move from corner to nickel.

In 2020 and 2021, Needham, 27, played more than 400 snaps at slot cornerback. Over the course of 23 games, he only allowed three touchdowns while in coverage, breaking up eight passes and intercepting four more. After returning to the field in 2022, the former UTEP Miner started five games before rupturing his Achilles tendon in a game against the Minnesota Vikings.

Vic Fangio, the former defensive coordinator, made hints that Needham was cross-training, yet in the previous season, he played slot cornerback 56 out of 72 times. When Needham was in coverage, the opposing receivers caught six of the eight targets, although they only gained an average of 7.3 yards per reception.

“At corner, it’s really your physical abilities,” Needham said. “It’s one-on-one, you verse the guy right in front of you. When you move to safety, you kind of control the whole defense. You have to understand how to put guys in certain positions and in certain situations what to do.

“I think that’s probably the hardest part, but I feel like I’m a capable guy and versatile enough that I can handle the workload and play corner, safety, nickel, linebacker. Like I said, whatever they need me to play, I’m going to play.”