DAVIE, Fla. — There were times last season when Dolphins linebacker Jerome Baker knew a veteran teammate made the wrong defensive call. But Baker wouldn’t say anything. After all, he was just a rookie. As a result, some players would do the wrong thing, others would do the right thing and the results were often disastrous.
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Baker vows that won’t happen this season, his second in the NFL. Now that he’s more comfortable with his role on the team and more familiar with the process of offseason workouts, including OTAs and minicamp, Baker has employed a “see something, say something” policy.
“This year, just speak up (about) what you see,” he said. “If you’re wrong, at least everybody is on the same accord.”
This is what’s expected of second-year NFL players, guys who aren’t quite veterans but definitely aren’t rookies anymore. Generally, players are more comfortable in their second seasons. It’s when teams expect them to make big jumps in performance.
Many think the biggest reason for the second-year bounce is that players are at the facility working on football for the entire offseason. That’s different from the offseason prior to their rookie year when they’re training for the NFL scouting combine and flying around the country to interview with teams.
“I think that second year when they’re in here and they’re in the offseason program, there’s a process and a structure (for) the way things are done,” Dolphins coach Brian Flores said.
“I think you get a better player and you get better performance.”
In Miami’s case, that means improvement will be expected from second-year players such as quarterback Josh Rosen, defensive back Minkah Fitzpatrick, tight ends Mike Gesicki and Durham Smythe, running back Kalen Ballage, cornerback Cornell Armstrong, linebacker Quentin Poling and kicker Jason Sanders. All but Rosen, selected by Arizona and acquired by Miami via a draft-night trade in April, were members of the Dolphins’ 2018 draft class.
Gesicki, the second-round pick, is already feeling better about Year 2. He felt it when he reported for the offseason program on April 1.
“It feels like home now,” he said of the team’s training facility.
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Gesicki now knows the Dolphins’ equipment people, cafeteria workers and trainers — not to mention his teammates. He knows the city, the local traffic patterns, the local grocery stores, the restaurants and the movie theaters. He knows the in-season routine, the offseason routine and what to expect when training camp begins in late July.
The result should be a better football player.
“I just feel like from being out on the field and playing, you feel like the game starts to slow down a little bit,” he said. “You feel a little bit more comfortable and you’re just able to adapt a little bit quicker, so from that aspect, it’s been good.”
But there’s a caveat.
Like all of the other Miami picks from 2018, Gesicki is experiencing a coaching change in his second season, going from Adam Gase to Flores. Rosen, of course, is playing for a new coach too.
From that standpoint, Gesicki sees a similarity to his rookie season.
“Out here learning a new system, being around new guys, being around new coaches — from that aspect, it’s the same because last year I was around new coaches, new players, new systems,” he said. “But I think taking those experiences and growing off them is good.”
It hasn’t been a totally smooth road.
Gesicki, who was disappointing as a rookie with 22 receptions for 202 yards and no touchdowns, might not enter training camp as the starter. Veteran Dwayne Allen, signed during the offseason, is the likely starter right now, but he missed much of OTAs and minicamp with an injury. That opens the door for Gesicki, but it’s been a slow process nonetheless.
“He’s working very, very hard,” Flores said. “He’s catching the ball decently, but, again, I talked to him about this this morning that one drop is one too many. One penalty is one too many. One missed assignment is one too many. That’s kind of the standard. That’s the approach we’re taking.
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“I’m hard on Mike because I see a lot of potential in him, and I think he’s working towards that. These guys are dealing with a lot from me right now. They’ve all responded well.”
Almost all have responded well.
Rosen’s head might still be spinning a bit. He said it was spinning soon after the trade, and judging by his sometimes clumsy performance in OTAs and minicamp, he might need this break before training camp to get his footing.
Rosen, who had 11 touchdowns, 14 interceptions and a 66.7 passer rating for Arizona last year, has had an adventurous few months. Since December, his former coach, Steve Wilks, was fired, and Kliff Kingsbury was hired as his replacement. That brought on months of rumors about Kingsbury’s fascination with Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Kyler Murray. One day after Arizona made Murray the first pick of the draft, Rosen was traded to Miami. Not long after that, Rosen was on the field playing for a new coach and a new team in a new city with a new offense.
It’s been a whirlwind experience.
“I think it has got advantages and disadvantages,” Rosen said. “It was a circumstance and a circumstance that I was thrown into, and I’m going to try to do the best with it.”
Rosen, like Gesicki, isn’t likely to enter training camp as the starter. Veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick has played better during OTAs and minicamp. But Flores doesn’t seem concerned.
“I think he’s doing a good job,” Flores said of Rosen. “I think he’s progressing. I think he’s moving in the right direction. I think he’s very talented, and we’ll see where this goes.”
In recent years, Miami has seen second-year improvements from a number of draftees including cornerback Bobby McCain, wide receiver Jakeem Grant, running back Kenyan Drake, cornerback Xavien Howard, left tackle Laremy Tunsil and defensive tackle Davon Godchaux. McCain settled in as the slot cornerback, Grant improved his hands, Drake more than doubled the production from his rookie season, Howard stayed healthy, Tunsil shifted from guard to his natural position of left tackle and Godchaux simply performed better.
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Of course, there are many Dolphins draftees who didn’t benefit from the second-year bounce — players such as defensive end Charles Harris, the 2017 first-round pick, who is still struggling to become a factor.
But in general the improvement surfaces.
Miami tight end Nick O’Leary, a sixth-round pick by Buffalo in 2015, is among those who can testify to the second-year improvement.
O’Leary only played in four games, a total of 52 snaps, including special teams, as a rookie. In his second season, he played in all 16 games, becoming a starter early in the season. He registered 552 snaps including special teams.
“It was a lot more comfortable,” O’Leary said of his second season. “You just see more and you know what’s going on more.”
Defensive tackle Vincent Taylor, Miami’s sixth-round pick in 2017, also experienced the second-year bounce although his 2018 season was shortened by injury.
Taylor played 278 snaps, including special teams, in 13 games as a rookie. He recorded 18 tackles. Last year he played 254 snaps in eight games and recorded 27 tackles before going down with a foot injury.
Doing football activities in the offseason was a game-changer.
“It was way different,” Taylor said of the offseason before his second year. “With the combine, you’re training for your 40(-yard dash) and the vertical jump, the bench press and all that. In the game, you’re not going to see a defensive lineman running the 40.”
Cornerback Jalen Davis, undrafted out of Utah State last year, is experiencing the second-year bump now. He played 75 snaps last season, including 28 at slot/nickel. Miami has a need at that position. Davis said his familiarity with OTAs and minicamp is helping.
“It’s better because when you first get in here, you don’t know the speed of what’s going on and what’s happening,” he said. “The second year, you’re more developed and you know what the practice speed is like, the speed of the meetings and all of that type of stuff. So you get way more comfortable during the second year.”
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Among the 2018 draftees the second-year bounce has benefited are Minkah Fitzpatrick, who excelled in OTAs and minicamp, and Ballage, who has caught Flores’ eye.
“He’s doing everything he can to really try to improve on a day-to-day basis, and you see the improvement,” Flores said.
It’s also helped Baker, the third-round pick who is displaying veteran traits and living up to his “see something, say something” promise.
“He’s taken a little bit of a leadership role,” Flores said. “He’s taken a step in that direction.”
The offseason before Baker’s rookie year was a blur.
“I probably visited five teams, and it was all in a span of a week,” he said. “Pretty much, I’d go home, change, go on another flight. It was flight, flight, flight, back to back to back.”
This offseason was all football all the time — and it made a difference.
“You’re just more confident,” he said. “You’re ready for football shape. Combine shape and football shape are two different things. … You can definitely feel it out on the field.”
Flores, whose team is overflowing with needs, hopes the second-year bounce eventually comes to fruition for the rest of the 2018 draft class. For many players, it’s a proven formula.
“When you combine learning the playbook with your conditioning, with your strength training and put it all together, it’s all laid out, it’s all in a uniformed structure, and there’s a process there,” Flores said. “It all works better together.”
(Top photo of Josh Rosen: Steve Mitchell / USA Today)