Captain and LEADER - Bobby McCain - PLAYER PROFILE

By: Ron Hiatt

The makeup of a leader is not one particular thing, but many things. Leaders come in all shapes, sizes, and backgrounds. Bobby McCain is a leader forged from hard work, dedication, and family stemming from sports. Some leaders are vocal some are quiet lead by example types, Bobby is a little bit of both. Bobby has had a very unique journey to, and with the Miami Dolphins.
 
Through sports, Bobby developed the skills the work ethic that would forge him into the leader he is today. Highly recruited 3-star athlete from Oxford High School in 2011 to a four-year starter for the Memphis Tigers with 12 interceptions, 11 of those coming in his final two years. Bobby was 1st team all AAC in 2014 with 46 tackles, 38 solo, 5 int, 1 TD with a win vs BYU in the Peach Bowl.
 
Bobby was drafted in the 2015 draft by Miami in the 5th round with pick 145. Bobby’s combine measurables at 5’9'' 195 lbs. - 4.51 40-yard dash, 6.80 second 3-cone, 36 inch vertical, 17 bench press reps. Bobby came right in as a rookie, dove into the playbook and worked on improving himself every day. Bobby has survived many coaching and position changes with Miami. What did not change was how hard Bobby works and does what is asked of him by his coaches.

In 2018, Bobby signed his 2nd contract with the Dolphins as an ascending slot corner, a 4 year 27 million deal with 13 million in guarantees. Bobby began the 2018 season moving from the slot to starting boundary corner. In 2019 with a new coaching staff Bobby was moved from corner to safety, yet never complains.
 
2020 his second season at safety and second season in the same Flores defense has allowed Bobby to emerge not only as a leader, but an elite starter. Flores showed confidence in Bobby by not listening to the outside noise that the Dolphins needed to upgrade the safety position in the draft, and free agency to move McCain back to slot. Bobby has been an extension of Flores on the field, lining the defense up and matching the audibles of the opposing offenses. In one particular play in the Rams game, quarterback Jared Goff audibled and Bobby matched it for a short gain moving players to the exact spot the play was going.
 
The Dolphins ranked near the bottom of every statistical measurement on defense in 2019 to going to near the top in 2020 and Bobby is a big reason for this improvement. His improvement from year one at safety to year two, is as startling as the improvement of the defense. yet seems to go hand in hand. Through 9 games, (stats from Pro Football Reference), Bobby has been targeted 14 times, 8 completions, 57.1 completion%, 101 yards for 7.2 yards per target. Bobby has 29 tackles with 25 of those solo, 1 missed tackle, 1 int, 4 pass defended,  1 hurry, 1 QB hit, 3 pressures.
 
As impressive as the stats are, Bobby does way more than what the stats show. Bobby’s leadership knowing where everyone is supposed to be will not show on the box scores. The Dolphins are communicating better with less breakdowns and less big plays with Bobby as the QB of this defense. Bobby is having an elite season, albeit under the radar with all the hype focused on rookie QB Tua Tagovailoa and the 5-game win streak. It’s time to take notice of the Dolphins defensive quarterback and leader in Bobby McCain.

Please follow Ron Hiatt on Twitter at @pacificfinfan1 and give his work a read here on PhinManiacs!

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