The Miami Dolphins welcomed 24 rookies to South Florida this weekend as the team held rookie minicamp this week, and there were some favorable and unfavorable impressions left. Allow the Miami Herald's Dolphins in Depth podcast to share some of our observations about the team's 13 draftees and 11 undrafted rookies signed in this podcast episode. By Pierre Taylor
Chris Johnson plans to embrace the pressure.
As the second of two first-round picks, Johnson knows the Miami Dolphins (Shop Dolphins Fan Gear) are heavily invested in his success. He, of course, wants to prove them right. And while offensive lineman Kadyn Proctor will likely endure most of the focus as the Dolphins’ first pick of the 2026 NFL Draft, it’s the former San Diego State standout who will have a higher set of expectations.
“I definitely feel good about it,” Johnson said Friday when asked about being a foundational player for the new regime. “It’s not really pressure for me. I love expectations. I love high expectations. I hold myself to those.”
The expectations piece is in part linked to the history of coach Jeff Hafley. Before his days with the Green Bay Packers, before Boston College and before Ohio State, Hafley got his start as a defensive backs coach. That Johnson was Hafley’s first selection in the secondary means he will not only be asked to contribute early but will surely have his coach’s attention from the onset.
“He can win at all three” levels, Hafley said, referring to a valued piece of insight he previously shared about how he evaluates cornerbacks. “And he can take the ball away, and he tackles, and he’s aggressive, and I love his play style and he can play inside. This was one of my favorite guys in the draft that when we started talking about him, and it came time to pick him, I would not have been surprised if he was taken earlier than we took him. So he can win at those levels. I’m excited to coach him. He was here yesterday. He’s got good size to him. He’s got length to him. He’s a great person. He loves football.”
Despite the lofty expectations placed on him before he even steps onto the field, Johnson doesn’t want to overlook the process. In some ways, the grind from rookie minicamp to OTAs to training camp somewhat mirrors his own journey. A two-year starter who spent his entire career with the Aztecs, a rarity in today’s college football landscape, Johnson isn’t afraid of the work.
“My dad always preached me that if you’re talented enough,” Johnson said of his decision to stay at SDSU, “they’re going to come find you. So I put my head down and just worked, man, and stayed there, and I feel like I have no regrets, man. Exactly what me and my dad preached, I feel like it came to life for sure.”
Added Johnson: “The process is the important part. I can’t skip ahead to Week 1. I’m brand new here. I’m a rookie. I got to earn everybody’s respect the same way as if I was undrafted or drafted in the seventh round. It’s all the same — we are here to work.”
With the Dolphins’ cornerback room lacking premiere talent, Johnson should be a shoo-in to start assuming he performs well once the veterans get added to the mix. If he can replicate the same production that he had his last two years in San Diego — four forced fumbles, 13 pass breakups and five interceptions, two of which he returned for touchdowns — then he’ll certainly endear himself to Dolphins faithful, a group that has waited since 2016 for Miami draft another shutdown corner.
If Johnson can reach the heights that Hafley expects, the Dolphins could have their guy on the outside for a long, long time.
“I want the Dolphins to remember me as a great player, someone that came in, did what they had tot do to get ton the field and help the franchise,” Johnson said.