Last year, Jimmy Wilson, 7th round pick out of Montana, was given the opportunity of a lifetime, start at cornerback versus the Cleveland Browns in week 2. Needless to say, Wilson played well with an interception, but the excitement was tempered as he allowed his man, Mohamed Massaqoui to get over and above him on a fade route in the corner in the end zone for the go-ahead touchdown. From everything that Wilson has been through in his past, getting beat by Massoqoui was not as critical. Getting second chances has been something that Wilson has earned and he’s shown why the Dolphins would express confidence in him as a person and as a player on the team. Wilson is an older second year player because of stint he did in jail after high school. Wilson has shown exactly why he is on this roster, he makes plays and has been a model citizen.
Fast forward to this season, during training camp, Kevin Coyle and Head Coach Joe Philbin made it clear that Wilson would have to earn a role on the team as a safety. This despite the free agent signing of safety Tyrell Johnson who had experience making plays in Minnesota. Wilson found himself in a battle, but he continued to shine on special teams and making big tackles on defense in the pre-season.
This season, Jimmy Wilson has done well for Miami where he has notched 15 tackles and one sack and one forced fumble. Last week’s sack of Mark Sanchez showed that in certain blitz packages, Wilson can be that elusive threat to disrupting the rhythm of opposing offensives and a total disruption of a quarterback’s timing. Having Wilson on this team brings another playmaker that can cover down field and make plays when you need to most.
Given the chance again, Jimmy Wilson showed again why he made the team and why he was made a safety on the Dolphins. His talent and ability is clear in that he blocked a punt and got his first sack last week versus the Jets. He slipped passed the Jets experiment of using Tim Tebow as a punt protector and disrupted experienced Coach Mike Westoff's special teams unit and set the tone by blocking the punt into the waiting hands of Olivier Vernon for the touchdown.
But, Wilson, not only serves as a leader on special teams, he brings the wood on defense by separating the receiver from the ball whether it’s a key goal line strip of the football from rookie Stephen Hill on a fourthdown play to force an incompletion to seal the victory for Miami.
Jimmy Wilson is one of the many bright spots on the Miami Dolphins. His future is with this team as long as he continues to make plays and get good positioning to make big plays on these receivers that come into his zone.
As a fan, one appreciates his resiliency that Wilson overcomes when getting beat down field and then makes up for hit on a key tackle or heads up play to swing the momentum in Miami's favor. His play reminds me of players that bring a fear to receivers coming over the middle. Wilson reminds me of Rodney Harrison who made his living hitting receivers over the middle.
This week, the Indianapolis Colts receivers might be hearing those footsteps of Wilson, and when they do Wilson will already be there to meet them with a huge wallop of a hit.
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