How Rookie DJ Herman Won a Roster Spot and Could Impact the Dolphins Offense

DJ Herman walked into the Miami Dolphins facility for a tryout at rookie minicamp in the midst of a position change, with no certainty that he’d be back for another day.

He may still be wading through unfamiliarity, but his versatility kept giving Miami reasons to keep him around throughout training camp.

By the time final cuts arrived, Herman had gone from being a college linebacker to an NFL fullback, but more importantly from a tryout player to having a spot on the 53-man roster.

“I give him a lot of credit,” Dolphins head coach Jeff Hafley said. “He worked really hard to study the new position, the physicality, the toughness, how hard he's worked, and he earned a spot on the team. And that is a cool story…”

Throughout the preseason, Herman established himself on special teams while also emerging as the team’s starting fullback.

He showed an immediate feel for the position, carrying some of his traits as a linebacker over to offense, using his lateral explosiveness to track down defenders in space.

“I think he embraced his role, all the blocking and the dirty work and kind of goes with a linebacker,” Hafley said. “Everybody thinks of a fullback is you just need a guy who's going to run through the A gap and try to light up a Mike (middle) linebacker, but that guy's got to have the body control and lateral movement and the ability to adjust, which is similar to a linebacker, if you could picture a linebacker moving and tracking a back”

Herman also looked surprisingly comfortable as a pass catcher, making a couple of smooth adjustments to passes thrown behind him throughout training camp.

“If you watch him out here, he's got good hands, he's caught the ball. It's just a matter of taking it from practice to the game with limited experience in those situations, because I know he has good hands and I know he can catch,” Hafley said. "I've seen it. It's just when it shows up in the game, just doing the little things and being detailed with play.”

How Herman Won a Roster Spot

Throughout the preseason, Herman consistently landed solid blocks even if the offensive line in front of him struggled.

Against Washington, Herman flew through a hole at the line and stoned No. 7 overall pick Sonny Styles, springing running back De’Von Achane for a solid gain on an inside zone run.

What stood out was his leverage and instinct. Anybody can run full speed and throw a shoulder into a defender, but Herman does a good job squaring up defenders in space and reacting quickly once they declare a side.

Besides Herman, Miami also worked backup tight ends, mainly Ben Sims, at fullback, but none looked as natural at the position as he did.

How He Could Impact Miami’s Offense

Former Pro Bowl selection Alec Ingold played 37 percent of Miami’s offensive snaps last season, so the fullback role still carried a meaningful place in the offense.

Ingold offered value in all three facets of the position, as a receiver, pass protector and lead blocker.

Herman’s early strength appears to be as a run blocker, moving laterally to square up on the move. That could be particularly useful for an offense whose clearest strength lies in the run game.

If Miami can establish another reliable blocking tight end alongside rookie Will Kacmarek, the team could offset its thin receiving corps with more 22 personnel.

That wouldn’t just create more opportunities for Achane, but could also play into Ollie Gordon’s strengths between the tackles and further establish Miami’s identity as a strong running team.

Add us as a preferred source on Google