Did Switch Keep Rowe in Miami?

Eric Rowe spent a good part of his media session Tuesday talking about his transition from cornerback to safety.

Truth is, maybe he wouldn't still be with the Dolphins if it hadn't been for that position switch.

Now, he figures to be a key part of a secondary the team is hoping will be one of the best in the NFL.

Let's quickly go back to last offseason when Rowe signed with the Dolphins as an unrestricted free agent to rejoin head coach Brian Flores after their days together in New England.

But here's the thing: Rowe signed a one-year contract. That meant the Dolphins wanted to see what he could provide before committing to him for a longer term.

They made that commitment in December when they gave Rowe a three-year contract extension.

Clearly, by then they were liking what they were seeing from Rowe. And, from the press box, what Rowe produced looked a lot better when he was at safety than when he was at cornerback.

The switch occurred after the bye when the Dolphins had to place veteran Reshad Jones on injured reserve. That left the Dolphins in need of a new starting safety and they called on Rowe, whose play had been spotty at best at cornerback to that point.

As it turned out, the move came at the suggest of new defensive coordinator Josh Boyer, who last year served as defensive pass game coordinator/cornerbacks coach.

"It was something that he thought would be a good fit for Eric," head coach Brian Flores said. "He’s coached Eric. He’s spent a lot of time with him and obviously Josh felt like ... we had a conversation about him. It wasn’t a thought I had. He had been playing corner really his entire career and I thought it was an interesting move, so we made it. There were some bumps early on, but Eric worked at it, he watched a lot of film (and) he improved over the course of last season.

"He’s still early at the position. He’s still pretty new at that position but you could see some growth there even in these early stages of training camp. From a communication standpoint, playing corner and safety is very different. There’s still some things that he can improve on from that standpoint, but he does a lot of good things. Hopefully we can build on some of the things we did a year ago and continue to improve the fundamentals and techniques, the tackling, the communication at the safety position."

As one would expect, the biggest adjustment for Rowe was having to become more involved in stopping the run.

In terms of coverage, though, Rowe found a lot easier covering tight ends as opposed to wide receivers.

In the second half of the season, Rowe allowed opposing quarterbacks a passer rating of even 60 when targeting him only once. And then he closed out his first season in Miami in style, picking off former teammate Tom Brady and returning the interception for a touchdown to help the Dolphins spring the huge upset.

Now, armed with a new contract, he's back for his second season, but his first at his new position from the outset.

It indeed has been quite a journey, one that maybe wouldn't have happened without a most judicious switch.

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